Chapter 8
One week later, Sookie lay on a bed in a rundown cabin hidden near Natchitoches. The cabin belonged to a relative of Octavia. The room was lit only with candles, and there was the strong smell of magic in the air. Her two witch friends, Amelia and Octavia had placed strong wards on the cabin, so they would not be disturbed. It was almost midnight; witches believed that their power was strongest at that time. "I hope they are right." Sookie thought.
Amelia and Octavia had just finished the necessary preparations and were about to begin a ritual separation spell to break the blood bond between Sookie and Eric. All three women were deathly afraid. This spell was so dangerous it had to be perfect; there was no room for mistakes or else Sookie might die. So could they, for that matter. The spell also had to be permanent, so that not even Eric could resurrect the bond, no matter how hard he tried. Although both women were powerful witches in their own right, they had put out feelers to other witches in the community to enlist their aid for the ritual. No response was received; they were all too afraid of Eric.
Octavia had suggested to Sookie that she try to sleep before the ceremony began. She knew that Sookie needed all her strength for what was to come. Sookie was so nervous, she couldn't sleep. She lay quietly on the bed trying hard not to distract the women as they made themselves ready.
"Okay, we're ready, Sookie. Please step into the circle." Octavia said. Sookie stepped over the line that had been drawn with small multicolored crystals by Amelia. She was careful not separate the crystals that formed the magic barrier that would protect her. She stood trembling as fear crowded out all thoughts from her mind.
But, before they could begin, there was a sudden pop, then two more in rapid succession. Sookie looked up and there stood Claude, her fae cousin. Behind the tall and gorgeous raven haired man were two freckle-faced, red-headed children who glared at them, clearly not happy to be there. Both boy and girl who looked about nine years old; they were twins.
Startled by their sudden appearance, Sookie said, "Claude, what are you doing here?" "I know what you are about to do, Sookie. We are here to help." He said.
Never one her tongue, Amelia retorted scornfully, "You're not a witch, Claude. Just what do you think you and these two kids can do to help? Why aren't they home in bed? You should leave; all three of you"
Octavia, who had been staring at the two small fae with wide eye, put her hand on Amelia's arm and motioned for her to be quiet. "Look at them, Amelia. They are not ordinary children. They are fae witches." she said in an awed voice.
The two little red-heads stepped out in front of Claude, and Amelia looked at them closely. They were not children at all: their bodies were small, but their faces were wizened and old. Their eyes held a strange power and a wisdom that only very old magic could give. Amelia put her hand to her mouth and stared.
The "boy" spoke up and in a soft ancient voice with an Irish brogue, said, "I am Seamus." His sister said, "I am Siobhan." The name came out as "ShiVawn". "We are here to help." they both said together.
"I understand why Seamus and Siobhan are here, but, you are not a witch, Claude, so why are you here?" Amelia said to Claude. As one, the two small fairies said, "As blood calls to blood; fae calls to fae. Sookie needs Claude. Claude must stay!"
"What is this nonsense?" Amelia said. "Claude should not be here. His presence will be too dangerous for us. If he distracts or interrupts us in any way, it could be disastrous!"
Octavia shook her head as if mentally scolding herself and said, "I should have realized this before. Claude may not be a witch, Amelia, but we need him. Eric will know the moment that we start the ritual, and he will fight back with all his might to keep the bond intact. The ritual is painful enough as it is, but it will be doubly agonizing for Sookie; she will feel not only her own pain and emotions, but his too.
Even if the ritual was painless, her body will be under so much stress, and she will have to deal with his stress too. That amount of stress could easily kill a human, and believe me he knows it. Trust me; she will not be able to handle it by herself. Claude is fae, and he is of her bloodline. He will act as a conduit to drain away all of the bad emotions, the stress and the pain. Once he has done that he can direct them into the ground where they will dissipate."
Sookie was frightened by what she was hearing; she was afraid for herself, and she did not want Claude hurt. "Will he be all right?" she asked. "Will I be bonded to him now? Claude looked a little concerned himself by no. "'No, Sookie. During the ritual, Claude will feel what both you and Eric are feeling. He will also have to fight his natural instincts to pull away. So for him, it will be triple the pain. But he can do it. The fae are the only ones who can withstand that kind of torment. The bond will be gone; you will be free. Don't worry; you won't be bonded to Claude."
"Are you sure you are up to this Claude?" Octavia asked. All three fae answered in unison. "Yes!" "Then let us begin." she said.
Claude stepped into the circle and put his arms around Sookie, and she embraced him. She was stilled stunned by the appearance of her cousin, and her eyes held a question. "I heard you were going to do this from a fae witch I know, Sookie. "You are my cousin; I could not let you go through this ordeal alone." He answered.
"How did you know where we were?" Sookie started to ask then stopped herself. Of course, Claude knew where she was: even without a family tie, his fae blood would always be able to locate hers. It might take a little time, but he could hone in on her like a GPS navigation system whenever he wanted to.
She was both shocked and touched by his willingness to undergo the ritual with her. She didn't think that Claude even liked her, especially since his pregnant twin sister, Claudine, was killed defending her from the other fae months ago. Sookie knew how devastating the loss of Claudine was, not only to her brother, Claude, but to the whole fae world. With low fertility rates, a fertile, full blooded fae female was a priceless treasure.
