Author's Note:
Hi, everybody! Early Christmas present for all of you. After some time of struggling to get my senses of freedom back, I decided to continue writing this story. I feel you all don't deserve my anger toward somebody else who changed Eric and Sookie love story. I dedicate this chapter to you all
Thanks to Northwoman and to you, Ms. P.
Chapter Seven
The Uninvited Guest
"Blood, for us, is like opium. You taste it once, and it gets you forever. You will not be able to get away from it. And like opium, it influences and controls you. I am not giving you any excuses for my behavior the other night, and I am really sorry about it. I didn't mean to attack you, but blood of a young woman can be very demanding."
Arne fingered his pale blond hair. The ring on his middle finger gleamed under the light. His ring, like many other things in the house, looked old. Its shape was like twisted roots and in the middle of it was a head, a snake's head or something. He was trying to apologize, if one could call what he said apologizing. However, his face didn't show any remorse.
Sookie nodded reluctantly. Grand told her to accept an apology, whether it was sincere or not. An apology is a half step, she said, what important is what they do afterward. You won't know what happen if you don't want to see the half step that they made.
Arne smiled, but his pale eyes glinted at her like a snake watching its prey. His hand that grabbed the table edge showed blue lines of muscles. He was trying with all his might to put himself under control, and it made her feel uncomfortable and uneasy.
She looked away.
Her eyes caught the painting behind him. It was a painting of a naked man, being tied to the rocks. A woman was kneeling beside him, holding a bowl, catching liquid that dropped from a snake, which was curling on the tree right above them. It was not a very cheerful painting, she felt, it was even rather eerie.
"It's Loki," Arne said, as if he knew what she was thinking. "A shape shifter from the ancient time," he looked at Sam, who was sitting beside her, clenching his jaws. Seeing a fellow shape shifter being tortured must have not been easy for him.
"Who's the woman?" asked Debbie.
"His wife. The story says he was punished for tricking one of the gods. He would be tied on the rock until doomsday. Not only that, the gods also decided to put a snake, which dropped poison from its fangs to guard him. Sigyn, his wife, accompanied him and gathered the dropping poison with a bowl. From time to time, she had to empty the bowl, and the poison would drop on Loki's face. When it happened, he would scream in agony and that's when we experience the earthquake."
"You believe that?" Debbie chuckled.
"Do you believe Jesus can walk on water?"
"I don't know," Debbie played with her jacket's collar. "The idea seems interesting to me, you know, to walk on water?"
"What about you, Sookie?"
"I think we are too small and too weak to believe we live alone in this world," said Sookie. "If vampires, werewolves and God knows what many others of your kind exist, I think the existence of God shall not be a question. However, I believe it's not the reason you asked us to come to your study, is it?"
"I didn't ask all of you," Arne's pale blue eyes were like a pair of razors, sending merciless gaze to Sam and Debbie. "I asked only you. Nevertheless," he continued as Sam touched the collar of his khaki shirt. "I received a telegram from King Russell this morning," he pushed an envelope, which laid in front him, to Sookie. "I hope it's good news for you, too."
Sookie opened the envelope. Inside was a piece of paper with a bold header "Western Union", dated yesterday, from Louisiana.
Am coming. Fourteen days. Tell Sookie.
Russell Edgington.
"Tell me what?" asked Sookie.
"You should leave Berlin, before he arrives."
"I don't understand," said Sookie. "I can't possibly find Alcide in fourteen days! It's simply impossible!"
"With all due respect, Sookie. Berlin is not exactly the safest place in the world for the moment. I can understand your loyalty, I even admire for that, but it won't do any good for anybody if you get injured. Besides, if you ask me, it's not worth losing your life for a werewolf."
"He has a point," said Sam. "The sooner we leave, the better it'd be for you, Sook."
"With or without result?"
"I'll be here, Sookie," Arne leaned on the back of his chair and smiled. "If his father works for King Russell, as you say he does...,"
"He does."
"Then I personally guarantee, he'll be sent home. Dead or alive."
That's not good, the dead part, that is. What would Arne or King Russell do if they found out what Alcide knew? Would they kill him or would they help him to find who the vampire was?
"You don't trust me. I like that."
Sookie looked at him. Arne was rolling his smile. For a moment, his pale and cold face was lightened up, made him look somehow...noble. He must have been a man with a high position in his human life.
