CHAPTER 3
The next morning I am sitting sipping my coffee going through everything that was said last night. My mind is reeling from all the information Eric has poured into it. He has never been so open and forthcoming before and I realise he wants me to know these things, he wants us to be closer and he wants me to understand everything about him.
We have made so many mistakes in our relationship together along the way and lack of communication has been the main one resulting in a lack of trust, something which could result in getting either one of us or both of us killed, we need to stand to stand together and stand strong, which leads me to reconsider something, something I have been against for a long while, but bigger things are in play now, which is this new looming threat of an imbalance between the human and Supe world, which the more I think about the more I am worried about.
I go over and over everything I have learnt about the supernatural world, so now I know that the majority of Supes have their origins in the human world and that leads me to consider Weres, Eric never mentioned them and wonder if he knows how they came about, perhaps that is a conversation for another time.
I glance at my computer and something tells me look up Weres, my guess is, if I Google 'Weres' I'll get something, even if it's only old movie's and the TV land version of what Weres are and then I can approach Eric and find out if any of it is based in truth. I pause my hands ready to tap in the word Were on my keyboard and I stop and slap my hand on my forehead, what am I thinking! I have two full blooded Weres on speed dial, I am a friend of the Shreveport Werewolf pack and am friends with Calvin Norris who is also a Were Panther and my own brother's pack master.
If I were to call them, I could also find out if Weres are finding an increase in their numbers, I debate who I am going to call and I decide on Calvin, his family of Panthers have had difficulty with breeding and numbers fell so dramatically that they resulted the pack becoming severely inbred. I take a deep breath and place the call.
"Hello" the familiar voice of Calvin reaches my ears.
"Hello, Calvin its Sookie" I say slightly nervously.
"Hello Sookie what can I do for you?" he says kindly.
"Erm this may sound like an odd and very random question but do you know the origins of Weres?" I ask.
There is a long silence then he finally speaks again.
"I do, but why do you want to know that?" he asks.
I think quickly, "Well" I begin, "it occurred to me the other day, despite being involved with Supes for years, I am woefully ignorant of the Supe world, Eric is teaching me all about Vampires, but my own brother is a Were Panther, now admittedly he is a bitten Were not born, but I think it's time I learnt about the history of the race my brother now belongs to – it's only right don't you think?" I am rambling and I hope Calvin doesn't tell me to just go away.
To my relief, I hear a chuckle down the phone line, "You amaze me Sookie Stackhouse, you have been subjected to some serious prejudice with your own gifts and yet you are the most open minded and inclusive person there is, of course I will tell you everything I know" Calvin says kindly.
"Thank you" I reply.
I settle down and Calvin begins to explain, "To be fair there isn't really a lot to tell. It's quite a simple tale, all Weres are descended from the True Shape Shifters – like your friend Sam, the first recorded example of a Shape Shifter was in prehistoric times, there were and still are different indigenous tribes around the world, the Native Americans and Aborigines in Australia have the earliest recorded references of shape shifting, in tribal cave art, where members of their tribes appeared to be able to transform into different beasts, it's not known how these individuals gained these skills, whether it was magical or some kind of genetic mutation or as most of us believe a combination of both, but as the humans with these traits reproduced, the ability was passed on, and numbers grew, over time certain animals became more popular than others for shifters to transform into, stronger powerful predatory animals were obviously going to be more popular than weaker animals and so as time went on certain families chose one particular animal to transform into and as a result they lost the ability to change into another species and that is when the sub species of Weres were born. Some true Shifters remained and kept the ability to change into any animal but there are very few left in the world and there some Shape Shifters who can change into other things besides animals but they are even rarer, those born with the shifting ability transform totally into the animal of their Were group or animals in the case of shifters, and you need a full blood father and mother to be able to produce a two natured child, we all believe it is something with the DNA and genes you need some from the mom and dad to successfully pass on everything you need but any human bitten by a Were or shifter whilst in animal form is at risk of becoming like them, but not totally as the Shifter DNA can be transferred into the blood via a bite and the saliva of the Were or shifter...are you following me so far?" Calvin asks as he pauses for a moment.
