The forest was quiet as Eric stood watching me, waiting for me to say something. But I wasn't going to. I wanted to hear what he had to say. It took him several minutes of my silence for him to realize this.

"You saw us." He said, still standing several feet away.

"Does it matter?" I asked angrily. He didn't answer and looked slightly confused. I clarified, "Would you have never told me if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes?"

He looked away then and I couldn't tell if he was angry with me.

"There's so much you don't know about this world." His eyes focused on the distance.

I wasn't going to argue that point. Just in the past couple of weeks I had encountered beings that I had never seen before. And if I was being completely honest with myself, I wasn't exactly normal either.

"What am I?" I asked without really thinking. That caught him off guard. He turned back to me and looked at me curiously.

"I'm not sure. You seem mortal, but also...not." He said honestly. I let that sink in for a moment. It wasn't completely unexpected, I suppose. But at the same time...it hurt.

I stood up and turned my back on Eric, walking in the opposite direction. I knew he would follow me, but he did so silently. After a few moments, he broke the silence.

"Where are you going?"

"Home." I said.

"You're going the wrong way. It's that direction. " He was at my side now, pointing in a direction slightly to the left. I adjusted my course silently.

We walked like that for several minutes. His steps were more confident and I felt like a child stumbling through the forest in the dark while he glided gracefully next to me. Twice, he caught me when my foot made a misstep and threatened to tumble me. I'm sure he was amused by this, but we were both quiet.

"Aren't you going to ask what I am?" He finally asked.

"I doubt it would do any good. Besides, I want you to tell me because you want me to know. Not because I found your hidey hole." I spat with bitterness.

"Then why did you sit there and wait?" He asked, honest curiosity piquing his interest.

"I wanted you all to know that you're not as sneaky as you think you are. It's only a matter of time before the entire village suspects something is wrong with you."

"We can handle them. It's you that's the problem." He smirked. I stop in my tracks and turned to face him.

"I'm not a dead man who happens to still walk around at night. I am not the problem here." It may have been harsh but I was angry. I turned and kept walking. Quite a while passed before he said anything.

"Yes, I am dead." He said quietly. I stopped and turned to see that he was still also, watching me intently.

"You're a Draugr, aren't you?" I had heard stories a few times before; dead bodies that continued to live, they could change their size and smell of death. But Eric didn't really smell...

"Not exactly." He smiled a bit, seemingly pleased that I wasn't frightened of him. But really, if I was afraid, I wouldn't be alone in the woods with him. "I died a long time ago, and Appius gave me a new life...of sorts."

"How?" I asked, leaning against a tree and watching him.

"Magic? I'm not sure. But I'm different now." His face was relaxing as he talked. His jaw loosing that tightness that seemed to be permanent except when we were alone.

"You can't come out in the daylight." I said, having already figured this out. He nodded.

"Yes. During the day, my body and mind rest and I am dead to the world. I have to find a place without light, because the sun would burn my skin and kill me." I frowned. How sad that would be. I loved the feel of the sun on my skin.

"And you don't eat." I said, having noticed this as well.

"No." He said, "I eat."

Something about the way he said that made me stop. There was a danger in his voice that warned me that I was not going to like what came next. He was still watching me, but his eyes held something in them, something hungry. I definitely was not going to like what came next.

"I drink human blood."

I stiffened. My eyes widened and Eric smiled mischievously before chuckling.

"If I was going to eat you, I would have done it that first night during the attack. No one would have even noticed." He smirked.

I wasn't sure if that made me feel better or not.

"Do you kill the people you feed on?" I asked quietly, not taking my eyes off of him. His smile disappeared.

"No. We just need a little." His face was expressionless now, he wanted me to understand this, and to accept this. I looked away and pushed off the tree, continuing on my way.

Was that acceptable? That he survived on the life of other creatures. I glanced over my shoulder at him. True, there was something...other...about him, but he was beautiful. Those ice blue eyes were too human to fear. And right now there was a question in them as he gazed at me. I turned to face forward again.

"I read minds, Eric. Who am I to judge?" And I meant it. There were things in this world that I couldn't explain, and I was one of them.