Beside her, Sam snorted. Don't say you are hitting on her, Bastard!
"It's not that," Sookie said, ignoring Sam. "It's just, I made a promise to Mr. Herveaux and I want to keep it."
"Under different circumstances, I'd agree with you. I've witnessed a lot of wars, Sookie. It happens for many reasons, but one thing is sure, it creates only devastation and destruction, either for the surroundings or for the people who lived in it, especially for women and children. Now, I am not saying you can't defend yourself, or that it will happen to you, but it could. You must consider, Sookie, is this person really worth the devastation you will go through?"
Honestly, no; she didn't even know the man. She owed her life to Mr. Herveaux senior, and one of these days, she must pay him back, and this day is as good as any.
"I see," said Arne. "You have made up your mind. I can't prevent or stop you from doing it; I can only say, at least, listen to what King Russell has to say, and please, listen to him and follow his advice."
When she was alone in her room, Arne's words haunted her. Was this Alcide person worth the devastation she would go through? She wasn't stupid, and she wasn't blind either. Arne was right. The war that was in front of the door would swipe this country sooner or later. She could feel the tension in the air; she could hear the questions and fear in the minds of those she saw. People walked on the street with cold faces, but in their heads they asked questions about their own future. Looking for a stranger, whom she never met, was like looking for a needle in a stack of straw.
"Don't let him influence you, Sookie." Debbie's voice made her turn around. Like any other animals with fur on their paws, Debbie could sneak up without being noticed.
"But he's right. Even Sam agrees with him."
"Sam can't think straight," Debbie sat on the bed. "He's never able to think straight, if it's about you." She took a cigarette from the box. "What?" she asked without looking at Sookie. "Don't tell me you don't know what he feels about you."
"I don't read my friends' minds."
"Jesus, Sookie. Is that all you can do, reading minds? What about reading gestures and mimic? Surely you can tell if somebody hides something from you!"
She looked at Debbie. "What do you mean? Of course I can tell if somebody hides something from me."
"Can you? Without reading their minds?"
No, she couldn't. Every time she talked to somebody, she couldn't help but listen to their thoughts. Sometimes she wanted to; sometimes she didn't. But the result was always the same. At the end of conversation, she always felt guilty. With vampires it was different. She couldn't listen to their mind. But then, there were not so many vampires she knew, and those she knew, they always told the truth. At least, that's what King Russell said. No vampire in his realm would dare lying to him, to Talbot or to her. If he found out, when he found out (since it's only a matter of time until he found out, and as a vampire, he had all time in the world), the vampires who had lied would meet their true death.
"My dear Sookie," Debbie blew the smoke in the room. "What would you do if I wasn't here, teaching you about men and all the things about them?"
Sookie felt her face hot. "I'd manage, thank you." But when she saw the smile on her face, she smiled. Debbie was teasing her. "I'd manage...," this time, she said it with a chuckle.
"I know you would," she went to the window. "You should." She opened the curtain and looked outside. "Sooner or later, you'd be on your own, my friend. You can't trust anybody in this city, human, weres or vampires. You have to trust yourself and your instincts and nobody else."
"You scare me, Deb."
"I can only think one thing," she let the curtain fall and turned around. "King Russell wouldn't leave his kingdom if there wasn't something important. Whatever happens or will happen in Berlin must be something very important that he needs to take care of it himself."
"Without telling me?"
Debbie looked at her without blinking. "Obviously. You didn't tell him everything, either. Or me, or Sam, in this matter."
Sookie opened her mouth, but no words came out. She didn't know what to say. Debbie wasn't stupid. She would know if she lied or told her nonsense.
"Come on, Sookie. You wouldn't go to a foreign country in the mist of war for somebody you don't know anything about."
Sookie didn't answer. Mr. Herveaux told her not to tell anybody the reason she went to Berlin. He didn't know whom he could trust, he said, even Sam Merlotte. The information was not only too important, but also too dangerous for those who knew. The vampire or vampires who were behind the plan would not let them get out of Berlin alive.
Debbie put off her cigarette, and then unbuttoned her blouse.
"What are you doing?"
"I am paid to help and protect you. I will be able to do my job properly if I know things I need to know. Since you aren't able to give me any information, I have to find some myself."
"Debbie, that's not what I mean...,"
"I know, Sookie." She took off her slacks. "Still, I have to find out. And I think the best place to start is in front of us."
