A New Chance
Eric POV
It was the night before Halloween, and the next night I saw her for the first time wearing a fairy costume that made her shine like a star, like the moon in the dark. Nothing and no one could eclipse her, they couldn't extinguish her beauty in any way and it was the first time I felt like my heart was beating again after a thousand years of silence.
Her youth, her beauty, her will to live was amazing and I knew I was in the world to meet her. I had to meet her and suddenly nothing else mattered to me, the rest did not matter anymore and she became the center of my universe.
I, Eric Northman, vampire Sheriff of Area 5 of Louisiana, fell in love with the most beautiful woman in the world. With her smile she could light up a room with little effort. She was able to make others feel good again, as if all worries ceased to exist and there was only love, joy and an incredible will to live.
Every moment with her was like being human again. The feel of her warmth skin against mine, the beating of her heart pounding into my empty chest, her soft and full lips trapping mine like it was a matter of life or death. Every caress, every smile or word meant the world to me.
Sookie. Sookie Stackhouse.
Each time I pronounced her name I remembered every moment we spent together. Every second had been burned into my mind and I could remember every tiny gesture.
Sookie. My Sookie.
Joy invaded me when I looked at her beautiful blue eyes and for answer I received the sweetest and the most wonderful smile in the world. That was her, she was always wiling to help others, and she did. She saved me, she saved me from myself and from those who wanted to destroy me. But the price was pretty expensive.
Too expensive.
Our time together was so brief that I could barely believe fate was so cruel as to make me find Sookie and take her away from me in just one year. Why? Why couldn't I have her again when I turned her into a vampire? She begged me when she realized that she wouldn't get beat the disease that was eating her up inside, but somehow my blood wasn't even able to make her stay in this world.
I could not save her. I couldn't return the favour to her when she prevented me to find the true death. She got me back my reason, she made me see that a vampire could love too, but had been worth it? I would have given my life for her, I'd have done anything if it would have meant Sookie still remain by my side.
I was in my home office, looking at pictures of Sookie and checking boxes and boxes of her things.
We loved each other so much that I asked her to come and live with me even before knowing she was sick and she accepted. Maybe she did because she somehow knew it wouldn't be for long, I couldn't know, but the whole house was full of her memories.
I waited for three nights for her body to resurface from earth but she never did. She never returned to the world that took her life away or allowed me to hold her as I had done it hundreds of times. I didn't feel her skin against mine anymore, her sweet kisses and caresses. Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
"Eric?" Pam was at the door of my office when I looked up but I didn't even reply. She and Sookie became great friends and the idea of having a sister like Sookie made her pretty happy.
Why didn't work? I could not understand it.
"Eric, you can't go on like this." She muttered as she walked around the room looking at the framed pictures that decorated the whole place. Sookie appeared smiling in all of them. It was funny because I couldn't even remember a single moment when she was sad or crying. Not one.
"Why are you here?" I asked no more but I wasn't really interested in her answer. All I wanted was to be alone with my memories.
She sighed heavily and sat down on one of the chairs that were in front of my desk. "You know why. I know tomorrow is a very hard time for you, for everyone actually, but I do not believe to keep doing this is the best, Eric. She's not coming back and she would hate you if she knew you broke your promise."
"That promise is meaningless. It never had sense." Before biting Sookie she made me promise that whatever happened I wouldn't throw my life away. It was as if she somehow knew beforehand that it wasn't going to work, but that didn't change things. I couldn't go on as if nothing had happened because that would mean to forget Sookie and I never could do it. "If you came here to give me a speech, save it and get out. There's no need you to tell me that things will improve, Pamela." I was so mad with Sookie and myself that I couldn't stand to see anyone else. In fact, no other vampire had dared to come to see me since Sookie died. Just Pam.
"It's been ten years, Eric!" She shouted desperately. I could understand that she missed her too. During the time Pam had been vampire I had never seen her to develop an affection relationship as the one she had with Sookie. That was what made her so special, Sookie did not differentiate between vampires, werewolves, shifters or humans. No, she simply saw the best in everyone no matter they were alive or undead. "I miss her too, Eric, you have no idea how much, but keep living in the past does not make sense. Sookie is not coming back, we both know that, and we have to move on."
