A/N: Alright, I'm a little on the update, but better late than never, right?...Right? *insert cricket sounds here* Well then…here it is :) Thanks, as always, for the reviews, alerts etc… People really like Nero, which is great! :)

- Chapter Nine –

Hallelujah

This is what happens when you begin to like humans. They die, and they leave you. They always leave you, I scolded myself. Once, a very long time ago, I had promised myself never to become involved with humans after a particularly dreadful experience where a human I liked died a horrible death because of me. I followed that wise decision for centuries, but apparently all that wisdom drained out of me the moment I met Sookie Stackhouse. All those promises about not getting caught in the tangle of human lives vanished. A troll could've done a better job than I had at keeping a promise to myself.

"Nero?" Eric called. "The name has stopped flashing. What does that mean?"

"It means," I said quietly, my voice muffled by my hands which I held over my face in an attempt to hide myself from him. "…that she is dead. When it flashes red and black, it means she can be saved. When it stops, it means there is no saving her. She's gone."

He remained silent as he stood looming over me. It was quite irritating. The stupid blood-sucking bastard had accused me of messing with his money, and yet here he was looking remorseful. Well, I'll be damned if I let him get off that easy. I might be a Reaper, but I am not a thief. I stood quickly, surprising him. I grabbed my jacket, flung it on and marched towards the door. I was three steps away from it when he spoke.

"I'll take you there."

I rolled my eyes, unable to help myself. It seemed quite insane, that one moment he was almost hanging me at the gallows for a crime I didn't commit, then offering to take me to Sookie's. Humph. "It isn't in Narnia, Eric," I muttered, though I puffed my chest out in pride that I had correctly remembered the name of the fictional place. He raised an eyebrow, seemingly confused. Ha. "I can get there myself."

"I would like to take you," he said quietly. He sounded sincere, but Eric was no fool. He could wrap a person around his little finger if he liked. Hm, I could torture him some more, if I brought him along. That might be fun. I was still furious with him. I could take my anger out on him, which made me feel better already. "Nero?"

"Fine. Whatever," I replied curtly, strolling out of his office without a second glance. Fangtasia was, as always, completely packed. I was glad to get outside, smell the fresh air – mixed with booze and lust, of course, because a long line of fang-bangers stood waiting by the door to get in. Eric appeared behind me, looming over me again and putting me back into my bad mood. I got into his car – slamming the door extra hard so that it rattled on its hinges – glaring out the window.

"You certainly know how to throw a tantrum, don't you Nero?" Eric chuckled as he slid into the car, closing his door. There was a faint click as he locked it, trapping me in here with him.

"How about I accuse you of theft, and we see how you like it?" I snapped. "Godric told you 'my kind' were bad, hmm? Well I hardly recall vampires being soft and cuddly, skipping through the daisies."

He ignored what I said. "Sookie Stackhouse lives near Bill Compton yes?"

"How did you know?"

He smirked. "I know a lot of things, Nero."

"Except for who robbed you."

The smirk was wiped off his face, replaced with a dark grimace. "Stick the knife in, Nero. Really."

"Oh trust me, I would if I could, and it wouldn't be a knife I'd use on you, it'd be a stake."

I was careful not to push my luck. Eric was amused by my 'tantrum', as he called it, but if I went overboard, he would not hesitate to let me know. He had fangs. I didn't. We could fight, of course, but being the same age meant I wasn't entirely sure what the results would be. I don't want to scar my pretty face, obviously. I was also angry that Adele had died. She didn't do it on purpose, I knew that, but it still irked me. Sookie should still be having coffee with the lovely Sam Merlotte. I didn't need to tell Eric how important it was that we get there quickly; he was speeding already, the world outside our windows being a blur.

"Tell me Nero, how did Miss Stackhouse know we would be raided by the police?"

I held my tongue for a moment, before deciding to tell him. Bill, the poor guy, would have to tell Eric at some point. As his Sheriff, Eric could force him to do just about anything. "She's a telepath."

I could tell just by how his hands tightened on the wheel. His eyes seemed to glisten, and I knew he was using this to his advantage. Eric was an opportunist through and through. "Ah, no wonder Bill is so keen to keep his human away from us."

"Us?" I snorted. "You mean you. I'm friends with Sookie."

"I didn't think you would be one to make friends with anyone, Nero."

"For your information, I am an extremely pleasant, intelligent, good-humoured and wonderful person in general. Why wouldn't she want to be friends with me?"

"You forgot to mention how utterly modest you are, Nero."

I blinked, repeating what I had said in my head before I scowled. Like I've already told you, I just know greatness when I see it. It can't be helped. I sat up in my seat, holding my head high, but Eric was just smirking. "Alright," I said slowly. "I'm not a modest person. Sue me. You're one to talk. Oh, I'm Eric Northman, Sheriff of Area 5, I'm so high and mighty, no one can beat me!"

