PART ONE

Chapter 1

The past months had been pleasant and peaceful enough, though in the back of their minds, neither of them could help but think if they were going to pay for this peace at some point. For the moment, they were entertaining friends and family for a summer evening of fun, drink, games and just being able to let one's hair down for once. A sentiment that made Sookie say something funny to him as they swam in the moon light while loud music blared and others splashed nearby. And lounged lazily poolside. "Do you ever miss your long hair?" she asked him as her Viking treaded water, she perched on his shoulders in a modest bikini swimsuit. Sparkling in the moonlight, the shimmery pink glitter of the suit was certainly enhanced by her natural glow.

"You miss the long hair?" Eric asked as he let her down gently into the water and she bobbed in the water a foot away from him. If not for all the company present, she knew full well he wouldn't have the swim trunks on. As it was, their daughter was present, after all. No need for embarrassing their one and only daughter, even with her being grown up and queen of Faery. "I thought it suited me but Pam had been itching to try something new anyway…." he shrugged. "But perhaps I could be persuaded….though I think I look good either way, don't you?"

She rolled her eyes and heaved a large splash at him, giggling as she dove under the water and used her own abilities to blast across the immense pool, careful not to knock into her friends and family who had come by, though she nearly had her head smacked by a pool noodle brought along by her brother who, along with Bridgette, were playing in the pool with their two kids. Popping out of the water, she grinned as she watched Jason move too slow, smacking Eric instead

"Oops." Jason said as Brigitte kept the kids balanced on the duck floaty toy they were bobbing on. "Sorry, man, meant to get my sister and-"

"Hey, little ones…would you like to see something funny?" the mischief in his eyes made Jason shrink back a little, though he knew that he was on close and friendly terms with him. Then again, he also knew that Eric could be unpredictable in good and bad ways. Three year old Brock and five year Harper had no fear towards their unorthodox uncle or extended family and nodded eagerly. It all happened so fast but there, through the basketball net that hung over the other end of the pool, Jason was placed through headfirst, to the stunned shock of all watching. Then the laughter began and he remained there for several minutes before he was rescued by his sister.

"No fair, sis, he got me before I could do anything'…" Jason remarked, though there was a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Creative, I will give him that."

The rest of the evening went on without a hitch, a barbecue done by Lafayette capped off the night and as the crowd finally dwindled to those who lived in the small conclave of houses, Pam quipped how nice it was that they had people on call to come and pick up the mess left behind, though Sookie was taking the time to do some of the clean up. Those left at the end of the night gathered around the patio and enjoyed the humid and yet pleasant night air, the scent of honeysuckle from the gardens drifting around them.

"So…..we brought this from home….apparently some of the chefs have taken to try to make something more palatable for you when you come….well besides drinking from the source, which is kinda frowned upon in Faery." Blaze, Aurora's husband produced a midnight blue bottle that could only be one thing. "I haven't had the chance to taste it, but I also haven't much need or craving for the stuff, funny thing about that. Aurora, even though she is a hybrid as well, doesn't hardly ever taste the stuff. So you guys, have at it." Blaze started pouring wine glasses of the fancy looking bottled blood and handed them out to Eric, Pam and Willa, Sookie, being curious and having a streak of bloodlust in her, took a sip herself. And after a few moments, the four admitted it tasted unlike anything they had ever had before.

"Tastes like sunlight….is this what a Fairy tastes like, because Sookie, you may well want to get your little cute self and your kid out of here." Pam said, looking like she was in seventh heaven. And the threat was a very empty one, she had excellent self control.. They kept drinking until the bottle was drained and all were sated. A air of exhaustion settled over the group and as it was getting to be well past two in the morning, they all headed to their homes and to their respective beds.

Chapter 2

Though mostly immune to hangovers, she awake the next morning feeling heavy all over the place, a slight headache raging. Not that it would last for too long, she had fast learned that her body recovered far faster than the average human. Of which she was most certainly not. Something in the air seemed off and she was usually on point with her instincts. She had apparently passed out on the couch and was wrapped up in a thick blanket, apparently he hadn't had the heart to risk waking her and as such had left her where she was. And then she heard it, a sound like someone was in pain, in shock, some kind of distress. Following the sound downstairs to the windowless bank of rooms and her massive suite, she entered the master bedroom and saw signs of movement under the thick silky black comforter. Her cell phone in her purse hanging on a hanger vibrated with a sense of urgency but first thing was first. She pulled the thick, downy blanket off and revealed the figure underneath, dimly lit by the light she had switched on partially.