"Yes, like Jason, he was a bitten Were so because he was bitten not born he didn't get the full complement of DNA required to make him a full Were he just gets enough to transform at the full moon into the man/panther hybrid" I stop speaking and wait.
"That's right, but I want to stress it is rare if someone gets bitten once they have to be very unlucky to absorb enough DNA to become one of us" Calvin says.
There is a silence and I remember how Jason was held captive and repeatedly bitten by one of the Panthers at Hotshot. I think Calvin is remembering that time as well as the silence spreads out even longer.
"It's a shame that your Panthers have trouble shifting now and there are so few of you" I say innocently, changing the subject hoping to produce some kind of response from Calvin and to try and lift the oppressiveness that has fallen between us. It appears to work as Calvin quickly replies.
"We aren't doing too badly actually, I was contacted by a pack leader of another Panther pack, I was always aware of them, they are not that far away from here actually, they are based in a town just outside Little Rock in Arkansas and just like us they were having issues with numbers and inbreeding and so we have merged our packs some of our panthers have relocated to Arkansas and a few of theirs have moved to Hotshot and the new blood has been transforming, and we have a number of pregnancies now – in fact we even have one pregnancy where the mother is expecting twins which is incredibly rare as that is the only case where you can have more than one child with the Were gene in the family, as it is always just the eldest child who is two natured, the other pack has also reported a twin pregnancy so the future for our particular packs is looking rosy". Calvin stops speaking and I force myself to sound happy for him.
"Well that's really great news Calvin and I am so happy for y'all, and thank you for all the information you have given me" I say.
"You are more than welcome Sookie" he says.
We talk a while longer and then I hang up, a moment later I am calling Alcide, now I need to know if he too is having a baby boom within the Shreveport Were Pack.
"Hello" he says as he answers.
"Hi Alcide, its Sookie" I say brightly.
"Oh hello Sookie, how are things with you?" Alcide asks amiably.
"I'm good, hey I've been doing some research into the origins of Weres and I've been talking to Calvin, as I told him I was woefully ignorant of the Were community and considering I am a friend of the Shreveport Pack and my own brother turns into a Were Panther I thought it was time I rectified that, and I thought I'd give you a call and ask you a few questions, if you don't mind?" I ask.
"Sure no problem" he says.
"Thank you Alcide, well my main question is twins, Calvin told me that twin births in Were families are very rare and I was wondering why that is and if you had any families within the Shreveport Were pack who were twins?" I ask innocently.
Alcide laughs, "Well if you had asked me that a few months ago I would have said it was incredibly rare, a once in a blue moon occurrence, and there were no recorded twin pregnancies or births in the history of the Long Tooth pack, and that is because having the babies take more from the mother carrying them, as a result of having the Were gene. The first pregnancy is never an easy one for a female Were, as I just said, it takes a lot out of her so as a result there are not many twin births. When it does happen and where there are two babies with the Were DNA you get double the physical demands on the mom, and as a result not many twin pregnancies go to term, usually one or both babies are miscarried, but very, very occasionally the mom carries both babies to term and therefore then have two, two natured babies". He stops speaking so I quickly jump in.
"You just said if I had asked you that a few months ago?" I say.
Alcide laughs again, "yes, that is how it has always been, but at the moment we have 5 pregnant female Weres and 3 of them are expecting twins and they are progressing well and are past the danger point and are all expected to carry the babies to term."
My heart sinks at this, but I force myself to sound upbeat and pleased, "Well that is really wonderful news Alcide" I say.
"It is, it will really boost our numbers in a few years time when the cubs mature, the thing is, we are not the only ones, I have no explanation for it but I've been getting word from a number of packs around the country telling me the same thing, that there has been an dramatic increase in successful twin pregnancies in the last few months" he says.
"Is it just identical twins who both carry the Were gene or does it happen with fraternal twins as well?" I ask.
