"Besides, I would never leave you, I love-"
I was splashed in the face with icy water and snapped to. I swung around looking for Eric. Not only was he not there, but my hands were chained to the ceiling above my head. I was in the nightmare place. The place my house had flickered to. The lone light flickered and swung above my head, revealing only small parts of the room at one time and the air stank with age and rot.
Whoever splashed me, skittered out of sight. My head felt heavier than ever and I struggled to remember who I was. The past- my human life was over, long over and I was queen of Louisiana, Queen to Eric Northman. My brother- my brother was gone. My friends were gone. My human life was dangled before me and snatched away. Again! I screamed aloud, the grief fresh all over again and blood ran down my cheeks. I yanked at the chains, but it was no use, they were secure.
"You'll find they won't budge." A woman said, emerging from the darkness.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Do you not know?"
I blinked back the fog that seemed to engulf my entire brain, confusing me about who I was; when I was.
"Cartimandua." I said darkly.
She smiled ominously in return and I knew what I dreaded was true; I was vampire.
"I'm sure you're wondering what year it is." She chuckled.
"What the frickin hell did you do to me?!" I growled and yanked at my chains fiercely, with zero success. My fangs dropped and it felt weird to have them.
"Oh, just sent you on a little vacation, your highness. Did you like it?"
I yanked again, making her smile.
"Yes, show me the fiend that you are!" She got excited.
That stopped me dead, excuse the pun. But, I was no fiend! I was pissed and disoriented and really heartsick, but I wasn't a fiend. I fought my instincts and retracted my fangs.
"No." I spat back. "I won't give you the satisfaction. You don't know me, but I'm nothing like you think I am; my Queendom is not what you think it is. Yet you want to kill us all and you want us to prove you right in the process. Sorry, that's not me."
She looked me up and down with scrutiny, mulling over my words and rubbing her hands together. Sparks and crackles of energy made little blue and purple tendrils up and down her fingers, hands and forearms.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? A do-gooder vampire?"
"Not really. More like a woman just living her unlife, harming none." I answered honestly.
"But what's your story? Some people think you're a fake; it would be clever to use the name of a fierce warrior to catch attention; to gain notoriety and strike fear in the hearts of your enemies. But I don't think that's the case. You have magic about you and your modern personality isn't natural, it's been developed. I think you're actually her, and you're of the fae" I looked her up and down right back.
"You think?" She smiled.
"Well, it would explain why you're so renowned for your battles and strength, ferocity; and the only place I've seen magic that's close to yours is around fae." I tried to shrug but couldn't.
"You've run into my kind before?"
"You could say that." I tightened my mouth. "Niall Brigant is my Great, Great Grandfather."
Her eyes flashed wide and and magic tendrils moved through them.
"Is that so?"
"You're Brigante, are you not? Do you know him?"
"I did. When he was just a little thing on my knee. He's my nephew. How does he fare?"
"Well, I haven't seen him in a hundred years, of course. He said there wasn't anyone left on this side when he sealed this world off from Fae. Except a couple, but you weren't one of them... Where did you come from?" I scrutinized her with my eyes.
" I wasn't here when Fae was sealed off, I didn't even know it had been. I've been...around." She raised a brow.
"So we are kin." I said, praying that made a difference to her.
"If you tell the truth." She replied.
"Touché. Would it help if I told you that my fae blood makes me a vampire unlike any you've met?"
"Depends on your differences."
"I'm not nocturnal." I shot straight out.
"How do you survive?"
"I'm impervious to the sun."
"You are just full of surprises! Come sunrise, we're testing that, of course." She warned me with a point of her finger.
"Counting on it."
"You are quite the powerful woman, aren't you?" She asked.
"You could say the same." We looked at each other for a moment. "Tell me, where did you send me?" I asked.
"Well, you were making things difficult for me and so I snatched you up in your sleep and brought you here, where I locked you in a trance, so to speak. I couldn't kill you, obviously. If I did, your husband would know instantly and then I have nothing to volley with." She clapped her hands together loudly and with a high energy. She was a real go getter.
"So, the idea was to keep you put of the way and well preserved while I wage my war. You will make my winnig so easily done. Hostages eternally make such wonderful tools of compliance." Cartimandua smiled a large smile, putting her tongue on the front of her teeth and stared into the distance at her victory. "Where was I? Ah, yes! I needed to keep you out of my way, and the best way to keep anyone out of the way is to give them what they really want." I looked at her questioningly.
"Oh, your human life, duh." She smiled dazzlingly at me in answering.
"So, all of it was fake?" I was furious.
"Completely." She nodded. "But a perfect replica, I must say. You were so at home, so relaxed. You clearly feel you never lived up to your full human potential and that bothers you, so clung to it all so quickly. Happy to be home. So, I kept you busy with your every day human life, but you started to remember things and see bits and pieces of reality. You came back for a moment, then went under again, so I just had you splashed." She shrugged.
"The ghosts?" I squinted. They were real.
"Yes, they were just memories of your real life, flashes of this place." She held up her hands and looked around. "Even locked in magic, you felt guilt for the death of your friends, I certainly didn't expect that!"
"You!" I flared up.
"Tsk, tsk. Watch your tongue. Remember who you're talking to." She raised a brow.