"I CAN'T GO ON, PAMELA!" I shouted angry. I was beginning to get tired of hearing her tell me what I should or not to do. "No matter it's been ten years or ten thousand, Pam, what I feel won't ever change." I said more calmly.
"And what about your duties as sheriff?" Great, Pam was going to try to blackmail me with anything. "Sophie-Anne begins to ask many questions and it'll only be a matter of time before she shows up in Shreveport demanding explanations, Eric. What will you do then?"
"I don't care, Pam." I didn't care if Sophie-Anne showed up at my house door, I would kill her if necessary, but I wasn't going to keep working for her. I had enough money to not have to go back to work again but not even that could help me now.
I tried everything. I even asked the witches for help, looking for a resurrection spell for Sookie but nothing seemed to work. She never came back as she should have done and I couldn't stop asking myself the same question over and over again: Why was fate so cruel with her?
"I told you to take care of everything, Pam, you're the new sheriff of the area now so you'll have to answer to the queen." It was not official, and Sophie-Anne and the Authority hadn't recognized Pam as the new sheriff, but I couldn't care less. She was very capable of taking care of everything and the rest didn't matter. "Go back to Fangtasia and take care of maintaining the order." I said no more.
Pam left slamming the door and I couldn't blame her for it.
The vampire I was disappeared because Sookie took away that part of me with her. Suddenly I felt alone, as if my existence had become a huge void that couldn't be filled by anything or anyone. I had survived in that way for the last ten years and it was becoming more and more difficult to pretend that I could go on because the idea of meeting the sun at dawn and join my Sookie was increasingly tempting. I could see her again, we could be together as we were for a whole year, and nothing would come between us.
It was decided. The next morning would be the last for me. Ten years had been more than enough to prove to Sookie, wherever she was, that I could never go on living without her. Things were not going to improve as much as Pam insisted on it so the only thing that would save me would be to let the sun to kill me and take me to a better place, a place I would enjoy with Sookie, to love her as I did when she was alive and spend the rest of the eternity lost in her kisses and caresses.
That night I laid down on bed, careful not to touch the place where Sookie had slept next to me on many occasions. I grabbed my shirt, the one she used when she was cold and that still smelled like her, and let the sleep to come over me even though it was still dark. I got used to sleeping to her side although I spent more time watching and caressing her than sleeping, but tonight I would make the effort because it would be the last one for me.
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"Eric…" I heard my name and a few giggles but I couldn't see anything. I knew it was a woman but I didn't know where she was. "Eric Northman."
"Who are you?" I looked around but there was nothing, I was alone in the dark. "Show yourself!" If there was anything I could not stand was cowardice and the fact that this woman did not want to show herself proved that she was just playing with me. "I have a right to know who you are, you appeared in my dream and there's only one person who should be in my dreams."
"You are making a mistake." It was the first time I could hear her voice more clearly, but I couldn't still see that woman. Why was she hiding? Although I was a vampire I couldn't hurt her because this was only a dream. "You can still save her, Eric."
"Save her?" Those words made me react. Was she talking about Sookie? Was there a chance? "I need to know the truth, whoever you are, if you have something to say, something that can help me to get her back, then I need to see your face. Please." I begged and although it wasn't in the nature of a vampire to do it I didn't care at all if I had to get on my knees and beg for hours. "Please…"
Maybe she saw me as a pathetic being or she just decided to take pity on me, but in that moment, as I began losing hope, a shining figure appeared before me.
She was really beautiful, but she couldn't compare with my Sookie. Her dark hair and bright eyes looked at me sweetly, as if they could see all the suffering it was inside me.
"You are the vampire." She said no more but I wasn't sure that she had seen many other vampires.
"Yes, I'm a vampire."
"No, you are the vampire." Did that mean something important?
"I do not understand, who are you? Why are you telling me all this?"