I stopped dead in my tracks, my way blocked by a large form that had suddenly appeared in front of me. I looked up at him, my brow furrowing in confusion.

"If you think that is the only thing special about you, you are wrong." He said, "If I had told my true nature to any other from your village, they would not have accepted it so easily."

I couldn't place the tone in his voice, there was wonder there, that I could just move on after such a revelation. But there was also something sad in it. I didn't know why. His hand reached up and cupped my cheek, his thumb slowly rubbing the line of my cheek bone.

"What are you?" he asked, his voice a whisper and his eyes distant. I smiled, at least I knew part of the answer to that question.

"I'm Sookie." I said, smiling kindly at him. His body hit me like a gust of wind, so soft but forceful. I was nearly knocked off my feet, but his hand on my lower back caught me and held me to him. And he was kissing me. I had never been kissed, but I couldn't imagine it was always like this. His lips were so cool and tender but they were pleading with me, begging me to kiss back and I couldn't refuse.

I lifted my arms and wove my fingers into his hair. His chest vibrated in a low growl and he lifted me right of my feet, holding me to him. For a long time, he held me like that, my stomach knotted, reveling in that feeling of being wanted and of wanting someone else. And then he broke away and slowly set me down.

I was breathing heavily and rested my forehead to his chest, which was also rising and falling with regularity, though I knew he didn't need to breath. His hand gently rubbed the back of my neck and played with the hair that had come free of my braids. I chanced a look up at him and grinned shyly at what I found; his eyes were brighter than I had ever seen them and he smiled so freely down at me. His expression changed to one of curiosity and he pointed to our feet. In our kiss, I had dropped the bundle that I had carried so far.

"What is that?" He asked quietly. I reached down to pick it up and wiped off some of the dirt it had acquired.

"This is for you, Gran thought you would want a change of clothes after last night." I hadn't noticed before, but he was indeed filthy. His skin was clean, he had washed in the river, but his tunic and pants were still caked in dried mud.

He reluctantly removed his hand from my back and slowly took the bundle. He tentatively unwrapped the new/old shirt and pants. He nodded in acceptance of them and hung them on a low hanging branch. Then, giving me a sly grin, he took off his belt and his boots and divested of the filthy tunic and pants. Having just kissed him and been held next to his body, it felt different to see him like this. I blushed and looked away, though not too quickly.

When I heard him refastening his belt, I looked back and went to pick up the dirty clothes.

"We'll wash these for you, it's the least we can do." I said. He nodded, putting his boots back on.

"Sookie," he said after a moment, "you can't tell anyone what I...what we are."

I looked up, noticing that some of the darkness had returned to his face.

"I know, " I said carefully, "I hope I don't have to."

I didn't want to threaten him, and I wasn't really. I just wanted him to know where I stood. I had to protect them, my family, and he had just confessed to wanting to eat us. He didn't look too happy though.

"You don't understand. You can't tell them, because you shouldn't even know. Appius will think I told you a lie. He will look for this, and you must convince him that you are oblivious to our nature."

I looked up at him, still not understanding.

"So what should you have told me?" I asked.

"That we are just like you. That you have nothing to fear." He claimed that this was a lie but I was hoping it wasn't too far from the truth.

"But I saw you...why would I believe that?"

"We have a way of making mortals believe what we tell them, even convincing them to act as we will. But it doesn't work on you, and Appius can't know that." He stood now and came to me, his hands once again finding my face. But his expression was not gentle now, it was serious. I had to understand this. I nodded.

"You're just like me. I have nothing to fear." I said back to him, smiling a bit sadly. He nodded and leaned down, pressing his lips to my forehead. I closed my eyes and sighed at the touch. He released me and took a step back.

"Your home is just there." He pointed over my shoulder, "It's late, and you should return."

I smiled and nodded, turning and walking away from him. I looked back after a few steps but he was already gone.

I was surprised that we had gotten so close to the house without realizing, but as I stepped though a couple of shrubs, I was home again. It felt like another world now, a simpler one. But I shook off that feeling. It was the same world as before, just bigger.

My smile faded when I opened the door to the screaming inside.