"Was it fun for you? Did you get to watch the show?!"
"I did, actually. Your friend, Alcide, was he really like that?"
"He was, once upon a time." I answered a bit sadly.
Oh, Alcide isn't dead. He is a very old man. He's lived a full life and ran the Longtooth pack for fifty years. He married and never had the children he didn't want. He's happy, but he's lost his mind a little. He forgets I'm a vampire sometimes, so that's when I visit. Between you and me, his old sniffer isn't what it once was. So, he remembers me as I was. I take him soup and we play penuckle, you know, old folk stuff. That's what we are, a couple 'o old folk friends. It hurt to see him that way and the fresh memory of a young, sound minded Alcide made it sting all the more.
"How long was I gone?" I asked her bitterly.
"In the other world?"
I shook my head. "Oh, about two weeks, give or take. Only felt like a day, huh?" She smiled wickedly. "That's part of the magics." She whispered as though she were giving me the recipe to an old family dish.
"I've never met anyone with magic like yours."
"And you never will. I have yet to meet anyone more powerful and I hid for half a millennium to grow this strong."
"Why do you want to wipe us out?" I asked, deeply curious. "We can't be a threat to you now."
"Same sob story as everyone, I suppose." She picked at the edge of her perfectly manicured nails. "They slaughtered my village a couple thousand years ago. Little Niall being one of the few survivors."
Yeah, sure, that's anyone's motive for doing anything, I thought to myself.
"Yeah, but why now? And why zombies?"
She shrugged. "I just woke up one day and realized that I could. And why waste lives when there's so many dead people doing nothing?"
Cold yet practical.
"Don't you feel anything?" I asked, disgusted by her callousness.
"Don't you?" She retorted.
"Yes! That why I can't see how you can wipe out an entire people without shedding a tear!"
"You're not a people. You aren't alive."
"True, but we were and we feel, we love, we grieve. Imagine the grief that will sweep the world once you've done this. In this day and age, many of us are in contact with our human families. They would miss us!" She looked at the ground and I thought I saw shame.
"You have unnaturally long lives." She added as though it simplified everything. Maybe for her it did.
"And you don't?" I retorted.
"We are magical creatures." She argued.
"Are we not? We are dead yet we are alive. Is that not magic to you?" I said, loosely quoting Bill.
"Look, this conversation is getting a little old. We're related and you have feelings, so zippidy doo da for you, that isn't going to change my mind. And tonight, I wil beleaguer your little fiefdom and finally control it. From there, I begin to destroy the royal lines one by one." She began to walk away but turned around after I asked another question.
"Why start with me?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Because, you and your husband are the strongest, of course. It's tactical and it takes from the hope of others. Hope is a dangerous weapon, my Dear. In order to conquer, you must first unarm your enemy."
"I'll remember that." I promised. "For when I kill you."
Before she could answer me, the ceiling broke open with a thundering explosion. Men in royal military uniforms jumped down, surrounding me. Cartimandua screamed and her zombies came rushing in and our men met in a bloody collision. Cartimandua tried to rush at me but was swept back by the battle.
The floor in front of me dropped out and Eric poked his head up, taking in his surroundings before landing his gaze on me. I smiled widely at his beautiful face.
"Hello, Wife."
"Hello, Loverboy." I replied with relief. "Miss me?"
"You have no idea." He pulled himself out and levetated to my chains connected to the ceiling.
"No!" Cartimandua screamed, sending magical currents spewing from her fingertips. They struck Eric and he fell to the floor, none he worse for wear as the purple and blue magics consuming his body dissipated.
"Hey!" I yelled back. Eric jumped up, pissed, fangs extended. He grew impatient and grabbed the chains in one hand and yanked. They crashed to the floor with a deafening clang.
"I tried that!" I said annoyed.
"Well, I'm older." He shrugged. "Nice place." He looked around.
"It is?" I asked in confusion.
"Too bad we can't stick around." He held his hand out to me and I took it. Eric curled me into his chest and I locked eyes with Cartimandua as we flew out the hole in the ceiling.
"This isn't over!" She screamed at us. I knew that, though. I wasn't finished with her yet.
From above, I recognized the place as Sophie-Annes and remembered that the dead guy had said Cartimandua was holed up here. It had been heavily restored and changed a bit over the years, but the structure of the building was unmistakable a d more beautiful than ever. Now Eric's comment made sense. At least I knew where to find her. Unfortunately they also knew where to find me.
Eric landed outside the gated property and hurried me into an armored van I had never seen before. The inside was filled with gadgets and weapons and vampires to use those weapons.
"Your majesty."
"Your highness."
"My Queen!" Greyson greeted me as I sat down.
"Greyson. Always good to see a friendly face." I smiled at him.
"You're okay?"
"Of course, I'm okay." I lied to everyone. Sure, I was physically fine. I was dead, after all, but I knew the place where I had been was going to stick with me. It was already hurting. I quickly remembered that my face was covered in red tears and was thankful that I couldn't blush. I didn't like appearing vulnerable, even emotionally.
One of the vampires at a computer touched his ear and spoke with the button pressed down.
"The Eagle has landed. I repeat, the Eagle is in the nest, people. Good work. Circle on back home. And don't get followed."
