A/N: This is my first attempt at Fan Fiction, so please be kind. I absolutely love this series of books and am, like most readers, obsessed with the characters of Eric and Sookie. I love reading all the fan fics about these two and do so on a very regular basis. I've considered trying my hand at a fan fic for a long time, but didn't know if I wanted to continue on after the series or go in a completely different direction or what. I chose, instead, to go back to a point at the end of book 3 and revisit the significant incident that occurred between Bill and Sookie after she rescued him. My version of things will go slightly different and I will just see where that new direction takes me. I hope you enjoy…

P.S. These wonderful characters belong to the talented Charlaine Harris. I am merely taking them out to play. Also, I don't have a beta so all mistakes are my own.

A DEADLY FUTURE

Chapter One: The Trunk

SPOV:

A cold empty feeling was overwhelming my body as Bill punched a jagged hole in the top of the trunk. I greedily sucked in lungfuls of the air that I'd been missing and Bill quickly pulled himself off of me and tried to put me back to rights. He was able to pull my pants back over my hips but my shirt and bra were shredded around me. He hissed a low curse and pulled the blanket over my chest.

"Sookie! What have I done? Are you ok? Talk to me, Sookie!" Bill was frantic beside me. I could feel his hands assessing the brutal wound in my neck and on my wrist to check my pulse.

I couldn't answer. Now that he had regained his composure and the assault was over, the fight had completely left me. I could only focus on the light that was coming through the hole above me and the oxygen that was now filling my lungs. A face appeared above the hole and piercing blue eyes met mine. Through the haze that was slowly pulling me under I felt a jolt of relief and a swelling of something close to hope.

"Eric..." I whispered before I was taken under.

EPOV:

I woke for the evening and immediately reached out for Sookie's emotions; calling for my blood that was now coursing through her veins. I felt her immediately, and thankfully she was a distance away. She had succeeded in escaping the compound. I took a moment to let the relief of that knowledge wash over me.

Again, I had to ask myself why I cared. What was it about Sookie Stackhouse? What was this power she had over me? I could argue that she was merely an asset; a valuable and loyal telepath. That was nearly priceless, it was true. However, she was more than that. No matter how hard I tried to deny it.

The truly terrifying part was that others could see it as well. Hell, I staked a vampire for her the second time I saw her. I could always quickly dismiss that situation with the fact that he had stolen from me and would have been staked regardless of his attack on Sookie. That excuse worked for most. Not Pam of course. She could feel my emotions and knew exactly how much Sookie affected me. It gave her an endless array of ways to tease me and push my buttons.

I was thankful she wasn't here now. I knew she would be able to tell immediately that Sookie had taken more of my blood. As my child she would be able to feel it circulating inside of her. Not to mention the fact that Sookie would carry my scent for a long while after the quantity that she had digested; a fact that gave me a great deal of satisfaction. Especially when I considered how Bill and her lowly shifter would be able to smell me every time they saw her.

The mere remembrance of the act made me stiffen and brought me back to the reality of the situation I was still in. I focused on Sookie again. Her emotions were a confusing mix of relief and anxiety with a low note of fear. It was hard to decipher the possible reasons for such emotions, but I didn't have the time to do so anyway. She had escaped, that was all I could focus on as I prepared for my own departure.

Being the age I was definitely had its advantages; one being that I woke earlier than younger vampire. Especially the curly headed waste of fangs that was draped around me in the coffin that was already too short for my tall frame. I loathed coffins for this very reason. I rarely used one other than travel and much preferred my large bed and satin sheets.

I unceremoniously threw the arms off my torso and popped the top to the coffin, standing abruptly. I usually woke a full hour before sunset. I couldn't step outside until the sun was completely set but I could move around effectively indoors. I began to make my way through the castle, careful to avoid any open windows, toward the roof.

I moved quickly through the empty halls and found the staircase to roof with no trouble at all. It was completely unguarded. Fools. But then I remembered that the normal Were guards would be lax that afternoon after their full moon activities from the night before. It was the very loophole that made our simple plan somewhat possible.

I leaned against the door, prepared to take off the second the sun slipped below the horizon. I took a second to wonder if Sookie had been successful in recovering Bill. Being considerably younger than I, Bill would not rise until sunset and factoring in his possible injuries, possibly later.

