PART TWO

Chapter 5

Having seen the news and the blurry photos, the two were headed out into the night, toward the only person they thought could help them in this strange occurrence. And there, Pam had spotted, something at the front gate. A stone with strange symbols on it. "Something tells me we need that. That is not part of the decor here." she said as she hopped out of the car and put the stone in the back seat of the SUV. "its good that you all are on good terms with that Holly now, after everything that happened in the past."

He said nothing, his face hard and his brow furrowed. Finally he spoke. "I have a bad feeling about this. I can't shake off that something truly awful has happened. I don't know if its another kidnapping or what…but this feels different than any other trouble we have faced. And I don't like it."

"Me either." Pam conceded. "Look, I know you're worried…but we keep surviving things over and over…..this time wont; be any different. " she reached out and touched his shoulder gently. "Whatever has happened, we will have her back safe and sound."

Eric looked at her with a graphite and yet still worried expression and they remained silent until they had arrived at the shop, hoping that holly could be of some help.

She was dusting off some of the display cases when the two entered, she had known full well she had locked up and yet, there they were, looking as impatient as ever. "Geez you scared me….could have knocked you know." she said as she put down the duster and looked at them sideways. "Something is wrong. With Sookie." I sense it."

Explaining that they had seen in the house and in the woods, Pam put the stone on the floor. "Can you translate this? For all we know it is some kind of ransom note ….and I know you are a wiccan and that you probably don't-"

"I have been immersing myself in plenty of different magics…cultures. I have to, if I am going to be a proper shop owner here…..this, " Holly explained slowly, "is the language of the dark fae. A long dead culture from what I have learned and only they could write their language. This was written by one and I need my right dictionary to translate." she hurried off to a back room where she kept her books and returned with a old leather-bound tome. "just found this on eBay a few months ago. Not a easy get." she explained and soon she was writing in t boathook, translating the painstakingly ornate carvings in the stone. "I am working as fast as I can but there are a lot of characters in this language and I can not risk making a single mistake." Holly explained, just as a crashing sound erupted from nearby. "Nothing can penetrate this place, I have long since put up protection spells." she added as she looked the two at the front door, where they were looking upwards. In the moonlight, they saw it, flying about, a wind driven rain splattering hard against anyone and anything that was out and about. And the three could only gape as they saw the winged creature manifest a fireball and throw it at a empty office building up the street. And it was only due to some quick conjuring by Holly that the fire was contained to the third and top story….for now.

"I saw that on the news earlier, someone had blurry photos and camera phone footage…and you are suspecting that has something to do with-"

"With that stuff written on the rock and the disappearance of Sookie? Yeah. So why don't you get back to translating so we can get some answers and maybe he and I can====" Pam was stopped from leaving the shop by a strong, leather clad arm,

"I want you to stay here and help her if she needs it. She is a friend and may need some protection should, for some reason, whatever magic she has doesn't hold out. Not that I don't trust your magic Holly….but I have had some…unpleasant experiences with it and so I would prefer to use extra caution." Eric said as Pam looked as if she wanted to protest. But a stern look shit her up. Leaving the shop, he shot up into the sky and looked around for the winged creature that he had yet to get a good look at. All people knew was that it was fast and dangerous and had caused chaos aplenty over the past day or so. And then he saw it, hovering in the air, clutching its head, long, silky dark hair flowing almost ethereally about it. It was clearly a girl and in a instant, she looked up and with strange yellow green eyes she saw him and looked almost….frightened. She headed to the east, towards the woods in hot pursuit, he landed behind her in the woods . "Stop!" he shouted as the figure tried backing away from him, and he took note of the clawed feet and hands. This being, whatever it was, had the semblance of being human but was clearly much more. A dark faerie, it was something he had never encountered and never imagined he would. "I am in no mood for games and if I have to hurt you, I certainly will. But what I want is answers. What have you done with her? And how does Annalina fit into this because I smell her influence. I would know it anywhere."

The creature seemed tormented, anguished, as if fighting an internal battle. The pleading eyes turned violent and though he could see she was trying to fight off whatever she was experiencing, she was failing and she seemed to be trying to speak to him. Problem was, he didn't speak dark faerie.

Chapter 6

"I can't understand you." he said just before she snapped and lunged at him. Instinct drove him to battle mode and these were the times when he tended to go blank and become his most primal and cleared heads would sometimes not prevail. Though he had certainly been doing better with that since he had married Sookie. She helped keep him more focused and grounded. But with him worrying about where she was, what had happened to her, his anger and rage were boiling over. Lunging at the creature, he was surprised with her strength as she was able to flip him off of her and as the weather around them turned, it was clear the power she wielded was elemental, she was summoning the weather to come to her aid. To say nothing of the balls of fire she had now started to call upon and yet, she seemed to be holding back, not seeming to want to fight. She was chattering away, a note of desperation in her voice. And again, she flipped again, becoming violent again and started to attack him, her eyes ablaze.

"I am all for a good fight and I don't want to end you….but if I don't get answers soon-" he saw she seemed to want to flee the scene and was about to take off. Pulling her by the tail, he was desperate to get answers and to at least subdue her. Or at least make it harder for her to get around. The thought had crossed his mind and as fast a healer as she clearly seemed to be, what eh was about to do, he believed, would take some time. And he wasted no time in sinking his teeth into her wings, tearing them almost to pieces, her cries going unheeded by him. And then they were joined by two others, both of whom were shouting for him to stop. And there he stood, with a gravely injured faerie at his feet and a horrified looking Holly and Pam looking upon the bloody scene, the copper color blood on his face and on the ground, the whimpering creature struggling to recover.

