Nine

Chow's News

Dressed up in Pam's soft green bathrobe and slippers, drinking her tea and sitting in her living room did not lessen Sookie's anger toward Pam

For fifteen years Pam had known about Eric and yet not a single word had ever come out from her mouth. Was that the reason she had looked distraught most of the time? Was that also the reason she had tried very hard to be in her life, so that she could watch over her, just in case one day, when her master awoke, she could 'report' to him?

Fifteen years were not a short time which somebody could say 'maybe next time' or 'I'll wait for the right time' to hide such a fact. What had she promised Godric or Eric to do such a thing? Had they 'command' her like masters commanded their slaves?

Eric sat between her and Pam, but his eyes were fixed on Chow, who was dirty and bloody. His grey suits, as well as his face, were covered with mud and blood. It was not his blood, he said. It was the blood of the headless man.

Was Eric feeling the anger she was having that he decided to sit between them or was it his way to tell her that they had more important matter and they – she especially, had to focus on that matter.

Sookie took a deep breath (three of them turned to her and gave her a look which made her skin crawl as she was doing it. As if the sound of her breath suddenly reminded them that there was 'food' around them. Sookie made a mental note not to do it again in the future.), and forced herself to see what Chow had brought.

On the table there were a shotgun, four bullets – one of them was covered with white and red stuff, two casings, a blue lumberjack shirt, a wallet and a piece of paper with a red hand print on it. Chow had brought them with him.

"I buried the body, Boss." Chow said. "And Hervaux' car too."

Alcide would not like to hear that.

Eric took the wallet and opened it. "Mr. John Smith," Eric said. He pushed away the wallet." Very imaginative,"

Chow gave him the red hand print. "That's why I took his fingerprints."

Eric smirked. "Good job, Chow."

Chow nodded.

"That's a hunter's gun," Sookie said, pointing at the gun. "Jason has one of those,"

"Then Jason must know where to get this gun," Eric said.

"They were hunting wolves. Interesting," Pam said, smirking. "The one who sent those men must know who Alcide really is."

"We have to tell Alcide about it," Sookie said. "If they aimed especially at him, it means he has enemy of his own."

"Not tonight," Eric looked at Sookie. "Tonight, there's another matter to deal with. I have to inform Her Majesty that I can't come tonight."

"I'll deal with it," said Pam.

"While you're at it; tell her that I am very grateful with the perfume,"

"How does she know about your perfume?" Suddenly Sookie regretted asking that question. She sounded like a jealous teenager and she hated it.

"I've known her for centuries," Eric said, lifting his eyebrow. "And no, I don't sleep with her. It's bad for politics. Why do you ask?"

Sookie felt her cheek hot. Was Eric always this direct? "It smelt like Bon Temps woods," she said.

"I like Bon Temps woods," said Eric. "I met François Coty in French...hmh let me see...it must have been before 1910... and I told him about Bon Temps. I asked him if he could make a perfume that reminded me of the woods and he made it for me."

"François Coty?"

"The perfume maker," said Pam. "By the way, Young Lady. You have a very fine nose."

Young Lady? Sookie looked at Pam in awe. It's very weird to be called 'young lady' by somebody who looked younger than her.

Chow cleared up his throat. Obviously, he had been trying to catch Eric's or Pam's attention, but did not succeed.

"Yes?"

"I smelt a person in the woods," Chow said. "He was standing on the place where I found the casings. But I did not catch him, Boss." He sounded ashamed. "I don't trust myself for going inside the woods alone,"

"Proceed," Eric continued, putting his hands against each other. Sookie noticed that Eric was a bit tense.

"Not so far from the car, I found footprints, but I didn't catch any smell."

"Human's?" Eric asked. His voice was deeper.

"Yes, Boss. It looked like human's."

Sookie felt shiver run down her spines. Somebody had been there and heard everything they had said, included when Eric called James 'my son'. Somebody out there knew that James was Eric's son.

Eric looked at her. He sensed her fear. "Thank you, Chow. That would be all."

Chow nodded and wanted to leave when Pam said: "Use my room, Chow. James is sleeping in yours,"

Chow lifted his hand as if he wanted to say 'no problem'.

Pam got up, "I will inform the queen, and then…."

Sookie did not hear the rest of the sentence. Pam's voice was trailing away swallowed by her own thoughts. What would happen now that somebody knew James' identity? Who could it be? Was he the same person who shot that man? If yes, did he work alone, or did he work for someone else? If he worked alone, what would he do with the information? He would not keep it for himself; that Sookie was certain of. Would he sell it to the highest bidder? If he worked for somebody else or worse, for an institution…what would happen to James?

Sookie's hands were trembling. As if the cup in her hand became too heavy to hold, it slipped and fell, but before the cup reached the floor, a hand caught it and put it on the table. Eric was kneeling in front of her. Softly he held her hands.

