Chapter 3- Eric's POV
I watched in tangled web of horror and awe. I ground my teeth together and resisted the urge to howl as I saw the last drop of life drain out of my wife. My beautiful, magical wife. I had killed her and the knowledge that she did not want this was a heavy ache deep within my chest. Seeing her lifeless form by the fire was so much harder than could have expected. I had not anticipated these feelings...these memories. To me this event had been something to reduce and celebrate. I had not shared my wife's fears. My only fear had been that she would change her mind and yet even knowing that I had gotten everything I wanted. Even knowing that she would rise again and be so much stronger I felt the darkness in my soul. I had seen her die one before and the memories of that tragic time floored me. I was left quivering like a baby beside her still form. What if something went wrong and she didn't rise tomorrow night?
Thick bloody tears trailed my face and I curled her limp corpse to my body and breathed in her scent.
I had spent so many hours trying to decide the right way to do this but as I lay with Sookie in our bed I was starting to have doubts. I had made the choice that she was too good to lay in the ground and so after collecting myself I had carried her up to our bed but now I was questioning. It was commonly known that 'going to ground' was just a saying and not actually necessary for the conversion process but what if the tradition did hold some sort of magical spark that would make a difference? I personally had never believed it and yet when I turned Pam I had dug us a hole in the earth and rested with her in the dirt. Had a made a huge mistake in foregoing the tradition? Panic ran through my veins at the thought. My blood was like ice and I watched the clock tick slowly by. Time was so slow and every second felt like an eternity. By the time dusk came I was nearly mad. My nerves were raw and my eyes were glazed due to the strain of watching Sookie so closely. The phone rang.
"WHAT?" I growled into the receiver.
"Master, we...um....we..."
"Oh spit it out, Pam, now is not the time!" It was so unlike my child to be...hesitant and I really didn't have the time or the energy to deal with her drama.
"Astra collapsed." My chest grew tight and I roar like an animal.
"What happened?" I hissed. My instincts were telling me to take to the skies and go to my daughter but the urge was drowned by the equal need to stay with my wife until she was safe.
"She was having a nightmare. Sigdan and I ran to her side as she screamed and thrashed in the bed. She woke sobbing saying that he mamma was gone. We tried to comfort her and Aislinn suggested a glass of milk while she watched a film. On the way down the stairs she blacked out. We took her to see Ludwig but the doctor said there is nothing wrong with her. She said it's Sookie. Eric, Astra won't wake up. What should I do?" My mind ran with a multitude of plans. My body shook with the force of my emotions. My soul cried out from the overwhelming complexity of the situation. For the first time since I became a vampire I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. I was helpless, lost and impossibly scared.
"Eric?" Pam's voice seemed so very far away. "Eric, are you still there?"
"Look after my daughter. Sookie should rise tonight; call me if there is any change." I hung up the phone and placed both of my hands on Sookie's expressionless face. I pressed my lips to hers and pressed our foreheads together.
"Come back to me Sookie. Astra needs you. I need you. Come back to me, my love." I begged. A slow trickle of blood leaked out of my eyes and rolled down my face. The sun was fully set now and yet I couldn't even feel a stirring within my wife. She should be awake now but she remained still, silent, lifeless.