"Because you have lost hope, Eric. She wouldn't have wanted it that way and you cannot get her back if you continue with your plans."
"How…how did you know?" Not even Pam did know what I planned to do at dawn, how was it possible this unknown woman knew what I was going to do before doing it?
"I have seen the future, Eric, and you should to be in it, do you understand? Sookie is the one who made you change but you cannot give up now. If you do, she will never return."
"What is your name?" At least I deserved to know it if I was going to keep with this madness.
"That is not important. Go now to Sookie's former house in Bon Temps to find what will bring her back. Only if you follow your heart and you desire strongly you'll get it back what it is the most important to you, Eric. Go now, do not wait a second longer." She was starting to disappear but I stopped her before she did.
"I can't. It'll be dawn soon…"
She smiled sweetly at me and stroked my cheek gently. "It's your mission, Eric, so I give you the privilege of walking under the sunlight. It is your gift to get your true love." I didn't understand anything but if I had a chance to get Sookie back I wasn't going to waste it. "The future depends on you, Eric. Get Sookie back to you and make the world to make sense again. Halloween night is the most powerful one to perform the ritual. Gather the witches and they will take care of everything, but remember, you must complete the most important part."
She disappeared with no more and I opened my eyes quickly.
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Was it real? Vampires don't dream, at least I didn't since I lost Sookie, but I was convinced that it wasn't just a dream, this woman was serious when she said that I should get her back.
I got up quickly from bed without caring to have ruined Sookie's side. Luckily I would have her in my arms tonight and I wouldn't stay away from her ever again.
I dressed in less than a minute and when I reached the door I hesitated for a few seconds before opening and sunlight dazzled me completely. It had been so long since the last time that my eyes needed to get used to this feeling. The warmth in my skin, the fact of seeing the world in a completely different way and enjoy the beautiful views. But that did not matter when I thought about Sookie. She needed me, I was going to get her back so I couldn't waste any second.
My first instinct was to get in the car and go to Bon Temps at full speed, but what if someone saw me? It was too risky and also the road would be much more crowded. No, I would fly there, high enough to look like a blur, so I threw myself into the sky and in less than twenty minutes I was outside of my lover's house.
I hadn't been here since I lost her, and although I knew Sookie wanted to rest with her family I wasn't able to fulfil that promise. I built a mausoleum in my private garden and went to visit her grave every night. I wasn't sure if her body would disintegrate with the sunlight like vampires, but I wasn't going to take the risk.
But being back in Bon Temps made me remember all we lived together, the goodbye kisses at the door of her house, or when I appeared outside her window, hoping to her to let me in and lay down beside her to contemplate her while she slept. They were painful memories but they made me put a smile on my face.
I walked in knowing although Sookie died I could still get in the house, and her scent hit me immediately. I could even imagine her in the kitchen, tiptoeing and resting her body against the counter to grab something off the shelf, but I always stepped forward to get it for her and I always received a sweet kiss in return.
But now everything was different. The house was empty, abandoned to its fate, and no longer as cozy as it used to be.
I decided to leave the memories and sadness aside to concentrate myself on what I should do. The woman in my dream told me that I had to find something, something important to help me to get Sookie back but the problem was that I had no idea what it was.
I looked everywhere, in the kitchen, in every drawer inside the cabinets, in the living room and even in the attic, but nothing. No sign of something supernatural that made me feel that I had found what I was looking for. I was beginning to think maybe my dream was only a product of my imagination playing tricks with me, but when I walked into Sookie's room, which was once her grandmother's, I felt something pretty different. A very strange feeling and I started looking around.
I checked the drawers, the closet, all her stuff but there was nothing.
Nothing at all.
"WHAT THE FUCK I HAVE TO LOOK FOR?!" I shouted desperately. I sat down on the floor with my back against the edge of the bed, trying to find a miracle and give me a fucking clue. "YOU TOLD ME TO COME HERE! GIVE ME A FUCKING CLUE!"
If I only knew her name I could insult her, to swear against her and feel better but I didn't even know who she was.
