STUDY LEAVE HAS BEGUN! Seriously, I am so happy, happy enough to abandon revision (actually, that's a lie: I haven't begun yet really!) and write this chapter before going off to Nandos in about 6 hours! (it was this length of time when I wrote the chapter, I just decided to go hang out on the field to CELEBRATE STUDY LEAVE!)
I don't own either series… unfortunately!
Eric's POV:
"So there are two types of vampire?" Sookie confirms, evidently agog at this information of there being more than just the vampires the world knows about. "Heebus… and which is the more powerful of the two?" she suddenly questions, as both Pam and Bill turn to look at me as well. Pam only knows about the other vampires because she has met Amelie, albeit briefly, whereas Bill is as in the dark as Sookie is. This is always a good thing, to have the bloody idiot on the chase for information as it simply proves how much of a better lover I am for Sookie.
"We are, of course," I say smoothly, then remembering the exceptions. "However there are, sorry, were, two vampires who were most definitely more powerful than us even though they were from the weaker race."
"Who?" Sookie asks from her seat next to me on the plane. It has been approximated that we shall arrive three hours before dawn, so there will be plenty of time for Amelie to inform us what the hell is going on.
"Amelie, naturally," I shrug, remembering how much potential she had when she was so young and know that age must have brought her further strength. Yet why she decides to hide behind bodyguards when she could quite easily take on any of the people who oppose her is beyond me. "And there was her Father, Bishop… but that is why we fought together last time, to defeat him. She required assistance and I decided that it was in my best interest to assist in destroying him for he was a threat to us all… so why she requires my help when she is as strong as me now is a query I want answering," I frown into the corner of the plane as I consider different possibilities. She may want help destroying Morganville but if she hasn't found a cure then she won't want that. She may want help destroying a vampire but who could be so much trouble?
"You said something about a disease on the phone – do all vampires have a disease or something?" once again, my lover hits the nail on the head with a question I really didn't want to answer. It isn't my business to be spreading here, but now I must.
"The other type of vampires appear to have a mental disease, yes," I confirm, making all three of them gasp. Evidently their brains are linking this to us and how we (baring Sookie) could fall foul of it. "However, the reason is, we believe because they are so similar to humans: I have explained the differences and it seems as if they are almost getting Alzheimers, but for vampires. Many of them have not shown symptoms yet, and Amelie has not informed anyone but those who are, so for heaven's sake don't mention it!" I exclaim at the end, laughing slightly but they don't join in.
"Wish I was that type of vampire: I miss roast beef," Bill mutters almost under his breath so that it is more personal. Pam, of course, lets a peal of laughter out at this and seems as if she can't do anything but laugh.
"I would say join them, but I doubt Amelie would want you – she is the only one now able to make vampires," I say with a sardonic smile.
Sookie rolls her eyes before shutting her perfect lids, drifting off into a sleep for the remaining two hours of the flight… this should be fun!
Amelie's POV – when she hangs the phone up:
"Well?" Oliver asks me with a slightly heavy tone to his voice as I hang up the phone barely able to believe that he could be so demanding. Then again, it is Eric and what should I have expected – a man with puppy dog eyes and enjoys the flavour of bubblegum in his blood?
"They are coming," I shrug my shoulders, throwing the phone down on the desk as I decide what to do. Myrnin… we must rescue him and soon, but I want to know whether or not we have the support of Eric before I do so. After all, if we fail in bringing Myrnin back, I am not entirely sure what the purpose is of fighting: he is the only one, perhaps barring Claire, who knows what the cure for the disease is and without that knowledge we cannot hope to live much longer.
Oliver's eyes bore into my own and I barely suppress a shudder as his reach sees right into my soul. I cannot close the shutters over on my eyes and part of me doesn't want to, so that the qualms he seems to have that I have feelings for Eric – not likely – are entirely quashed.
"Let's return – it is not a good idea to be separated from the others for too long, when my father is on the loose," I sigh, turning away after an immeasurable time and his face relaxes slightly.
"No, I don't suppose the off chance of a raging lunatic coming to someplace where you may be is a far fetched idea whatsoever," he says sarcastically, but it sort of doesn't work because he is simply discussing our location, not being separated from the others.
"I really do not have the patience to listen to this drivel, Oliver, are you coming with me or remaining?" I snap at him, turning away and back towards the portal within the space of less than a tenth of a second.