"Just identical, as that was one bunch of cells which split into two, where you have fraternal twins you have two separate babies so only one of them gets the Were gene and that is the only time where a second child can be born the family Were, if the child that has taken the Were gene happens to be the one born second, but those pregnancies are also very rare as the non Were child is often miscarried" he says.
"So all the twin pregnancies your pack is experiencing are all identical twins?" I ask wanting to clarify this.
"Yes they are" Alcide says.
I make all the right sorts of noises and we chat a while longer I make up a few more questions but my mind is whirling with the information that Alcide and Calvin have given me, I go through it all and I realise it has also given me a timeline, Eric noticed the changes starting a month or so ago, and that is when the Weres started noticing an increase in successful twin pregnancies, so it all ties in, but Were cubs don't reach full maturity until they reach about 11 or 12 years old so...whatever is happening is building for something which is going to happen in about 12 years time, at least that is what I think...I could be wrong, but I need to tell Eric everything I have discovered and I can't wait for him to rise so I can tell him.
I spend the rest of the day working things out in my mind as I do my chores and then make my way to work to start my shift. As I leave my house and get into the car I see the shadow thing I saw previously, floating in the wind in my back yard and I watch it for a moment before it fades and then vanishes.
I arrive at work and as climb out of my car I glance around the car park then I open my mind, dropping my shields and listen, but there is no-one so I make my way inside, before I start I pause in the back room and pull out my phone and quickly send Eric a message that I need to see him urgently tonight, I also send a text with the same message. Satisfied I have done all I can and that he will see them when he rises, I switch my phone off and head out to start work. I have decided to have a chat with Sam as well and pick his brains a bit. I step into his office and he looks up and smiles at me.
"Hi Sookie" he says amiably.
"Hi Sam can I ask you a question...a personal question?" I ask as I push my purse in his drawer.
"Sure Sookie what's up?" he asks.
I sigh, "You know how you can turn into different animals" I begin and Sam nods waiting for me to elaborate. "Well...can you...are you able to...can you change into anything other than animals?" I ask.
Sam smiles at me, "You are asking me if I am a True Shape Shifter which can turn into anything or an annimorphus Shape Shifter – that means a shifter who only turns into other animals, birds and insects" he says and I nod.
"I am an annimorphus Shape Shifter, my father was a True shifter but he only ever chose to change into animals and my mother was an annimorphus" he says.
I nod, "thanks I was just interested" I say lamely.
Sam nods, "that's fine Sookie I don't mind you asking at all" he says.
"Thanks Sam, shifters are very rare though aren't they?" I ask.
Sam nods, "We are, there are very, very few true shifters left in the world - under 1000, there are more annimorphus shifters but again there are not that many of us – around 20,000 in the whole world" he says.
He pauses, "does this sudden interest have anything to do with the sudden increase in twin pregnancies within the Were community?" Sam asks lowering his voice.
I bite my lip and wonder if I should divulge what I know, I trust Sam so I sit down and lean towards him, "I've been doing a bit of investigating, because of something Eric told me" I say quietly.
"Oh, go on" Sam urges.
"Eric has noticed something, he says there is a growing imbalance between Supes and humans, the population of Supes is increasing and humans decreasing" I say.
Sam's eyes widen "all Supes?" he asks.
I shrug, "Niall confirmed the birth rate of the Fae has increased, when previously they were having difficulty with the fertility of the Fae, then there is the Weres - both Calvin and Alcide have pregnant Weres with twin pregnancies which are looking to be successful, and Eric said that the vampires are increasing in number as well which is worrying me more than anything because that says to me...that means... that it's not a natural fluctuation, it means something is manipulating things, I haven't shared that thought with Eric yet" I say.
Sam leans back and nods thoughtfully, and I continue and tell him about the thing I saw in the car park and that Eric thought it was a Shreef but by rights I should never have laid eyes on one of those. I don't mention I have seen it again tonight in my home back yard.