"DON'T FUCK WITH ME!" The blood in my eyes began falling on my hands, staining my clothes, but I didn't care. I had lost hope.
"Do not give up…" It was as if someone had whispered in my ear. I wasn't sure if it was real or I just imagined it but when I put my hands on the floor to get up I felt that one the wooden strips moved.
I leaned over to make sure it was true, and it was. The strip was moving because it seemed different. The rest were new but this one was old and worn, as if someone had moved it several times. It had to be important so I pulled it out and got it.
It was as if someone had been using the hole like a secret hideaway and I wondered if it was what I needed to find. There were some things, old papers but I didn't have time to read them. They wouldn't serve me at all because I felt there was something else to be found.
And I found something else. A device that looked very old and strange. Never in my more than a thousand years, I had seen anything like it. It looked pretty different, as if the fact that it was in this world didn't make sense.
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It was past noon when I was knocking on Amelia Broadway's back door. I met the witch because she was a good friend of Sookie and she was devastated when she died. She was one of the witches who tried to help bring Sookie back but when we didn't get it she isolated herself from everything in her house in Shreveport and did not talk to anyone who had anything to do with Sookie.
"Eric? Oh my gosh! It's daytime…" The look on her face left no room for doubt. She was surprised to see a vampire knocking at her door in broad daylight but I had no time to explain.
"I need your help."
When I told her what I planned, including the dream I had with this strange woman, I thought she wouldn't believe a word, but she did and at least that saved me time and explanations.
"You realize that sounds crazy, don't you?" I was sitting on the couch while she kept walking back and forth. I understood that it was hard and difficult to accept everything I had said but we didn't have much time. "Eric, we already tried, do you remember? Ten years ago we tried to resurrect Sookie and it didn't work. What makes you think it'll be different now?"
"I don't know, but I had this dream for a reason, Amelia, and at least I need to try." I got up and walked towards her until we were face to face. "Listen, I know how hard it was for you to lose her because I felt like my heart had been ripped off of me. I couldn't go on, I still can't, and I planned to suicide at dawn last night but that dream was revealing. It was so real as being here talking to you, Amelia, and if I have a chance, a tiny one, I have to try and take it because it might change everything."
"Who is that woman, Eric? Why has she allowed you to walk under the sun? Why has given you the chance to save Sookie ten years later? Why not before?" Tears were running down her cheeks and I could understand that she was mad because I was too.
"I don't know, but the important thing now is that I have an opportunity, we both have it. If we want to get Sookie back we must act quickly and I need your help and the rest of the witches. With this," I said pulling the device out from the pocket of my jacket, "we will have that opportunity."
"What is that?" I wasn't even sure what I was holding, so how was I going to explain to her?
"Not sure, but it was hidden under the floor in Sookie's house. The woman in my dream told me to find something necessary to bring Sookie back and when I found it I felt it was what I had been looking for. I have no idea what it is or the use it may have, but it's important. I feel is something that I must protect above everything else." She extended her hand and gave it to her to take a look with the hope that she knew what it was, but Amelia seemed as confused as me.
"I dunno what it is, but it's powerful. Very powerful." She gave it back to me and she made sure that I had a tight grip on it before looking into my eyes. "You need to protect it with your life, Eric."
"I will."
Although Amelia had lost contact with most members of her coven, she managed to get in contact with Octavia Fant, who was her mentor in witchcraft, and explained to her what was happening.
We did not have much time, tonight would be the time to perform the ritual so we couldn't waste a second.
"Guess you're ready for the worst…" she murmured and of course I was. "If this doesn't work out…"
"I know." I cut her off. "But she was the only thing that tied me to this world and I haven't been able to live since she was gone. If this doesn't work out then nothing will, and I won't have reasons to live for." It was pretty clear, I wouldn't continue existing as a vampire if I lost the last chance to save Sookie.
New Orleans was five hours away but when Amelia explained the situation to Octavia all of them were on their way. It was as if they had been waiting for this moment for the last ten years, and I couldn't help but think that maybe some of them knew.