"You…you're burning up!" she said as she let her fingers slide down his bare back and even in the subtle lighting, she saw there was more color to his skin, something was clearly not right. She rolled him from his side to his back and she saw it more clearly and upon turning the dimmer switch up to make the lighting brighter, she couldn't deny what she was seeking, feeling, as she put a worried set of hands on his chest, sitting herself on his left side. She had to recheck to see if it was her mind playing tricks but she knew what she was feeling and there was no doubt what it was. "How….how is this even possible….this can't be…." she retreated to her purse and grabbed the cell phone from it and saw that the missed call so happened to be from Pam. And just now, another call was coming through. Willa. And she was unsurprised to hear a sound from upstairs, the two women hurtling through the doors, looking as ill as he did with their skin rosier than normal.

"Were you ever gonna get back to…us….." Pam started, her anger and frustration vanishing as she saw that she and Willa had not been the only victims of whatever this was that was happening to them. "Apparently you're doing just fine." she said to Sookie, not out of spite, but simply speaking the truth. "We, on the other hand…..I mea what the hell? Look at us? Sweating like we have a fever and our hearts…..Sookie…our hearts are beating." Pam looked a little tipsy on her feet, as did Willa and so Sookie took to helping them to a couple of guest rooms that were had up the hall, a confused and worried Sookie frowned at them. "How is this possible, this can not be what I think-"

"We can walk in the sun, we feel sick and our hearts are beating. I feel weaker than I have in decades. How in the hell could this happen? We are human, Sookie and I can't even try to guess how that is even possible."

"Look, you two…just rest and try to maybe…drink water, now that you actually can…..I need to check on him, he seems worse off than you both do and I haven't a clue why."

"I don't think any of us know why or how any of this is happening…..but we will figure this out, I promise you that." Sookie said and before she knew it, Pam was asleep in her bed and with her enhanced hearing, she heard Willa too had drifted to sleep. Never before had she seen them like this, never before did she think something like this would, could happen. That they were made mortal, brought back to an actual living and breathing state…..it was unsettling to say the least. Returning to their room, she saw he was at least out of bed, standing before the full length mirror, clad in only boxers. She had seen him vulnerable before but never like this. He seemed concerned, helpless, and as this fever he seemed to be suffering from kept the heat radiating from him, he turned to look at her. "I don't like this….I feel like I lost my identity…..I wonder if there is even any undoing whatever caused this…" he thought hard, looking away from her and back at his reflection. "The only think I can figure is that there was something in that blood we drank. You are not affected, likely because you're not purely…." he couldn't bear to say it. He had spent a thousand years being endowed with that which came with being a vampire and now that he was mortal, human for the first time in a thousand years, it was strange, and he had certainly come to prefer the immortal existence.

"I….I never in a million years thought this was possible…." she said softly as she embraced him, trying to comfort him, feeling, sensing that the fever was breaking, the fever apparently breaking as she lay her head against his chest, a apparent side effect of whatever had caused this dramatic change in him. "But I haven't ever seem you like this. I mean, you know? I never knew you when you were human and now…" she trailed off, sensing, seeing the troubled look in his eyes, on his face. "I'm sorry….I mean, this has to be hard for you and I will find some way to undo it."

"what if this can't be undone? What if this is permanent? I don't want to live this way. I would rather-"

"Don't you dare say what I think you want to….not to me, not to anyone who loves you and cares for you. isn't it enough to have us around, your family? I mean, I want to get things back to normal for you and the others-in case you missed it, Pam and Willa are suffering from the same thing as you-but they are out like a light…snoring, actually." she cocked her head to get a better listen from down the hall and couldn't help but laugh at the thought of the Chanel clad Pam…..snoring. …drooling in her sleep. "I have the bottle the blood was in, I can go to Faery and get things checked out, see if there is anyone there that can help straighten things out."

He nodded and pulled her closer to him. "I didn't mean that I wouldn't want to go on if this wasn't fixable…..it's just….rather jarring to awaken like this, is all."

"I will do what I can." she replied and with a kiss on his cheek, she vanishing in a flash of light, leaving the Viking to ponder what his life may be going forward.

TO BE CONTINUED