"I am afraid, Eric." Sookie said. "Something bad might happen to him,"

Eric took her in his arms. "He's my responsibility," he whispered in her ears. "He's my son."

Sookie held him tight. This was the first time that Sookie heard a certainty in his voice, when he said 'my son'. She looked up to him to find a pair of cold blue eyes looking at her. There was no smirking or smile on those eyes; in fact, Eric's whole gesture for the moment was like Jason's gesture on the football field, alert and ready. His body was tensed and Sookie could feel how hard his arms became. She felt as if she was inside a stronghold, which protected her from any harm.

"It will be a hard day tomorrow," he said. "The Court of Queen Sophie-Anne Leclreq is not an easy place to be."

"And exactly that place is where our son will be," she said. "He is too young to be in a place full of vampires. It will scare him." Sookie continued in her heart. He's even afraid of you.

"It's not as bad as it sounds," he said. "You are one of her lawyers; she will protect you and your son…"

"Our son," Sookie cut him.

"Yes, but as far as her concern, James is your son and not mine. For his sake, I can only hope it will stay like that until James is ready and able to defend himself."

The feeling of security was gone as fast as it came. Sookie was trembling.

"Ssst," Eric held her tighter. "I will not leave him alone, I promise you. Pam will be there too and she can help me keeping an eye on him."

"What will happen to him if they know?"

Eric's hands on her shoulder suddenly became hard. His fingernails were bored into her flesh like knives.

He was worried, as worried as she was. He simply did not say it. "Let's keep it between us that we knew a stranger had known about James, but we must tell James. He has the right to know."

Sookie removed herself from Eric. She heard that sentence before. Godric had said it when he gave her the key. He has the rights to know. Sookie did not know if Godric meant James or Eric, when he said 'he'. He has the rights…What about her rights as a mother? Her rights to protect her son, to keep him away from any danger?

Eric stood there, looking at her with a light in his eyes that Sookie had never seen before. He was worried. "Trust me, Sookie," he said. His voice was deep. Clearly, he was trying to suppress his own feelings. "It would be better for James if he knows what he is facing in the future. Eventually, people will know him as my son, whether as my flesh and blood, or as your son only. They will look at our togetherness and they will connect him to me. Whether you like it or not."

"People? Since when you care about what people say or think?"

"Not your people. My people."

The vampires.

"That will be another reason not to take him there,"

"I know. I should have said no," his voice was lower. "There is no other choice now, but to go on with our planning, unless…" his eyes were flickering. He sounded reluctant when he said: "You changed your mind about helping Alcide."

"I…I can't do that," Sookie bit her own lips. She owned Alcide her life, without his and Simon's help, Carter would have killed her or turned her into werewolf. Now, Simon's family was in danger…God, what's she supposed to do?

"I admire you, Stackhouse," Eric said, smirking. "You are a loyal friend, indeed. Your son will understand your decision, if he is truly a Northman."

Why these big words of honour, loyalty and admiration were not able to calm her down? Why were her hands shaking because of fear of what might happen to her son?

Eric came to her and lifted her. "It's almost dawn; I can feel it in my body. Let's go to sleep, I can't stay awake any longer."

Eric lay her down on his bed, and covered her with an ivory linen blanket. He kissed her passionately before he said 'goodnight'. Sookie wrapped her arms around his neck so and asked him to stay a little bit longer, but he must leave the room and he did it with a promise to wake up as early as possible.

There must have been a basement or dungeon somewhere in the house, where his coffin was. Sookie would give anything so that Eric was able to sleep beside her, snuggled her and whispered the words that she suddenly missed so much, "Sleep, my lover. Sleep."

*****

Sookie woke up late in the afternoon. The house was strangely quiet. She heard James somewhere in his room talking to himself, or more likely talking in his head, about what he would see at the palace.

She dragged herself to the kitchen and looked for coffee. The noises that she had made, made James opened the door. He still wore Chow's red t-shirt, but it looked like he had taken a shower or a bath.

"The coffee is in the left cabinet, Mom." He said.

How did he know? Ah, probably Pam had told him that. Sookie opened the cabinet and made her the strongest coffee she ever had. She did not even bother to put any sugar or milk.

Soon, James told her 'how cool' it had been to fly with Eric, to feel the wind and being so high, he thought he could touch the leaves or even the stars when they had flown over the woods. "Did Papa ever take you fly, Mom?"

"No," Well…from the library to the bed, or from the bathroom to the bed was not exactly what Sookie could call 'fly'.

"What about…his wife?"

"Her name was Aude, James," Sookie sipped her coffee. "Yes, I believed I saw them once, flying above the woods."

"You loved her too, didn't you?"

Sookie smiled. "Yes. Had you known her, you would have loved her too. She was like a firecracker. Her spirit was contagious. She could make you feel…" Sookie searched for the word. "…alive and enthusiastic every time you were near her. A Little Devil, as your Papa called her."