I spent the rest of the day at my home in Shreveport, trying to stay calm and praying the coven arrived in time to have everything ready. There couldn't be mistakes because that would mean the chance I had been given didn't work.
I grabbed the framed picture of Sookie and me that was on the nightstand and watched it long and silently. It was taken during our first date and Sookie insisted the waiter did it before Sookie's dessert arrived. She said that she wouldn't appear in a photo with chocolate-stained teeth, but even if it had been the case she would have been lovely.
I couldn't believe all those happy moments had suddenly disappeared without a trace during Halloween night. It was Sookie's favourite holiday and mine too when I met her. How two such different events could have occurred on the same date?
I pulled the object out of my pocket and put it on the bed, watching it carefully when suddenly a familiar face appeared in my bedroom and smiled at me like the most normal thing in the world.
"It's you…" It was the woman of my dream, the nameless woman I thought I had imagined, but she was now in front of me and was real. "Tell me, what is your name? I have to know."
"I am Claudine." She responded with her melodic voice. "I am sorry we just talked in dreams but I couldn't risk appearing without being completely sure that you would."
"If you're talking about saving Sookie I assure you that I would have done anything that would have given me hope." It didn't matter it was crazy because I'd have launched myself to it without thinking twice. "I've organized everything, I talked to the witches and they'll be here at midnight."
"Fine." She said no more and began pacing back and forth.
"Fine? Is that all you're gonna say?" She was looking at everything around her, she even opened the closet and closed her eyes as breathed deeply. What the hell was she doing? "Why now?" I asked but I wasn't sure I was going to get an answer. "Claudine, why did you give me this opportunity now and not before?"
"Because it was the moment." She mumbled with her back to me. "The cluviel dor only works if you really desire it."
"The what?" I was sure I hadn't heard those words in my more than a thousand years of existence. "Cluviel dor? What's that?"
The object you found." She turned around and pointed to the bed where I had left it. "Its name is cluviel dor and is a fairy object. It has a lot of power, so much that if its existence was discovered we all would be in danger. It wouldn't mind vampires, fairies, werewolves, shifters or even humans. The cluviel dor must be use carefully and with respect."
"And what does the cluviel dor do?" I needed to have all the information and it was the first time Claudine was sharing so much with me. "Why is it so special?"
"It grants wishes." Wishes? Like the genie in the lamp?
"Wishes." I whispered and she sat down across from me on the bed and grinned at me. "Yes, Eric. It grants wishes but it can also have serious consequences. For centuries it has remained hidden in Fae, but even our race was tempted by it."
"So you hid it in Sookie's house." It was the only I could think of but if Sookie had it all this time, why did she not use it to save herself? "Why didn't she…?"
"It does not work that way." She cut me off and for the first time a grim expression appeared on her beautiful face. "It wasn't me who hid it. The cluviel dor is much older than me, but a member of my family did. He realized how powerful it was and sooner or later one of us or our enemies would find it and would try to use it to take advantage. So we had to get rid of it."
"But why hide it in Sookie's house?"
"Because Fintan Brigant," and opened my eyes wide. Brigant family seemed to always have something to do, "loved a human woman. Their love was so deep and honest that eventually he realized that it would be the only logical choice. Adele Stackhouse was sincere and a woman in which he trusted in and loved, so he gave her the cluviel dor and told her to hide it so no one ever found it."
"Why did you guide me to it?" I asked her, needing to hear a response. I had so many questions that it was becoming more and more difficult to concentrate. "You said it yourself, it's a dangerous object, even for vampires, why did you take me to it?"
"Because your love is pure, Eric." She reached out and stroked my cheek and I had a feeling of déjà vu, as if my Sookie was the one doing it. "During the time you two were together I watched and saw the love between you was so passionate, pure and honest as the one Fintan felt for Adele. Besides, your intentions are not selfish, Eric, for the last ten years you've survived carrying a great pain with you, the pain for the loss of the beloved one provokes, but you were strong to keep on living."
"I made a promise, nothing more." I got out of bed and walked until I was leaning against the bedroom door. "And you just showed up because somehow you knew what I was going to do." It wasn't her fault but no one else was in the room and I was feeling guilty enough. "Everything changed when I first saw her."