"No you shouldn't" Sam agrees, "Thank you for telling me, I'll contact Eric and speak to him about this. It's important that if something is changing all the supernatural community are aware of it and its possible ramifications" he says.
I nod and with that I leave Sam to it while I head out to work.
I've been there about half an hour when I feel Eric rising through the bond, I immediately send him a burst of love and positivity as I don't want him getting worried when he receives my messages. A short while later I get a very strong curious questioning emotion and after a moment I send him all my desire to see him along with love and a healthy dose of positivity. I know when he receives them and when he returns them back to me, I smile.
I carry on with my work but it's not long before I feel a warm calm sensation flooding me, the door opens and I look up into the face of my beautiful Viking, his blue eyes look at me questioningly and I walk over to him and embrace him warmly.
"Come and sit down I have a lot to tell you" I say.
Eric nods and sits down in my area, and I quickly fetch him a warmed Trueblood he smiles and drains the bottle in one gulp, I frown.
"Have you fed?" I ask.
"Yes I had a bottle of blood before I left, but I was anxious to see you, your messages sounded urgent" he says.
I bite my lip and then call over to Sam, "Hey Sam I'm taking my break now" I say.
Sam nods and I lead Eric out the back. As we pass him he speaks to Eric, "Can I have a word after you have spoken with Sookie?" he asks, Eric nods once but doesn't say a word.
As soon as we are alone I offer him my neck and he doesn't hesitate, I feel the desire course through him and as he presses me close to him I feel his arousal. Eventually he pulls away and heals the wounds in my neck.
"Thank you" he replies then he touches my face, "What did you need to tell me?" he asks.
I step closer and whisper in his ear, I quickly outline the calls to Calvin and Alcide and what was said, Eric looks astonished when I have finished speaking.
"This is...troubling" he says eventually.
I nod, "I know, but I think it gives us a timeline to work to, as Were cubs don't change for the first time until they reach about 12 years old so this population explosion in the Were community won't be of any use for a few years so I was thinking does that mean whatever is going to happen isn't going to happen for a few years?"
I look at Eric and he considers my theory.
"It is possible, but there could be another explanation, something more sinister like an abundance of cubs could be considered a ready food supply for certain Supes". He says grimly.
I stop and remember our talk of the previous evening, Ghouls and Zombies feed on human flesh, and I stare at Eric in shock.
"Oh I never thought of that" I say but then another thought hits me, "but Alcide told me all the twin pregnancies are identical twins" I say.
Eric stares at me, "Explain" he says.
"Well...Alcide said that the other sort, fraternal twins only one of the babies gets the Were gene so if it was a question of food, then surely it wouldn't matter whether it was identical twins or fraternal twins, but the fact it is identical twins where you get two Weres then..." I trail off and Eric nods thoughtfully again.
He looks down at me after a moment and then pulls me into his arms, "You are amazing we now know that most supernatural communities are increasing their population whilst the humans are waning there must be some sort of link somewhere but we are just not seeing it" he says.
I grip Eric's arm as I prepare to tell him my final thoughts on this, "Something else occurred to me about all this and that is Vampires aren't born they are made" I say.
Eric stares at me, "Your point?" he asks.
"Meaning, a vampire chooses to sire another, they pick their human and do their thing that is different from the Weres they have no control over births, apart from choosing if and when they do the actual mating so..." I trail off again letting Eric work it out for himself.
Eric's eyes widen, "So you are suggesting whatever is causing this is controlling us all, Vampires are being manipulated somehow into creating" he says.
I nod, "You said when you guys went public and there was a spate of killings around the world and as a result the vampire population increased why and how did that happen?" I ask.
"When a vampire loses a progeny they generally...replace them" he says looking at me warily.
"Is it like an urge or compulsion or is it done through grief at losing a progeny or is it just a practical thing of replacing something lost?" I ask.
"I have no idea, I have never lost a progeny, but I do know Ocella followed this pattern, there were two vampires before me, I was a replacement" he says with a matter of fact tone.
He says this as though it is the most normal thing in the world and I stare at him in shock.