The two witches and the two fairies joined hands and formed a circle around Sookie and Claude. Leading the group was Seamus, followed by Octavia, then Siobhan followed by Amelia. As their hands touched a wind arose in the room; golden light enveloped the six beings like a cocoon. Magic crackled in the air.
Seamus began to chant in language so old it was ancient before the first humans walked upright on this planet. The chant was picked up by Siobhan; Octavia and Amelia joined in as if they had always known that language. Then Claude began to chant too. The words came naturally to them from a place so deep inside, it was hard to imagine that they had ever spoken another language. The chanting picked up speed as the four witches levitated a few inches off the floor. They began moving in a circle around Sookie and Claude going faster and faster until they were a blur. Outside the circle, all was darkness, and a strong wind arose whirling like a tornado around them.
Suddenly, both Sookie and Claude convulsed; their bodies were jerked up and down, back and forth, like marionettes cruelly manipulated by their puppet master. Eric knew and he was fighting back like a thousand year old vampire he was; he was manic and so strong! They jackknifed forward and backward. They were twisted into pretzel like shapes that should have been impossible.
Their minds mind and blood burned as hot as the sun. The pain was excruciating and unbearable, but they hung on to each other tightly, their nails digging into each other's flesh. Sweat drenched their bodies, as they were locked in some strange demented dance; the ugly movements made the two of them look like a horrible caricature of the beautiful photograph Claude had taken of the two for a magazine cover last year.
Sookie's skin felt like it was being pierced by needles infinitely sharper than Lochlan and Neave's teeth when they attacked. She could see that Claude was in his own world of pain and agony. The ritual went on for what seemed like hours. She could feel Eric's own torment and emotions raging through the bond at her, smashing at her like a tsunami wave. He was far away, but she could hear his mind clearly as he screamed at her, at first demanding, and then begging her to stop. She had never felt him so strongly before.
At some point, Sookie lost control of her bladder, and then she vomited all over Claude and herself. She retched and retched until her stomach was empty, and then retched some more until her frail human body felt like it would explode from the violent spasms. Claude had vomited too. The smell of vomit and urine fouled the air. They both screamed out in torment, and Sookie begged them to stop, but they didn't. The chant grew louder and louder, faster and faster. A funnel of wind swirled around them like a tornado. The air grew so thick and close, she couldn't draw a breath.
Then finally, mercifully, it was over, and the two of them slumped weakly against each other, unable to move. Seamus and Siobhan picked them both up and laid them down together on the bed. It was three o'clock in the morning when Both Sookie and Claude each fell into a deep, exhausted sleep. The rest of them sat down to wait.
At six o'clock in the evening, Sookie awoke; her mind felt totally empty, her body sore, but relaxed. She was ravenous. Seamus and Siobhan had gone. They had conferred earlier with Octavia and Amelia and were convinced the bond was forever broken.
Claude was up sitting at the table talking to Amelia and Octavia. He looked as fit as ever; his clothes were clean and dry. Sookie looked down and found she was in a clean nightgown. Someone had bathed and dressed her while she was asleep. The two witches, one old and one young, looked like they had been to hell in back, but she could tell that they were all right. Sookie joined them at the table, and she ate the meal that Amelia had prepared.
After she ate Amelia handed Sookie her phone. Messages from Eric were piled up pancakes. She turned on the speaker and listened to each one. Eric raged: "What have you done, Sookie! What have you done! You can't break the bond without my consent. It hurts so much, please stop; you will kill us both! "Where are you Sookie? Tell me, lover. I will come and get you."
Again, "Where are you, Sookie? If you are with Bill, I will kill him when I find you. "You are mine, Sookie! You are mine!" As Eric began felt the presence of the fae and the witches through the bond, he knew it was hopeless. "I will kill them! I will kill them all" he ranted. Finally, it was just a soft, pathetic cry, "Sookie! Sookie!" Sookie felt nothing. She felt no pity for Eric, just cold, hard implacable anger. Her heart was closed to him forever.
Claude took the cell phone and smashed it on the floor. Using his heel, he broke it into little pieces. "Serves you right, you bastard; you brought this all on yourself" he said. Sookie was shocked. She had never heard Claude curse before. "You got that right, cousin." she said.
By now it was after dark, and Sookie was anxious to get going. She turned to the other three and said. "Eric is fully capable of carrying out his threats. We all have to disappear."
"I will be in Faery; he can't get to me there." said Claude. Faery was the fairy world. It existed in another dimension. No human or vampire could exist there. "Don't worry about Amelia and me" Octavia said. "We have many places we can hide that he will never find us either, but what about you, Sookie?"
"Please hand me my purse and lend me your phone, Amelia." Sookie said. From out of the purse, she withdrew a piece of paper with a number that she dialed. The call went immediately into a voice mailbox. "This is Sookie Stackhouse. I need to speak to you. Please call me back at this number."
A few minutes later, the phone rang. "Justin Grenville, here; Bill said you may call. How can I help you, Sookie?"
Sookie explained the situation, and they made arrangements for Sookie to be picked up at the nearest rest stop on Route 49. Justin explained that he was in New York, so he was sending his wife in his place. Sookie asked how she would recognize her.
"She shouldn't be too hard to spot." he said. "She's a beautiful, small, auburn haired vamp, and she will be driving a black Cadillac Escalade with a leather gray interior. "Her name is Melanie." He said proudly, "Melanie Davis Grenville."
4