"You're okay?" I asked Eric. "The last time I saw you, you were so sick. I was so worried." I burrowed my head in his chest and let him stroke my hair as the driver started the van and got us the hell out of dodge.
"Right as rain." He assured me. "After we all woke up and you were gone, I panicked. A bit. For whatever reason, Cartimandua left the rest of us and the Dr. fixed me up as quickly as possible so I could get to you." He said, reserved.
"She said she didn't know if there was a cure." I was confused.
"Oh, there is a cure. Of sorts." He said, looking back at something I couldn't see, but it clearly disturbed him.
"What did she do?" I bit my lip.
"Sookie, she basically drained me dry and then flushed out my body and my blood before putting it back in me. 'She called it a blood transfusion of extreme measures.' It worked." He smiled.
"Ouch." I replied.
"You have no idea. It took three days. She said it was clinging onto the living cells in my blood and flushed it four times before putting it back. It left me incredibly weak and very cranky."
"Aww." I said, making a baby noise and kissing his cheek.
He turned his head and planted one on my lips. I kissed him back with vigor, feeling the bond of maker and progeny coursing between us. It made me think back to the place Cartimandua had sent me to in my mind. Over the decades I had forgotten how much Eric had reserved himself from me when I was human. Even when we were bonded, our connection was almost nothing compared to what it was now. Even the way he hugged me was different; more intense. And I'm pretty sure my dream world made it seem like we were closer than we actually were when I was human.
When I was human and he held me, I loved it, of course, but it almost felt like there was a wall between us. He treated me as precious when I was human. When he held me now, he held onto me as though I were his life force, like our flesh molded into one being when our arms were around each other. I counted my lucky stars, letting the butterflies run wild in my tummy.
"So, Cartimandua. Report." He told me, winding his arm around my waist and keeping me close to his side.
"She's not evil." I felt it was important to start with that.
"Come again." He said flatly.
"She isn't evil, Eric and I don't know if we should kill her."
"Sookie, Lover, this is the woman who burned your palace, killed your friends, poisoned me and kidnapped you."
"I know that. She's been wronged, she's angry, but her enemy is only us. It isn't humans and I don't think she is evil."
"Sometimes I forget how very young you are. She will destroy us all given half the chance. Taking her out is our only option." He said seriously. I nodded my head, knowing he was right.
"What reserves you so?" He asked me.
"Eric, we were right. She's the original Cartimandua, not a fake and she's my kin."
"No shit?" He asked, catching up the the twenty first century, still behind.
"No, shit." I repeated. "She's Niall's Aunt."
"Holy hell."
"I know." I answered.
"Well, how are we gonna kill her now?" He asked, only out of respect for me and my feelings.
"The same way she was gonna kill me; by not letting that matter." I said, feeling as cold as I was behaving. "I may not think she is evil, but we most certainly cannot let her kill us and destroy everything."
He nodded in agreement, clearly relieved that I wasn't gonna get in the way of Cartimandua being terminated.
"Have you come up with any plans of attack in my absence?" I asked. By the looks of things, he had at least gotten some things together.
"Some. I have rallied troops from almost every domain."
"We have an army?" I asked, squinting.
"We do now." He smiled. I wasn't all that surprised, to be honest. The kingdoms would have to listen. Nobody wants to be wiped out.
Which was exactly why I knew I had to find her weakness to ensure our survival. Everyone has got a weakness. Find it, play it, win.
"Hey. Did you ever try to get ahold of my cousins?" I suddenly remembered Claude and Dermot.
"I..haven't gotten through to him." He almost stuttered.
"Meaning?"
" I think he saw me call once and then blocked my number."
I threw my hands up in exasperation.
"What if something had happened to me and you needed to tell them?" I exclaimed.
"Sookie, something did happen to you and I did need to tell them."
He was right, but let's face it, it's not like it was the first time I've been kidnapped.
"I will go see them." I told him. "Hopefully, they'll open the door for me."
"Maybe."
"Probably." I corrected him to which he just raised his brows.
The next day, I stood on the porch of my kin, nervous to my core. I was dead worried they wouldn't want anything to do with me. I smoothed my hair and took an unnecessary deep breath before knocking on the door. I waited and began to grow worried when the door flew open.
"Sookie! My beautiful niece!" My Uncle Dermot cried and pulled me into a tight hug.
"Dermot, it's so good to see you." I squealed and returned his embrace.
He pulled back to look me in my face and I felt a stir of sadness in my gut at looking at him. You see, my Uncle was a dead ringer for my brother when he was young. It made it difficult. But I would pull through.
"Sookie, we have missed you."
"I haven't." Claude said sarcastically, leaning against the doorframe nonchalantly.
"Hey, Claude!" I smiled at him brightly.
"Fanger." He greeted me. Okay, ouch.
"Hate me?" I asked him.
"No more than I did before. Wanna bite me?" He raised his brow.
"No more than I did before." I joked, much to Dermot's delight.
"Have I earned a hug?.." I asked a bit standoffish. It felt like I only saw him yesterday, thanks to Cartimandua. Of course, that wasn't actually the case and I had missed him. The real him.
"I suppose." His hug was warm, despite his words.