Flashback
Like every year since the Great Revelation, when vampires exposed our existence to humans, a huge Halloween party was celebrated at Fangtasia, my club in Shreveport.
Pam, my progeny, insisted that organizing such parties were beneficial to business but I wasn't so sure. It was too boring to stand fangbangers during the rest of time, all of them dressed in tight black clothes and insinuating themselves at the vampires they saw.
Their lives were so pathetic that the only emotion that existed for them was to dress up and let a vampire to suck their blood.
But that night everything changed when I laid eyes on the most beautiful creature I had seen in the last thousand years.
She was dressed like a fairy but she really looked like an angel. Her blond hair and bright blue eyes had me hypnotized but it was her smile what made me get out of my throne and walk towards her.
"What are your powers?" I whispered softly in her ear and she turned around to face me. I expected her to be surprised or maybe scared but it was the opposite. She seemed happy to talk with a vampire.
"I'm afraid I can't confess, much less to a vampire." She replied raising an eyebrow. "What kind of fairy would be if I told a bad vampire how powerful I am?"
"A very lucky fairy."
That was the beginning. That night Sookie and I made love for the first time and it was so different from the rest of times I'd had sex with a woman that it was strange to have those feelings for a single woman.
Our love was so strong that I couldn't even look at other women without thinking on Sookie. She occupied every one of my thoughts and looking at another woman, no matter how beautiful she were, made no sense to me.
She was the only one.
End of Flashback
"Are you still here or your fantasy is more interesting than our conversation?" I looked at Claudine who had sat down on the bed again, and I shook my head slightly to focus on the present.
"I expect this," I said taking the cluviel dor, "works, because if this is a joke I will kill you."
Claudine rolled her eyes but didn't lose the smile at any time. The fact she was so relaxed in the presence of a vampire was something I couldn't understand, but somehow she had masked her scent so I couldn't attack her otherwise I would have already drained her.
"It will work if it is what your heart truly desires, Eric."
"How can you doubt of me? You said you watched us together, you realized the love between us so asking that questions is absurd. You think I don't want her back? I'd have given my life if I had managed to save her, but I couldn't do anything." I was pissed off now and felt like Claudine was interrogating me. "My plans haven't changed, if this doesn't work, if Sookie doesn't resurrect then I'll meet the true death."
"I understand."
Hours later the first members of the coven, with Octavia Fant, came to my house. Usually I wouldn't let a bunch of witches to invade my territory in that way but it was the only option I had to do this. Sookie needed me and I wasn't going to fail her.
"What are you doing here?" Pam was sitting on one of the couches in the living room reading a magazine.
"What? Did you really think I wouldn't find out? Or I would stay at a side?" She asked with her usual sarcasm. "You know me better than that, Eric, besides Amelia called and told me." I shook my head and sat down on the couch next to her as the witches were preparing everything was needed in the yard, in front of the mausoleum where Sookie rested. "Hey, I know this is going to work…" I didn't need her to give me false hope but I was unable to contradict her. "Sookie's fate was much more than to die in the way she died, that's for sure. Maybe this had to happen, Eric, don't you think? Maybe she should die to return in other way, I don't know, but we have a chance to get her back."
"I just want…" I took a deep breath even though I didn't need it, "I just want to have her in my arms again, Pam. She was my world and it vanished when she died. I need to have her by my side."
"We'll have her, Eric."
Claudine decided to stay for the ritual even though it was dangerous because I didn't know if Pam would be able to control herself in the presence of a fairy. Her smell was barely noticeable but it'd be enough for Pam to attack her.
"We will begin with the chants," Octavia said while the rest of witches placed themselves in their positions. "Eric, put the cluviel dor in the center of the circle and stay out until we're done." I did what she said and walked away enough, staying with Pam while Claudine was at a safe distance from us.
I did not know what was going to happen but I had a feeling it would work. It had to be because otherwise this would have been for nothing.