I spent a few minutes angering myself with thoughts of their reunion when he rose to discover she had rescued him. Would she forgive him for abandoning her for Lorena? The truth of the matter was that he had no choice. Lorena was his maker and her command had to be followed, no matter what feelings he may have developed for Sookie. Even I could not disobey a command from my maker. I shuddered remembering just how clearly he had proven that to me over and over when I was young and freshly made.

I thought back to the discussion Sookie and I'd had in her kitchen that started this whole mess. I knew she had known more than she was admitting. She was good, I'd give her that, but the small amount of my blood she'd had in Dallas had allowed me to feel her emotions. I could tell she was being deceitful. I kept her secret though and didn't admit as much in front of Pam and Chow; proving just how much of a liability she was to me. I made poor decisions where she was concerned.

I just couldn't stand feeling her afraid of me. Mainly, though, I knew our time would come and I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize that future. So I let her deny her knowledge of Bill's stupid fucking project that would probably get us all murdered by the Queen and go on this suicide mission. I not only allowed her, my most precious asset, not to mention anything else she meant to me, to put herself in danger this way, but I actually followed her myself. Yes, she was definitely a liability; a truly dangerous one.

If I had any sense at all I would drain her and end it, but I knew that there was no way that was going to happen. If anything, she was a true cure for the boredom I'd developed after my long years of the same old things. She was anything but boring. Not only was she beautiful with the sweetest scent I'd ever encountered in a human, but she was vibrant and exciting and never responded the way I expected. I chuckled to myself, remembering how she asked me to kill Lorena for her; definitely not boring.

I consulted her emotions again and found her fear and anxiety to be overwhelming any feelings of relief she'd had before. A feeling close to worry was surfacing in the back of my mind. It was hard to recognize. It had been a long time since I'd felt something even close for someone other than myself.

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed the good for nothing mongrel that had deserted Sookie in her time of need.

"Sookie?" Alcide answered gruffly, concern coloring his tone. This was not good at all.

"It is Northman. Is Sookie not with you? She was headed for your parking garage last I saw her." I answered, beginning to pace in front of the door that would soon allow my exit.

"I haven't heard from her since last night. She's ok? The staking?" He replied completely uselessly.

I growled in frustration and hung up. Of course Sookie had no phone of her own. That would be too convenient. In all the time I'd know her, she had been anything but. If she was mine...when she was mine, this no cell phone business would change. She would not only have the best cell phone money could buy, with a GPS device, but that yellow piece of shit car of hers would be history too. I could just imagine the trouble magnet that she was breaking down on the side of the road in Bum Fuck, Louisiana. I'd been damned if I lost my cure for boredom to some redneck hillbilly serial killer.

Such thoughts were not helping my current state of mind as I continued to pace. I felt the sun begin its final decent and placed my hand on the door knob. Finally, after what felt like eternity of Sookie's increasing fear, I felt it was safe to make my escape. I stood back and kicked the door from its hinges and immediately took flight, calling to my blood again to lead me to her.

I found myself headed in the direction of Alcide's apartment building when I was assaulted with intense panic and pain. The force of the emotions almost caused me to fall from the sky. I was wrong, Sookie had not escaped. She was still in danger. As much as it was unbearable to do so, I made myself focus on her pain and flew to her as fast as I could.

I was getting closer as another jolt rippled through me. The pain was now shadowed by anger, humiliation and shame. I didn't have time to worry about the possible reasons for the change before her panic took over and clouded everything else.

I landed just outside the parking garage and was trying to decipher the direction I needed to go, when the loud screech of bending metal rang through the garage, echoing off the walls.

I sped in the direction of the noise and was met with the sweet scent of Sookie's blood. I quickly located the car in the far corner and leaned over the now jagged hole in the trunk. I was unprepared for the sight that met me. Bill was naked and leaning over Sookie's body, holding his hand to her mangled neck. She was so pale that I would have sworn she was gone if I hadn't been able to feel her fading emotions. Her eyes met mine through the hole and immediately her fear was replaced with relief and a swelling of an emotion that was almost foreign to me.

In any other circumstance I might have found myself ecstatic to receive such a welcoming from her. In this instance, however, it just made me worry more. What had he done to her? Her lips almost twitched into a smile and only my vampire hearing allowed me to interpret her greeting.

"Eric…" she whispered, and then she was gone.