"You stink, though." He wrinkled his nose as he pulled away.
"And you're mouthwatering." I winked at him wickedly. He was going through the motions, but he was obviously reserved about me. I couldn't blame him, but it hurt nonetheless. Though, I suppose it was better than outright hatred. I'll take it.
"Can I come inside? I promise to not slaughter y'all." Better to face the awkwardness head on.
"Of course! Come in! Come in!" Dermot ushered me inside as Claude glared at him.
"So, what brings you by so suddenly? Out of the blue." Claude asked. As I was about to answer him, more of his saltiness leaked through. "After years of no contact."
I sighed audibly. "Claude, my dear cousin, you haven't changed a bit."
"Makes one of us." He shrugged.
"Yeah, if I hadn't, I'd be dead right now." I said a bit sharply.
"Aren't you?" He squinted.
"Do you wanna know why I'm here or not?" I said, curt. There was a certain kind of way you had to handle Claude. He waved his hand at me to proceed as though he were the royal one. I supposed he was, at that.
"Cartimandua." I said simply.
"My dear Aunt, yes. Missing for centuries; presumed dead." Dermot said.
"Not as dead as we thought." I held up a finger. That really caught their attention and they leaned in closer to catch my every word.
"She kidnapped me, burned my palace, poisoned my husband and killed more than one of my dear friends." I sighed, remembering the way Verbena screamed at me to have saved her inside my fantasy world.
I use the word "fantasy" loosely. It played off of my human life on such a real level that it had covered every detail. It even frustrated the tar outta me. It was meant to look real so I would believe it. And oh, boy, did I!
"Why?" Claude asked.
"Apparently it's on her agenda to wipe out my species. I was hoping y'all would help me on account of the fact that we're family. I know you don't care much for me or my kind, we came close to taking you out, after all. But I am working from the inside to change the vampire community and the way we effect the world. I am working on change; I just want the opportunity to see that work pay off." I plead my case.
They looked back and forth from each other to me, communicating solely through body language and glances. It was impressive. They didn't do this when we all lived together, but now they had been living together for a century.
Fae love being around each other. They're very affectionate; touchy feely, and don't do well without others of their kind. They aren't meant to be solitary creatures. It's why first Claude and then Dermot both eventually came to live with me. It was a tad awkward for me, being a human and all, but I had to admit; I felt better when they were around. Even now, I felt a wholeness, a oneness from being with them. Surely they would see reason.
"You're gonna kill her." Dermot wasn't asking. I didn't want to lie so I only looked at him.
"Is there another way?" Asked Claude.
"I hope so." I shrugged honestly.
"I don't want to kill her. She's my blood, too. Blood means a lot to my people." I half chuckled. "I certainly don't want to spill fae blood. And I don't want to lose any more of my friends."
Claude put his finger to his lips before waving it at us.
"I just got a better idea." He said. "What if Dermot and I run interference for negotiations?"
"I'd be open to it, but I highly doubt she would be." I held out my hands.
"It could work." Dermot agreed.
"We have no way of knowing." I said.
"Unless we go by and ask her." Dermot shrugged and turned his mouth down.
"Wait, she's hostile." I warned.
"Yes." Claude said back to Dermot. "Where is she?" He directed his question at me.
"No, I don't know about this." I shook my head.
"Where?!" Claude demanded.
"Sophie-Annes' old place, but you don't understand!"
"She's family." Dermot said agreeably.
"That didn't seem to matter when she was ruining my life!" I argued.
"We're not dead." Claude pointed out icily.
"True, but if you go in there on behalf of the dead, who knows what she will do to you!"
"Nothing! She's my aunt!" Dermot argued back.
"Yes, but she isn't the type to let anything or anyone get in her way!"
"Sookie, she's fae." Claude said reasonably.
"She's insane." I countered.
"We will see. I'll call you tomorrow."
"Claude, no. You can't do this!"
"I rescind your invitation." He said triumphantly.
"Fuck." I put my head back as I felt the whoosh that accompanied me whenever I got kicked out of someone's place. It didn't happen very often, but I still hated it.
I stared at closed door in front of my face. That went swell!
I turned back and got into the Corvette. I took Eric's car sometimes, since it was amazing. An old 2017! I started the purring engine and touched the button at my ear which displayed my phone in a hologram before me. I scrolled down using my eyes until I found Eric's text conversation. I typed in the air in front of my fingers.
"Didn't go great. They wanna run interference for negotiations. Tried to talk em out of it but they booted me. Xo." I deleted it instead of sending it. I would get home before he saw it anyway.
I looked at the clock. Only two. I decided to stop by the old folks place while I was in Monroe. I stopped by the store first. Grabbed a True Blood and a couple other things. I headed to my destination wiyh rosy cheeks. I pulled in and let the robotic valet take my husbands car.
I entered and went to the desk. "Hey, Alberto." I greeted the man brightly.
"Mrs. Northman, what a wonderful surprise!" He smiled back.
"Is it a good day?" I asked him.
"I believe so. He's lucid!"
"He is?" I asked, feeling tears that threatened to push their way up. He nodded and pressed a button. An orderly came forward to take me to him.
'Don't make eye contact, don't make eye contact!' She muttered in her brain before I could stop myself from hearing.