"We call the spirit of our mate that was taken from this world too soon. Sookie, get back with us, get back with those who love you, who care for you and who suffered a terrible pain when you were gone when you should resurge from the ground." They all were aware that I tried to turn Sookie into a vampire and were disappointed when they knew it didn't work. "We, witches and wizards, invoke the ancient power to give us back what was lost. We, with our limited powers, use the cluviel dor to bring back our blood sister." Octavia pronounced each word slowly while the rest continued with the chants. "Resurge from the ground where one day you sank yourself and return to the world you belong to."
In any other circumstances I would have been completely against working with witches, especially since one of them cursed me, but I had no choice and I trusted Amelia and Octavia. The other members were insignificant to me but I'd compensate every one of them if I have Sookie in my arms again.
"Eric." Octavia said my name firmly and looked straight into her eyes. "Get in the circle."
I looked at Pam for a second and she nodded.
I was nervous, I had to admit it, but mostly because I was anxious for this to finish and work out.
"Kneel in front of the cluviel dor and put your hands on either side of the object." I did what I was told and when I touched it I felt like an electric current was spreading through my whole body. Would it be part of the ritual? "Northman, now close your eyes."
I followed Claudine's advice and left my mind blank so my heart could focus on the most important desire.
Get Sookie back.
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I thought the result would be immediate but when Octavia and the rest of witches left I stood beside Sookie's grave while Amelia, Pam and Claudine remained in the house.
I needed to be near her, and if she was really going to resurrect I wouldn't let her to get out of her grave on her own. I would take her out even if I had to pull the rocks off with my bare hands.
"Sookie," I murmured, stroking her tombstone, "I do not know if this is going to work out but it's all I could do to try to get you back." I needed to tell her what was going on, although whatever happened was pretty painful I needed to confess everything. "It's been ten years and I'm sure you'll think that I had used to living without you, but it's not like that. I haven't stopped thinking on you since you left and I've tried," I sobbed and felt blood flooding my eyes and running down my cheeks. "I swear I've tried it but I can't. I can not go on without you, and I know you think I'm breaking my promise but it is something I can't fulfil. I need you to forgive me, Sookie."
The mausoleum was dark enough so I decided to stay with her since my time in the sun had passed.
I just can wait now.
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I wasn't sure how much time had passed but Pam was still awake which meant the sun hadn't risen yet. I wanted to stay with Sookie but she convinced me that to wait next to her grave would be excruciating and something I shouldn't do. We argued about it and finally – not sure how – I was sitting on my throne at Fangtasia while the annual Halloween party Pam had prepared was taking place.
The fangbangers were ecstatic to see me in the club again but I couldn't even look at them. They meant nothing to me so I wouldn't waste my time, I had other things on my mind.
"You should cheer up a bit, Eric, or the public will start leaving." I knew she was just trying to make things easier but I couldn't help glaring at her. "Just trying to make you think on something else."
"I shouldn't be here, Pam."
I got up from the throne and started walking towards my office when I felt a feeling that was gone long ago.
"Eric!" I fell to my knees before leaving the stage and suddenly I became the center of attention – I always was – but this time not for being a vampire but because I was screaming my lungs out and clutching my chest as if something was trying to rip my heart out.
All I could see around me were fangbangers dressed like zombies, vampires, demons and other costumes I wouldn't even try to guess, but all that did not matter because the pain was unbearable.
"Eric, come on." Pam helped me up and I sat down on the throne again. I hated that all of them were looking at me because I could feel the weakness inside me and it was something I didn't like others to see. "What can I do?" I hadn't seen Pam nervous many times, she always knew what she was doing and wasn't afraid of anything, but her eyes gave her away.
"Pain…" I muttered but I was unable to finish the sentence.
"I should call Ludwig and…"
As if by magic, the music and the murmur disappeared, everything was calm and when I looked to see what was going on I recognized a familiar figure at the front door of the club.
"Pam…" Pam looked at where I was looking with her mouth hanging open. Standing there, scared and shaking was Sookie. My Sookie.