"The translating….I finished it…..we had to find you as soon as we….." Holly couldn't bring herself to reveal that which they had discovered. And even Pam, though the had grown to be more caring and ever so slightly more gentle, couldn't bear to admit the truth. The looks on their faces was enough to make things click in his mind.

"That's…." the Viking was processing what he was seeing, what he had done. Flashes of her trying to flee, to try to explain through a language he didn't know….it fell into place now and it was painfully clear what had happened. He fell to his knees beside her as she was curled into a ball, barely awake and in mores shape than he had meant for her to end up in. and now realizing who it was he had attacked.

Chapter 7

Making short work of returning to the shop, the two women let him enter first, carrying the wounded Sookie in his arms. "I don't know how to go about this, I need some time to do more research. This race no longer exists, hasn't for centuries. But I do know they are durable and can recover from attacks. Worse than this. But do you…do you want to be alone with her for a little while?" Holly asked, not waiting for him to reply and instead, led him into a small room with cushions on the floor. Where she and the other wiccans-good wiccans-still practiced their good magic. "There's a lot of good mojo in here." Holly promised as a wary Eric remained in the doorway. "I have not led you wrong before, have I? the past is in the past. I want to help get things back to normal, I promise you. Maybe by giving her some blood, it can at least help heal her a little faster. You….you did a number on her."

Blue eyes blazed angrily at Holly, his fangs out. "I don't need reminding of what I have done, I see it right here. And if I had had any idea who it was…" his anger faded as fast as it had come. "Leave us alone." he said, trying to regain his composure and it was only when Holly had left them alone in the room, he was able to set her down on a pile of cushions.. She was trying to avoid his gaze, almost as if she were ashamed of him seeing her like this and in fact, she covered her face with her hands and turned over on her side to escape him as best she could.

"I am so…I didn't mean for this to happen. If you will let me, maybe I can try to help-"he went to try to giver her some blood but she shook her head and tried miming, to get something across to him. He held out a bleeding wrist to her and she turned back to face him, seeing the pain in her face reflected in his. Taking a blanket from her side, she pulled it over her face, embarrassed at him seeing her like this and horrified at what had happened. She didn't blame him, of course, she didn't look anything like herself anymore. Gently the blanket was pulled back and he tried offering again, this time, she accepted and the healing, which was already working exponentially, was made quicker. "It really is you under there….." he said as he helped her sit up and took her face into his hands, feeling her oddly colored skin and stroking her even silkier hair, she finding herself able to relax and let him hold her. Her tears were warm against his cheeks as he could feel the changes, not just physical but mental that she was suffering, even with their bond blocked off thanks to her change. They were more than the blood bond, more than the physical attraction they had shared. The respect….they were soul mates and as such he knew her inside and out and she him. He knew how she was suffering and to be here holding her, unable to help her any more than he was trying to…..

"Hey." Holly entered the room and saw that at least the girl was recovering fast. "Um, well, I have found something that can help us but I found something else that is a little….."

"Disturbing." Pam added as she sidled up behind Holly. "She's a ray of sunshine, isn't she?"

"Well I have to be honest…..back in the days when there were lost of these beings, they were very much like vamps. With a deep enough bite with their own fangs, they could turn faeries into dark faeries. No humans could be turned, just faeries. And over time, the mind of the victim would be lost and only the dark urges and instincts would remain."

"Which is what she thinks is happening to Sookie. Which is why she's been running all over town causing chaos. The only reason more stuff isn't wrecked is that she is fighting it off. Or trying to, anyway.. Annalina was able to take the pure venom of a dark faerie and put it into the needle, hoping that Sookie would prick herself. With that pure, dark faerie magic, well, what you see is what you get, apparently. Even dead, the bitch is-"

"A pain in the rear?" cackled a voice and there before them all appeared the spirit of Annalina, looking gleeful and smug.

"I don't know why you look so happy…..we are going to set things right, she hasn't gone off the deep end and we know the truth now and so certainly won't kill her like you had hoped we would."

"Because you don't have time to get what you need to craft the cure for her. By the time you do….she will be so far gone you won't have any choice but to destroy her. Or she destroys you. Either way, I win in the end."

Pam looked to her companions as a still woozy and weakened Sookie glared angrily at the spirit who had caused them such misery. But she had no power she could wield against her, not in this form anyway. But to her relief, she saw Holly was casting some kind of magic and soon the spirit was screaming in pain and was no more. "Banished to the depths of the underworld where she can be tormented as she did you all. Karma is a bitch, ain't it." Holly grinned, pleased with her magic. "But she speaks the truth. We don't have a lot of time and I need the two of you to fetch some things for me if we are going to save her." she said this to the two vamps in the room. "And Sookie, I hate to have to do this, but I need to contain you. Long enough for the antidote to be given to you. Are you ok with that?"

At least she could understand English, even if she couldn't speak it. Sookie nodded as Holly nodded back and guided Sookie from the vamps, taking out some chains. "Dark faeries are as susceptible to iron as plain faeries but these need more kick as well as I need to cast a shield around you to keep you inside." Holly explained. And in no time, she had shackled up the faerie and had cast a glowing, vibrating bubble around her. Turning to the two vamps she frowned. "Take the list I have and get going. I think we have a couple hours at most to keep her at bay. I sense the darkness bubbling, trying to get out of her. And if she breaks free-"

"We get it." Pam said, snatching the paper from the wiccan and soon, they were off, her maker and Sookie sharing a pained look before departing.

TO BE CONTINUED