"Hi!" I smiled brightly at her but I think she was afraid, so I did my best to keep quiet as I followed her in her purple scrubs. I guess she had meant me. She looked nervous leaving me alone with him, but still did.
I knocked before entering.
"Hi!" I smiled extra tight so as not to cry.
"Sookie Stackhouse?!" Old Alcide Hervaux asked in his raspy, old man voice.
"Yes, it's me."
"Why, you're as beautiful as the day I met you! Come sit with me."
I sighed in relief and strolled in.
"I brought you some things."
" I am a lucky old man to have you looking after me." He smiled and I smiled brightly back.
"I brought you a new sudoku book, old man." I tossed it at the foot of his bed and his eyes lit up with excitement.
"Aaaand, your favorite soup!" I pulled out the steaming to go bowl.
"Yum!" He smiled and licked his chops. "Creamy chicken noodle?"
"You know it." I handed it to him with a spoon and planted a firm kiss on his bald head.
His fingers fumbled it a little and I took it from him, not wanting him to burn himself. Grabbing his tray, I rolled it to him in his rocker with his quilt over his legs. I got the remote from the tray and turned off his tv. The portable bowl had a lid that I removed and set it before him.
"How are you?" He asked as he took a delightful first spoonful.
"I'm good! I think about you a lot." Worried may be more accurate. I ached to tell him all about my Cartimandua troubles as I once would have, and he would've listened with good ears, a good heart and a warm hug. But he was long past those days, so I withheld it all.
"Me, too. I have so much to tell you!"
"Yeah?"
"That mean old coot in 314 finally kicked the bucket." He explained.
"Alcide!" I chided him playfully.
"Well, he did so! And this pretty thing keeps coming to visit. I think she likes me." He smiled. He was talking about me and being coy. Sill a charmer.
"Oh, really?" I smiled back.
"Yes! Sookie Stackhouse!" My face dropped. He wasn't joking. He recognized me when I walked in and now he didn't. I fought back tears.
"Is she nice?" I made small talk.
"The nicest! She has these big blue eyes and hair like the sun! She isn't a filthy fanger like you. I can smell you!"
Now he was getting upset. Not a good day after all.
"Well, I had better get going!" I said, still nicely and stood up.
"If you see that Sookie, you put in a good word for me." He pointed in a discriminatory fashion.
"You got it!" I lingered this time when I kissed him. After all, with everything going on with Cartimandua, it may be the last time I see him. I needed to make arrangements, so he was cared for once I was gone. I took one last long look at him before walking away.
"Tell her I love her!" He called after me.
"She's loves you, too." I said without turning back, tears down my face.
When I got back to the front desk, I was angry.
"He needs better meds!" I told Alberto.
"He has meds."
"Not the best! I don't pay you as handsomely as I do for him to suffer like this!" I ripped his phone from the hook that started ringing while I was mid sentence. "Fix it!" I stormed out.
I felt bad for treating Alberto so shabbily, but I hated seeing Alcide like that! I hated it! I stopped in my tracks when I saw the old lady in the parking lot.
"Sookie, what a wonderful surprise!" She called and I wiped away my tears with vampire speed before she was close enough to see them.
"Mrs. Hervaux, how are you?" I smiled and took her gingerly by the hands.
"When will you just call me Annie?" She smiled sweetly.
"Someday, Mrs. Hervaux. How are you?" I repeated my question.
"Oh, I'm still old. How are you?"
"Well." I lied with a polite tone. "Let me help you to the door." I guided her forward.
"You are so sweet. You know, when we were young, I just hated you! I didn't want you around and I thought you wanted to steal Alcide (we both know you could've.)" She chuckled and I stared sheepishly at the ground. "But you turned out to be the best friend I ever had. You've been so good to us! Putting Alcide up like this. Let me make it up to you!"
"I wouldn't dream of it." I smiled and kissed her cheek.
When Alcide got sick, she put him here because they had such a high success rate when it came to restoring the minds of the elderly and the sick. However, Alcide didn't take like they thought he would and the more time wore on, the more of Alcide's life savings went into it.
When he got sick, he was a wealthy man having inherited his fathers business when he was young. Eighteen months later, they were financially dwindling. Mrs Hervaux was in danger of going bankrupt, Alcide was gonna have to go home, and they would be on a typical, tight budget like most old people. I about lost my mind when I found out and I took over his payments. That was three years ago. He isn't any better, but he isn't any worse. If he can have his mind back before he goes, I won't give up. He's the last mortal alive from when I was human. He meant so much to me, I had to help.
I walked her inside and Alberto got scared when he saw me coming.
"I'm sorry." I said as I reached down and finished cleaning my mess he was tending to.
"You're hardly the first one to get upset over a loved one." He smiled nervously.
"No, I was out of line." I plugged his phone back in.
"It's already forgotten." He was afraid, but his manners were sincere.
"You're always so good to us." I thanked him. He smiled again and beckoned the orderly back over and she took old Mrs. Hervaux by the arm and led her back to her husband.
"Look, Alberto. Some things are going kinda sideways in my life. I can't really go in to detail, but I need to make arrangements while I'm here so Alcide is always covered. His bill, I mean."