"Oh my God…" Pam whispered and I couldn't help the bloody tears to begin flooding my eyes. "That's her? Is it really her?" I looked at Pam for a second and saw that she was crying and smiling at the same time. "Please tell me it's real."
The pain I felt was the bond forming again after so long. I had never experienced the feeling 'cause when Godric died he closed the bond so I wouldn't suffer.
I got up from the ground with effort while Pam stayed knelt. She was in shock, I was too, but I gathered enough strength to walk to Sookie who seemed disoriented.
"My angel…" I whispered because I didn't want to scare her. "Sookie." I was grinning widely at her as the blood from my eyes fell on my clothes and on the floor of the club but I couldn't care less. "You're back." I didn't know whether to touch her or not, I had no idea how she would react or if she recognized me because the look on her face was of utter confusion.
"Sookie, can you hear me?" Her eyes kept moving from one place to another, studying every detail around her and when I was going to touch her face her fangs appeared fully extended. She had come back like a vampire ten years after I tried to turn her.
"Sookie, relax," I approached her slowly so she could see that I wasn't a threat, and she seemed to calm down. "My lover, come with me." I offered my hand and she took it sheepishly and let me take her to my office. I didn't know what was going through her mind but I didn't care because I had her again.
I sat her on the couch and that's when I realized her clothes were torn and her whole body was spotted. I broke my promise and she had to get out of her grave on her own.
I grabbed one of my t-shirts from the closet and left it on the other side of the couch but before touching or cleaning her I wanted to make sure she was okay. Her golden curls were covered in dirt and she had cuts on her hands that hadn't healed because she probably wouldn't have fed yet.
"Sookie, baby," I looked into her eyes and she did the same but didn't say a word. "Please, I need to know you're okay."
"Thirst." She muttered so softly that if I hadn't been at her side I wouldn't have heard her.
"Are you thirsty?" She nodded and made Pam to bring a dozen bottles of synthetic blood. Human blood would heal the wounds faster but I couldn't risk that she killed something at the club with a hundred of witnesses.
She drank half a dozen of bottles in less than five minutes as I looked at her incredulous. Why didn't I stay with her? I should have been there when she needed me most.
"Eric…" Her voice was so weak that I couldn't help wondering if something was wrong with her. "What happened?"
"I'll tell you everything," I said holding her hands in mine, "but I first need to take you home and wash you, okay? You need to be in a quieter place so we'll go home now, alright?" She nodded and I got rid of her clothes, tossing them to the floor and putting the long enough t-shirt on her. "Come, we'll leave through the back door."
There were no words during the car drive, and Sookie seemed more relaxed when we got home. We were alone and I told Pam that I didn't want anyone visiting because I needed time to be with Sookie.
"Do you remember anything?" I asked her when we were in the living room, but she shook her head.
"Things are different." She said no more. "Eric, what…what happened?"
I told her everything I could about the last ten years and fortunately she began remembering the rest. We cried, laughed and hugged each other. The sensation of feeling her body against mine again was indescribable. Although her heart didn't beat like it used to she was still my Sookie and that was all that mattered.
Sookie felt the coming of dawn long before I did and I carried her to our bedroom. The place that had been empty for the last ten years was special again and it would be for the rest of eternity.
"I love you, Sookie, but I need you to promise me that you'll be here next to me when I wake up." I kissed her lightly on the lips and she smiled broadly.
"I promise you, Eric." She kissed me back but this time was much more passionate. "I love you, and I'm sorry for everything you've been going through for the last ten years. I'm sorry, Eric…"
"Shhh, no, my love. No need to apologize because you're here now and that's all that matters."
That night we made love for the first time in ten years and it was wonderful. It was as if all the pain and suffering I had felt in the past decade vanished no more.
"I will love you for the rest of my life." I whispered in her ear and let dawn to come over me.
Sometimes wishes do come true and Halloween was the perfect night to ask for a wish that brought me back what I loved the most and I had lost. Halloween night made sense again to me and I would hold a thousand parties at Fangtasia to say thank you for the thing I got back.
My Sookie. My dream. My lover.