"That sounds so wrong" I say quietly.
Eric smiles, "As you know Ocella wasn't ...the best maker, his teaching methods left a lot to be desired and the two vampires he sired before me didn't survive his teaching methods" he says dryly, "but I survived" he adds.
"But he also sired Alexei" I say.
Eric snorts "and look how well that turned out, vampires can sire more than one progeny some sire hundreds, others just one is enough, some never sire another of our kind."
"Do you have any other progeny apart from Pam?" I ask.
Eric nods, "Karin was my first progeny" he says.
"Is she...?" I ask.
He nods, "She lives, but I rarely see her, the last time I saw her was when I sired Pam" he says shortly and I wonder if there is a story there.
"But if something happened to her or Pam would you replace them?" I ask.
Eric shakes his head, "I cannot answer that" he says sharply and I know immediately that the thought of losing either of them is painful one for him.
"Ok" I say soothingly, and I run my hand down his arm.
"Is Ocella still alive, after that night when you and Pam slaughtered Alexei when he went nuts and killed Bobby and attacked you and then turned on Ocella?" I ask.
The night in question is one I will never forget, it had been one of the few times I had seen Eric look defeated and beaten down, Ocella had shown up with Alexei in tow unable to control the vampire and yet he refused to put him down, which is what any maker worth their salt did for a progeny who didn't take to the life and it was clear that Alexei didn't take to the life, he was totally insane and the way Ocella was with him just made Alexei worse, everyone but Ocella could see that.
He had leached off Eric for nearly a week like a parasite. In that short time I had gotten a glimpse of just how sadistic and awful Ocella really was, but I saw something else as well, he was weak small man – Eric was a good man, a man full of honour and strength but Ocella, well he reminded me of a weasel, he did not inspire any respect.
I had received so many bad things through the bond that awful night and so I had persuaded Jason to take me to Eric's house, the scene I had been confronted with will live with me forever. The bloody remains of Bobby Burnam were strewn all over Eric's house, Eric and Pam were covered in blood and they were both injured but not badly. Eric had told me that he and Pam had killed Alexei after he had turned on Eric, he had already savagely tore at his maker and severely injured him, after Ocella had tried to gain control over him when he attacked Eric.
I saw Ocella in the corner he looked in a bad way, hatred and anger had surged through me I had grabbed a stake and gone over to end him, but Eric had stopped me asking me not to do it. I had left to get some cleaning supplies and by the time I had arrived back, Ocella had vanished and I had never laid eyes on him since, and many times I wondered what had happened to him.
Eric looks closely at me, "He lives" he says shortly.
"Where did he go that night?" I ask.
"After you left he took some blood and he left, he had been injured quite severely by Alexei and he went into hiding to fully recover, but the injuries were such he would recover but it would take time" he says.
"How could a vampire so young inflict such damage on one so old and strong?" I ask.
"Alexei was totally insane, insanity and vampire strength is not a good combination and unleashed is almost impossible to control and subdue" Eric says.
"But you managed to" I say proudly.
Eric nods, "I had Pam's help, but we did what Ocella should have done the moment he realised Alexei was uncontrollable, he did the boy no favours by keeping him alive" he says.
I have heard enough and I stroke Eric's arm once again, he looks down at me and smiles and I smile back, "Listen I need to go back inside but I wanted to tell you what I'd learnt, also I talked to Sam about it and that's what he wants to talk to you about but thank you for coming" I say.
Eric smiles at me, "I'll go and see him now, I will see you when you finish working, we have other things to discuss tonight" he says.
"Oh?" I ask.
He leans down and kisses me "Our wedding" he replies.
Before I get chance to reply has gone at vampire speed back into the bar.
I finish my break and head inside, Sam's office is shut and I can hear voices and I know he is talking to Eric. I quickly head back out to work.
A short while later Eric emerges with Sam at his side and they nod at each other, Eric approaches me and simply kisses my cheek.
"I'll see you later" he growls and then he is gone.