Chapter 7
The man who'd hurt him before was standing before him. His eyes gleamed with dark pleasure at seeing the terrified zombie cower in fear.
Bill's nose crinkled with disgust at the acrid smell of burnt flesh. The men he'd hired had really taken to the electrified prods and the monster had suffered their enthusiasm. He'd ordered for the men to cut away his sweater and his naked torso was livid with scorch marks which obviously were very painful. Bill found it peculiar that deadened flesh could still be so sensitive. He didn't bleed anymore but somehow the nerves were still functioning. Maybe the zombie could serve him to satisfy his curiosity a while longer. When else would he have such an opportunity to quench his fascination with this morbid detail?
But first he wanted to settle the score and let the creature know where he stood.
"Sookie is mine"
The zombie did not react except to press himself a little more against the wall of his prison. Bill's newly constructed house had a gym and attached to it was cedar paneled sauna that had yet to be put to use. It was a completely enclosed space and thus it lent itself perfectly to its current purpose. He'd shackled Eric's hands together and had coiled the chain around a built-in wooden bench so that the creature could not rise. Bill liked the feeling of power this gave him. Northman was at his feet where he belonged.
"I've waited far too long to have that woman and no walking corpse is going to take that from me."
Coiled on his hand was heavy whip with glass shreds tied to each individual strand. Bill had bought the thing online and had it shipped overnight. He figured he could have gone with the electrified prods but the whip suited him better. The zombie's faded visage was fixed on the instrument not fully comprehending its function but knowing that it did not bode well for him.
Bill swished the whip around testing its range in his hands. He loved the feel of the rough leather almost weighing his hand down. The glass was cut to jagged edges. It would really do some damage when applied with a little force. Or with a lot.
He swung hard.
XxXxXxXx
Sookie woke up in her bed screaming. She grasped at her blankets with shaking hands while trying to catch her breath. The pain firing through her nerves was unbearable. She felt as if her flesh was being flailed away.
She stumbled out of her bed and it was all she could do to reach the medicine cabinet in her bathroom. With fumbling hands she managed to open the bottle of Naproxen the doctor had given her for her brief bout with tendonitis earlier in the year. She dry swallowed a couple of pills and sat on the bathtub rim to wait for them to work.
It was ten minutes before the pain eased enough so that she could rise and return to her bedroom. It was still dark out and it would be a couple of hours before dawn.
Why was she feeling like this? She wasn't sick and the only physical thing she'd done recently was help Eric come down the stairs but that hadn't caused any strains. Moreover the pain didn't feel muscular but was centered on the skin around her torso and shoulders.
The pills did the trick about an hour later but she couldn't go back to sleep. With resignation she grabbed her robe and headed downstairs for a glass of water. The staircase was a little hard to maneuver and she had to hold on to the railing for support. Whatever had caused her temporary affliction had left her rather weak.
She drank some water from the tap. The cool liquid soothed her dry throat. Apparently she'd been screaming for sometime before she was able to awaken.
As she went to put the glass away her eyes landed on the bud vase set on the windowsill. The iris was not looking very good. In fact the flower looked almost dead with its dried up petals and drooping stem.
Sookie's fingers touched the flower lightly. It'd been beautiful just before she'd gone to sleep. What had killed it so suddenly?
Something was very wrong.
XxXxXxXx
Amelia found a nearly hysterical Sookie waiting for her on the porch of her house. She'd barely managed to park her car before the blond accosted her.
"What's wrong?"
"Something's happened to Eric. I've been looking for him everywhere but I can't find him. It is as if he's vanished into thin air. Can you find him with your magic? Please tell me you can."
The witch shook her head. "No. I can't find him- but you can."
XxXxXx
With Amelia's direction Sookie cleared her mind until her surroundings gave way to the landscape of her mind. Memories and thoughts melded into a haze of vague images that coiled around her with hypnotic rhythm. She was to concentrate in everything within her that was Eric. There was so much that she could almost sink into the warmth comfort of him as she'd lived him.
She heard his voice with its almost imperceptible accent. His warmth touch overwhelmed her senses. Her heart beat with fervor at the perceived nearness of him.
He was in her flesh, in every pore and in the flow of her blood. She wanted to cry with happiness. She'd been without him for so long.
From far off she heard Amelia's voice. "Hold on to him Sookie. Feel what he is feeling. Look through his eyes."
Sookie opened her eyes and the veil lifted
TBC. I know that the use of the whip may be a little too overdramatic but this interpretation of Bill wants to assert his superiority over Eric. He wants to belittle him and treat him as you would a dumb beast. Why you ask? Simply because he knows deep inside that Eric is the better man. Eric has Sookie's love and Bill will always be second best. This kills Bill.
Coming next chapter: Mr. Compton gets what's coming to him. And coming in the chapter after that: The tissue-box worthy end.