He looked at me concerned, but took all the information I gave him and swore to me on his fathers grave Alcide would be covered.
"Thank you so much!" I smiled.
"You're always most welcome, Mrs. Northman. You have a wonderful day!"
"You, too!" I smiled before leaving.
I turned on some old country music on my way home. As I reached the Shreveport city limits, I saw flashing lights come on behind me. Oh, great! I really wasn't in the mood for this.
The officer approached and I handed him my license and registration.
"Do you know why I pulled you over, Ma'am?"
"Yes. I was speeding, I ran a red and I shifted lanes without using my signal." I said honestly.
" I only saw the speeding." He chuckled at me, clearly dazzled. Being dead wasn't without perks.
"Well, then, I guess that's it." I smiled back more friendly than necessary.
"Oh, I don't know." He puched his hat up a bit to get a better look at me.
"This car is registered to a Northman."
"Yes, that's my husband."
'The good ones are always taken.' He said in his head. Flattering.
" I guess you don't wanna get dinner then?" He really tried it anyway. Wow.
"No, thank you." I smiled.
"Alrighty then. So, we have you for speeding, running a red and changing lanes without signaling." He slipped back into cop mode and flipped open his ticket book. What a prick.
"Well, maybe dinner would be okay." I flirted so he'd look at me. Once he did, I caught him with my gaze and laid my blanket of influence thickly over his mind.
"You know, I don't think this is the sorta thing a big, strong man like yourself needs to worry about." I said reasonably. All cops wore anti-glamour contact lenses...during the night. Daytime was my personal playground. Not that I did this often.
"It really isn't!" He laughed as though I were speaking his mind for him.
"You could let me off with a warning." I said coyly.
"A warning? For what, being so pretty? No, you have a nice day, pretty lady."
"Really?! Oh, thanks so much!" I feigned surprise.
"You sure I can't buy you dinner?" He smiled stupidly.
"Nah, I wouldn't eat it anyway." I dropped fang and he jumped a little, but ultimately laughed, due to my influence.
"You drive safe!" He laughed genially as he made his way back to his cruiser.
I sighed as I made it home around dusk. What a long day, unfortunately I couldn't drop dead until tomorrow morning with Eric. I brewed some BrewBlood and flipped through the paper until Eric and Pam rose.
Pam wandered out first.
"Hey. BrewBlood?" I offered.
"Please." She sat across from me and I poured her a mug of the steaming reddish brown liquid. Looked disgusting, tasted amazing.
"Sleep well?"
"Fang-tastic!" She stretched, making me jealous. Technically speaking, vampires don't need to stretch, but it sure does feel good.
"What did you do today? You reek of fae and dog."
"Yeah, I went to see my family. It didn't go great, but I'll wait for Eric to get into that."
"And the dog smell?"
"I went to see Alcide."
"When are you gonna stop with that?" She asked a bit irked. Pam, the ever practical one had assumed that once I was a vampire I would sever ties with all non vamps. It was beyond her that I still cared. Which was fine.
"I don't expect you to understand why, but I do expect you to respect it." I nodded.
"He hates you."
"He does not! He just told me today that if I see Sookie I should give her his love."
She looked at me as though I had said the saddest thing. Which I had. But whereas I considered it depressing, she considered it pathetic.
"I'm not giving up on him." I said firmly.
"Why?"
"I want his last days of life to be filled with love and be of good quality. I want him to die a happy man. Not someone angry and confused who doesn't recognize his own wife."
"You want to give him his dignity back?"
"Damn straight!" I nodded.
"Give who his dignity back?" Eric asked as he came into the kitchen. He poured himself a mug and downed it in one swig before latching his arms around me and kissing me passionately.
"Alcide." I said once my lips were free and his forehead was pressed against mine; our bodies locked against each other.
"Ah. I thought I smelled him on you." He growled playfully in my ear as he walked by, making me giggle.
Eric was really angry at first when I chose to remain friends with Alcide, but over the years he got over it. Now that he was just an old man with little memory, it didn't seem to bother Eric at all. Quite the contrary, he was supportive. He thinks I need more hobbies. He says he wants me to feel like my life is full. He overcompensates to make me happy because he thinks that some days I'd rather be dead. He's wrong, but why not let him shower me with concern? I'm not one to argue with affection.
"So, Claude and Dermot don't know anything." I informed Eric.
"Are you sure? It could be an act."
"If it was, it was a really good one, because I was basically educating them on the subject. Dermot said she's been presumed dead for centuries."
"Hmm. And are you on good terms with them?" He asked as a concerned husband rather than as my superior.
"Well, they forced me to tell them where she is so they could run interference for negotiations and then they kicked me out. So, yes?" I sipped the hot contents of my mug.
"That is a good idea." He pointed at me.
"Sure, until she kidnaps them and locks them in a magical world that makes them forget the real one!" They both looked at me worried.
I held my hand in front of me in an urgent manner. "I've been places." I said feeling haunted by the steak I never got to have with Jason and Michelle.
That's what hurt the most; not getting that one last dinner with my brother. It had left me feeling desperate to fix Alcide, since he was the last from my human days. Non vampire wise.
"And I'm terrified that she'll do something to them."