"Yes, milady," he responds smoothly, following me through the portal and back to the Glass House. We emerge in the secret room upstairs and I press the catch to allow us to return to the others downstairs, I simply revelling in the silence the soundproofed room has brought to me. It gives me the chance to think through everything that is going on and really process that my father is back and that we are, once again, at war. This war will, for the most part, be parallel to the original stages in our first one, but with one major difference.
The boot is on the other foot, this time.
Instead of me being the invading force, aiming to conquer all, it is my father who is. He has the upper hand on having people turn to him, for there are many people in this town who are faithful to neither Oliver nor myself. The one benefit I can find of the divided camps of Oliver and my followers currently is that we are on the same side now and that means we have all of each other's followers.
I walk down the stairs slowly, just to find a scene of utter chaos. Evidently whilst I have been trying to save our skins, they have decided that the vampires and the humans shall form different factions and just argue, rather than actually saving the town.
"Enough!" I call, an icy chill to my voice that means I have no need to shout but my orders are still followed. "You are behaving like imbeciles! Do you think my father is allowing his followers to argue like infants? No, he will be preparing to launch attacks on the things we need to keep if he is not there already!" I stress this point without reservations on stressing too far – that is impossible.
"Ma'am, Paul has called to say that he has collected a Mr Eric Northman and three others," Verity calls from the house phone by the door and I nod thoughtfully. Sam looks intrigued as to what is going on but I deliberately avert my gaze from him; however, I have decided that he is to be present when Eric arrives. I wouldn't want him to, like Oliver, get the wrong end of the stick, so to speak.
"Claire and Sam are to remain here," I announce to the others, a look of relief on the faces of Michael, Shane and Eve that Claire is out of the fighting. Little do they know she could be in even more danger than previously thought. "Oliver will arrange the rest of you in order to cover the Founders Houses and the other important buildings. Is that clear?"
Everyone nods, evidently still stunned from the way that I called them all imbeciles, and I relax slightly, albeit it too early: I shouldn't be relaxed until after my Father has been captured. And destroyed for definite this time.
They begin to mill together as Oliver orders them around, evidently pleased to be allowed some power in the situation, whilst Claire and Sam come to me. I deliberately do not look at Sam's face for fear that I would relax entirely and tell him everything, including how much I love him.
"Amelie, what's going on? Why can't I help fight?" Claire's whining voice assists me for my attempts to stay away from Samuel.
"You are needed here, Claire, because we have visitors coming and I may need your assistance with one of them," I deliberately give no details pertaining to Eric and the others, which leaves the both of them confused and intrigued.
"Amelie, who is Eric?" Sam, predictably, has a jealous tone to his voice and I cringe inwardly at this. How to explain what an obnoxious man this man is but also to show he is a friend and that he could be our saviour, in a sense?
"Eric is…" I begin, until the door opens and the person I am trying to describe walks through as if he owns the place.
"Eric is…?" he asks, opening his arms widely as if it has been three minutes since we last saw one another, let alone a century ago.
"Eric is obnoxious, arrogant and is quite possibly one of the most vile creatures I have ever met," I say, albeit a slightly different avenue to what I would have said if he had not entered the house at that particular moment in time.
His eyebrows rise in the air as he processes the insults but he does not say a word as two other vampires of 'his' kind and a human he evidently has feelings for walk in behind him.
"Wow," the human says in a southern drawl that irritates me: residents of Morganville so rarely have that drawl since they are raised in a more refined situation with vampires, the majority of which are from England or the neighbouring region. Therefore very few of them speak as if they are either falling asleep continually and are bored by every single situation.
"You must be Sookie," I say with an icy smile as I look past Eric without another word to him.
"Y-yes, and you are Amelie?" she confirms, sounding rather tired and confused at the same time.
"That would be my name, yes," I confirm but then Eric butts in, evidently annoyed at how I ignored him.
"You have precisely three seconds to begin your explanation as to why you need our help or we leave tonight," he says bluntly, making my eyebrow rise slightly in amazement that he would speak like this to me, when I am his elder.
Beside me, Sam and Claire seem amazed that I am not ripping his head off for insolence but I couldn't: if I did that, we would most definitely not have the help of his fellows.
"The problem is," I begin slowly, taking a deep breath. "The problem is that my father is back. and he wants a war."
Eric stares at me agog for a moment before turning back to smack his hand into the wall.
"You are an idiot!" he yells at me before stalking away. This isn't going particularly well…
Whatcha think?
Off to Nandos now (WHOOP) so please review!
Vicky xx