"The church?"
"Think. First, that flying bastard. Second, the gardener and the priest. Besides, I never slept with a priest. Who knows, I might get lucky."
"That's not funny."
"Who said I was joking?" Debbie winked. "Let the window open, not too wide, but enough so I could open it myself later. And don't tell Sam."
Woop, within a blink of an eye, she changed into a red fox. Her eyes blinked twice at Sookie, and then she jumped out of the window.
Sookie took her clothes and put them carefully on the chair. She arranged the bed to look as if somebody was on it. She hoped Debbie knew what she was doing. She hoped nobody would get suspicious when they saw a fox running around in the city.
She put down the window but left some inches space so Debbie could put her hands under the frame and lifted up later.
x
It was late at night, if not even early in the morning, when a strong cold wind blew the curtain, threw the paper off the table and woke her up in the process. Sookie grabbed her night mantel and got down from her bed. She was about to close the window, when she saw a figure standing on the balcony.
She put her hand on her mouth, preventing herself from screaming. Her heart was beating faster. There was no sound, but the sound of wind touched the tips of leaves somewhere. Somebody was there. No, a vampire was there. If it was a human or even a were, she would be able to catch the voice in her or his head. But there was no single sound can be heard.
Was it Arne?
The sound of the window being lifted made her shriek.
"I know you aren't sleeping," a cold and a bit cocky voice in German filled her ears. It was soft-spoken, but she could catch the coldness in his voice. "What is a nice girl like you doing here?"
He pushed the window to the top and then slid in. He moved like a trapeze artist jumping around on a thin rope on hundreds feet above the ground, elegant and without making any noise. And fast, so fast that she couldn't do anything against it.
"You?"
Both of them looked at each other.
It was that Nazi vampire she saw at the Cafe. He didn't wear his uniform, but it was him. Sookie would never forget his blue eyes, which were cold piercing and now looking at hers.
"I should've known," he said. "You belong to a vampire."
"I don't," said Sookie and soon she regretted it. Why had she said that? It was not his or anybody's business whether she belonged to somebody or a vampire in this matter.
"You don't? Interesting. But you know about vampires?"
"Yes."
"Aren't you afraid of me?"
"Yes."
"And yet you don't scream. Why are you afraid of me?"
"You are in my room in the middle of the night. Any woman should be afraid of you."
He smiled. "You are not that afraid. Otherwise, you would've screamed already. Nice accent you have there," he took a step toward her. Sookie was used to tall men. But this vampire was very tall. He must have been 6 feet 3 or 4 inches tall; her face was as high as his chest, which his unbuttoned shirt showed some soft hair and a bronze medallion. "You are not a German."
"No," she said. "You aren't, either."
"Good ears. Australian?"
"American. How do you know an Australian accent?"
"I dined with some of them," he said in English. There was a soft accent in it, which Sookie couldn't tell from where.
Sookie tightened her night robe. He had dined with some of them. She wondered what he had meant with it. "What are you doing here?"
"It's my area. What are you doing here?"
"It's not your business," Sookie said. "I am not your guest. And it seems my house master doesn't answer to you."
"You seem to know about vampires' politics, too," he took another step. "Who are you, American girl?"
"Sookie Stackhouse. I work for King Russell Edgington of Mississippi Kingdom."
"Interesting," his hand was reaching out to touch her, but before it was even closed, he took it back. "Eric Northman, Ma'am, at your service."
"I don't think it's an appropriate manner for a gentleman like you to enter a lady's bedroom without being invited. How are you able to enter the house anyway?"
"This house belongs to a vampire. Didn't your king tell you? A vampire is able to enter another vampire's property without invitation, and naturally, as long as the property allows him to," a smirk on his face told Sookie what he meant when he said the second 'property'.
Sookie felt disgusted. This arrogant, dirty minded b... "I'd prefer you to lea..."
"Sookie... are you all right?" a soft knock and a whisper stopped Sookie. Sam. He must have heard or smelt him and his sweet perfume, which shamelessly attacked her nose and made her force herself not to sigh. She knew vampires didn't produce heat, but she swore there was a heatwave coming from his direction, made her somehow... restless, giddy and her heart jump around uncontrollably.
"Sookie...,"
Eric leaned on her and whispered in her ear, "Make him leave. I know why you are here."
x