"I'm not. It's her family." Eric shrugged.
"And not yours." I had my rebuttle ready.
"So, you've got this all figured out, huh? They're expendable to me because I'm not related?" He said icily.
"Yes." I said being totally honest.
"That is true, and they are, but I honestly believe she would not hurt them."
"I still do, which is why I want to beat them to her."
"You want us to counter attack before she can attack?" Pam weighed in.
"Exactly. Just take her out. Stop this before it gets any uglier."
Eric smiled at me. He always appreciates a bit of blood lust and I must confess, I was feeling it.
"Okay, how do you want to do this?" He asked me.
"Well, it should take them about a week to make arrangements to cover for work and pack and make the drive, so we have a little bit of time." I went and got a large piece of paper and some markers and began to map out Sophie-Annes palace.
"I want men here, here and here." I said placing X's on the walls the near entrances.
"The army will attack from inside the walls while we come in through the hole in the floor where you rescued me. I bet you anything that with the exits blocked, it's the first place they'll try to evacuate her from. I want her headed to that hole but, just in case, let's have the men on the walls fire grenade launchers to draw her down to the basement. We come up out of the hole and bind her magical powers. For that we're gonna need a witch- Scratch that! Make it several. I've seen firsthand how powerful she is." Eric rubbed my back soothingly.
"We bind her, kill her personal guards and throw everything we've got at her until something eventually kills her." I shrugged.
Pam and Eric exchanged glances. "That's actually pretty good." Pam conceded.
"Well, I've put some thought into it." I tilted my head.
"It could use some refinements and some polishing, but it is doable." Eric agreed.
Over the course of the next week, I worked day and night alongside my top soldiers to refine every detail. Some minor changes occurred, but that hole they dug in the floor remained our focal point.
By day five it had all come together so beautifully, we couldn't plan any better.
"You know, we may not survive this fight." I said, laying with Eric, our naked legs intertwined.
"I prefer to look on the bright side." I heard the purr inside his chest where my head lay.
"I think I'm gonna drive to Monroe and see Alcide. Just in case." I looked up at him and he put his lips on mine.
"Go if it suits you, but I won't be letting anything happen to you. Not this time."
The next morning I strolled back into shady trees retirement and rejuvination center.
"Hey, Alberto." I smiled.
"Mrs. Northman, back so soon. How wonderful." He beckoned to the girl in the scrubs. She was the same one as before and still looked frightened.
"Hi, I'm Sookie." I smiled and put my hand out, forcing the Southerner in her to come forth.
"Daisy." She smiled and out her hand out. I shook it gently.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Likewise." She lied politely.
"I'm not gonna hurt you, Daisy." I said, following her down the hall.
"Really?" She scrunched her brows at me, worried.
"Really." I smiled in return. "In fact, on my way out, I'm gonna tell them what a good job you do." I nodded.
"Why would you do that?" She asked.
"So that we are one step closer to friendship. Really, I wouldn't hurt you. I've never killed anyone!"
"Not once?"
"Not as a vampire." I winked at her wickedly and she smiled. I couldn't believe that worked. It was true, as a vampire, I had never killed a human. As a vampire.
I strolled into his room.
"Hey, old man!"
"Fanger!" He spat back. "You're not my friend."
"I brought you some stuff." I said, ignoring his jabs. I tossed a crossword puzzle book on his bed and pulled out some soup.
"Eat this." I said curtly, putting it in front of him already opened with a spoon. No need to play nice when he's being so nasty. Besides, on the way over I had thought of something I never tried before and I wanted to test it.
"Is it poisoned?"
"Only one way to find out." I raised a brow and he popped the spoon in his mouth. Whether he trusted me or wanted to die..that was unclear, but he ate it all.
"Do you remember when we were young and we were friends?" I asked sincerely. I needed to know.
"I would never be friends with the likes of a fanger!"
"Well, I was alive back then." I said softly.
"Hmm. Bet you were a real looker." He scanned me up and down.
"Thanks." I chuckled. "D'you remember?"
"Nah." He waved his hand at me and finished his soup.
"Good." I said, moving his tray and scooting close enough to make him really uncomfortable.
"Hey! I wasn't through with that!"
"It was gone." I said, placing my hands on both sides of his head.
"Let me go!"
"Hold still." I said firmly, but he began thrashing and yelling. Orderlies came running.
"Mrs. Northman, let him go!" Daisy yelled at me.
A man rushed forward to grab me.
"Stay back!" I hissed, turning my head to him and dropping fang. I had one chance to try this, just one and I wasn't letting anyone ruin it!
I turned to Alcide and said his name several times, but he ignored me.
"Pack master!" His head snapped around. I caught his gaze and glamoured his faster than you could say 'Werewolf.'
Once he was willing putty in my hands, I delved into his brain. I had never combined glamouring with my telepathy and it was chaotic. I pushed past the hysteria and the fake memories that somehow shimmered with insincerity. I swam past emotions and a physical feelings and entered the universe that was his brain.
The hippies were right, the universe really is in us all. Alcide's galaxy ebbed and pulsed in purples and blues and reds. It shrunk and grew again, clearly sick. Clearly dying.