James looked uncomfortable. "And what does he call you? Angel?"

Sookie laughed. "No." that would be too much for her taste. "He calls me 'Stackhouse'."

"That's a weird way to call a girlfriend," his face was red.

"Indeed," Sookie agreed. He called Aude also "Dubois" from time to time, or "Lover", as he called her also from time to time.

"So…you two have …made-up?" James asked.

"Yes, we did." Sookie said. "It's okay with you?"

James looked at her and shrugged. "Supposed," he murmured.

"You don't sound so happy," Sookie said.

James played with his fingers.

"I always thought you wanted to have some kind of a father figure at home," Sookie said.

"I did."

"Don't you want it anymore?"

"I do," James looked at her. "It's just…it's weird that my father is a vampire. I mean 'my real dad' is a vampire." He scratched his head. "And my grandfather and I look as if we were at the same age. It's just weird."

"Your grandfather?"

"Godric," James said. "He is somehow my grandfather, isn't he?"

"He's your father's maker. He is not 'his real dad'," Sookie used the same tune as James; gave a quote sign and shook her head a little bit.

"That sounds worse," James said. "It sounds as if he was a god or something,"

For Eric, Godric was definitely a god.

"Or Geppetto." James grinned.

Sookie laughed. If Godric was Geppetto and Eric was Pinocchio, she wondered how long Eric's nose would be.

"It's good to hear you laughing, Mom." James said. "It's been ages since you've laughed." He opened one of the cabinets and took out a package of cornflakes. "I suppose, Papa can stay with you as long as you want him to."

"Thank you, James." Sookie said, and promised herself to laugh more often in the future.

Shortly after the sundown, Eric came up. He took a bottle of True Blood and drank it in one go. The 'new' True Blood bottle seemed contained less volume than the 'old' one. At least it looked smaller than the ones Sookie saw at Northman Mansion. Eric needed more time to drink the Northman Mansion True Blood than this one. Normally, he would drink two or three times before he could finish it.

Eric asked her bluntly if she wanted to join him taking a shower, which caused James to roll his eyes with such a red face that Sookie was afraid his face might have exploded. When she said no (which she regretted very much), Eric gave her a long kiss that if James had not said "Mom, Pap!" she would have changed her mind.

"You don't know what you miss," Eric smirked.

After taking a shower, dressed up in dark grey suit with black shirt, Eric asked James to sit down. "We have to talk," he said.

James sat in front of Eric with stern look, so stern that Sookie had a feeling; James had already known what Eric wanted to say. But it's nonsense. Nobody could read vampires' mind, do they?

"We are going to go the Court of Queen Sophie-Anne," Eric said. "It is a beautiful place, but also a dangerous place. At that place, you will meet some vampires who are old and powerful. Not all of them agreed with the decision of revealing ourselves to the world and some of them still want to hide themselves from the human and continue doing the old way."

"I know, Godric told me."

"Then you must know too that you are a young blood for us." When Eric said the word 'us', James drew himself away from Eric.

"I am a vampire, my son." Eric said. "I will not lie to you by saying that I am not tempted to drink young blood from time to time," then he smiled. "But I haven't done it for a long time already. I have learned how to tame that desire to drink young blood."

"You've just called me 'my son'." James said. "Did you call me also 'my son' last night?"

"I did."

James smiled. "Then I was not dreaming,"

"No, you weren't," Sookie touched his shoulder.

"Does it mean I can call you "Papa" any time I want it, even in front of everybody?"

Eric's eyes were narrowing. "That would become a problem," he said. "I don't think the time is right yet to introduce you as my son,"

"Why?"

"As far as the people know, you are a son of a vampire. I was a human when I made love to your mother," Sookie felt her heart beat faster as she heard Eric used the word 'made love'. She could see also how James' face became brighter. He said 'made love', instead of 'having a sex' and Sookie thanked him for acknowledging the feeling. Eric did have his ways with words. "But they didn't know that fact. I believe, some people are not willing to know that fact. You would be neither human nor vampire in their eyes,"

"Then what am I?" James looked at Eric and then Sookie. "I am a human, aren't I?"

"You are, Sweetheart." Sookie kissed his head. "You are."

"But I drank your blood last night; will I be turned into a vampire?"

"No," Eric said. "Your mother drank my blood, too," he was smirking as he said that. He must have remembered the first time he had tricked her into drinking his blood. "You see that she is not a vampire,"

James nodded.

"But there is something that I want you to do," Eric said.

"Sure. Anything, Papa,"

"Somebody was around us as I was giving you my blood. He or she knew that you are my son."

"Who?" James' eyes were wide open.

"We don't know yet. Until we do, I want you to be as careful as possible. Do not give any sign that you knew about it."

"Yes, Papa,"

Slowly Eric got up. "You are my son. You will know what to do and you will survive."

**********