I swam to the middle that was white and flew inside. There he was, sitting in a park. Maybe forty years old. I stepped onto the grass, barefoot, and came forward.
"Sookie." He looked up at me from his bench.
"Hello, Alcide." I said, sitting beside him.
"What are you doing here?" He asked me in an electric voice. It was his but it echoed with the eternity of his galaxy.
"I came looking for you." My voice echoed as well.
"Why?"
"I've missed you."
"And I have missed you, but this is where I belong."
"No, it isn't. You belong with Annie, with your pack."
"Ah! Annie. Such a sweet thing. Her warm heart reminded me of you. It's why I fell in love with her."
"She wants you home."
"But I am home."
"No, you've been lost to the sickness."
"The sickness?"
"You're an old man with a degenerative disease and you only know me half the time. I think it's because you're here." I blinked up at the sun that shone down with an unreal light, the universe visible behind the world we sat in.
"I don't mean to be lost."
"Oh, I know." I said sweetly, touching his face.
He reached up and touched my hand over his.
"Won't you come back out with me?" I asked him.
"I don't know if I can." He cried softly and I pulled his head to my chest. I hugged him tight as he cried.
"Why not?"
"I don't like it there."
"I know, darlin, but you have to come back out. You aren't yourself and you don't know Annie. I want to give you your dignity back."
That caught his attention and he sat up to look me in the eyes. He sniffled and nodded his head as I wiped away the stream of tears. I nodded with him and I leaned in and kissed him. Our lips connected and it wasn't romantic. It was spiritual. I locked onto him and pulled backwards, yanking him from his galaxy, back into the universe.
We passed through eons of his life before landing back in our chairs at shady trees retirement and rejuvenation center. Orderlies were shouting and someone had hold of a very scared Annie. I felt me return to myself and sat up, gasping with the weight that accompanies returning to your own body.
Alcide took a massive breath and looked around at his surroundings, then at me. I held a breath I didn't need to as I waited to see if it worked.
"Sookie?"
"Yes?" I asked nervously.
"This had better be worth it." He warned and I smiled hugely.
"Alcide?"
"Annie?" He turned to her and she gasped, happy tears running down her face.
"You haven't recognized me in years!" She cried, hugging him. He cried and hugged her back.
I stood, exhausted and made my way to the door, the room spinning.
"Mrs. Northman?" Someone called, but I couldn't focus on their voice or where it was coming from.
My eyes opened slowly and I wondered aloud where I was.
"Shady trees." Daisy said, holding onto a True Blood. I accepted it and downed the bottle, feeling me returning to my normal state.
"What did you do?" She asked, her eyes wide with wonderment.
"I have no idea." I said honestly.
"I've never seen anything like it! One minute he was crazy and the next he was himself! You know we ran blood tests and we cannot find a single shred of evidence that he was ever sick?!" She screeched at me, astounded.
"Seriously?!" I screeched back and she nodded exuberantly. Wow! I did it! I fixed Alcide!
"How long was I out?"
"A few hours."
"I need to go home." I said seriously.
I went back to Alcide's room where I found him happily chatting and giggling with Annie like they were teenagers. I couldn't help but to stand there and marvel at them. And cry a little. He eventually noticed me and lit up.
"Sookie!"
"Come inside!" Annie beckoned me forward.
I came to his bedside and sat on the edge, opposite Annie. He grabbed me and planted a fat kiss on my cheek. I smiled and waved my hand at him, but I felt the more serious element in the room.
"Annie, can I have a minute with him?"
"Of course!" She smiled at me and touched my hand. She kissed his head before walking out.
"They say I can go home soon! I can never repay you!" He said, taking both my hands.
"Don't worry about that." I told him as though I had given him change for gas.
"Listen, Alcide. This is very important." He nodded at me and gave me his undivided attention as though he were leading a pack, and wasn't a little old man.
"I'm kind of in the middle of a war. I don't know if I'm coming out of this one. That's why I tried this." I saod, touching his head. He stared at me, horrified. "Just wanted to see you again. The real you." I said, thinking of damaged Alcide and fake world Alcide.
"Now, I have and I gotta go. Got something big."
"You always do." He smiled at me sadly. "I'll see you when it's over." He said very pointedly. He grabbed me and placed a long kiss on my forehead. "Go get 'em, kid."
"Thanks." I smiled before walking out.
I ran into Annie in the hall and didn't want to worry her.
"I'll see you soon." I said to keep it brief. I kissed her cheek. "Love you."
"Love you, too." She called after me, more cheerful than I'd seen her in a decade.
Halfway home, my cell rang. I answered, assuming it was Eric.
"Sookie."
"Cartimandua?"
"Guess who I have here." She chuckled and I could hear Claude and Dermot in the background shouting over each other. I layed into the brakes and came to a full stop on the dead, pitch black highway.
"You won't hurt them. They're your family!" I said.
"Oh, I won't? Think someone who abandons their family for self advancement for half a millennium cares about sentiment?" She asked, making my blood cold.
"Come tonight. Alone. You surrender Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma to me and they live. That simple. Midnight. Don't be late." She hung up.
"Fuck!" I screamed into the empty car. Would we ever be out of the woods? I didn't know if I should kill her, but I was gonna drain her dry. Have myself a nice time.