He frowned. "Forgive me Nero, but was that supposed to be my voice you were imitating there?"

I smiled despite myself. My impressions clearly weren't as good as I thought they were. When we arrived at Sookie's, I smiled at him again. "You're like my sidekick."

He rolled his eyes, clearly displeased with this. "I would think I would be the hero, and you would be the sidekick if we were in a silly superhero story."

"Oh please! I'm a much better hero. Just look at me."

He glanced at me as we made our way to Sookie's front door. "You don't look like Batman to me, Nero."

"Who? Bat…man?" I repeated slowly.

Eric smirked, smug that he knew something I did. Did he say Batman? A combination of a human male and a bat? What kind of hero would that be? Did he hang upside down in caves while waiting for disaster to strike before flying off to save the day? That seemed crazy to me. You might as well invent a superhero like…Horseman or…Lion-girl. It made zero sense to me, but Eric was adamant.

"Wait here," I said, opening the door with what Eric called my 'Scythe'.

"As if I have a choice," he muttered, raising an eyebrow. Oh yes. No invitation, no entrance.

Sookie's house was empty, thankfully. Slowly I walked around, sniffing the air just in case. My skin was tingling just in case I didn't know a soul was around someplace. I got to the kitchen, and there she was. Lying in a massive pool of gleaming red blood. Oh, poor Adele. It didn't look like she had slipped and banged her head. It looked to me as if she had been murdered. By the same killer terrorizing the rest of Bon Temps, perhaps?

But why would he choose a woman like Adele?

Suddenly, I felt something brush against my legs, and I screamed as I looked down at it. I leapt backwards, still shrieking, smashing into the countertop.

"Nero?" Eric roared. "What's happening? Are you alright?"

I put a hand over my heart, breathing deeply for the first time in a while. It was a cat, purring up at me, its eyes glinting. I didn't know Sookie owned a damn cat. It was a grey, small little cat that began licking the blood on the floor. I felt truly sick to my stomach. Not by the fact that it was licking the blood – I was far from squeamish – I felt sick because it had actually touched me. Ugh, I hate them so much. I resisted the urge to shoo it from the kitchen. It leapt onto the counter with amazing grace and licked some of the blood up there, too. Ew.

I realized vaguely that Eric was still roaring. I ran back out to him, noticing he was gripping the doorframe as if trying to pull himself into the house. When he spotted me, he relaxed slightly, relieved I think. His eyes searched me as if looking for a wound or a mark. I felt like a fool for screaming over a cat. Woops.

"What happened?" he asked furiously, glancing behind me.

"Oh, it was a cat."

He slackened. "A cat?"

"Um. Yes. I, well, you know I-…" I trailed off, feeling completely embarrassed.

"You're terrified of cats, I know."

I wished a black-hole would open beneath me and swallow me up right now.

"There was one in the kitchen," I said breathlessly. "It rubbed against my legs and I sort of…"

"Freaked out?" he snapped. "I thought you were being attacked."

My eyes lit up, and I smirked. "Oh, worried were you? Wanted to rescue me like Ratman would have?"

"Batman, Nero," he corrected. "And as part of our deal, I'm supposed to protect you, aren't I?"

"Hmm, yes. Don't worry. I'm not being brutally murdered. Not today, anyway."

Finding Adele's soul was not hard. She was still wandering around the kitchen, a faraway look in her eyes. She asked me, in a dreamy tone, to look after Sookie and Jason for her too. "He's a good boy Nero, I know he is." Well, this was turning out to be quite a night. Sending her to the afterlife wasn't difficult either. I had done it enough times. I cast a wary glance at the cat on the counter, before I heard a rustling sound. I glanced out the back window of Sookie's kitchen, narrowing my eyes. Was someone out there?

I made my way toward the backdoor, intent on catching this person – if they had murdered Adele, they'd sorely regret it when I found them – but I heard Eric's voice. "Nero!" he hissed. "Come on, we need to go."

I took one more look at the back door, debating my luck. But if Eric was telling me to hurry, then he meant it. Spinning around, I cast one more mournful glance at Adele and hoped she would rest in peace. Poor Sookie. She was in for a nasty shock once her delightful date with the Shifter was over. I wondered if she knew what Sam was. I might have to subtly drop that into a conversation sometime. For now, however, I had a vampire to attend to.

"You would think you were Reaping every soul in Louisiana with the amount of time this took you," he muttered, stepping aside.

I took a deep breath and smiled at him. "Patience is a virtue, my dear Eric. The sooner you learn that, the better."

When we were safely in the car, having locked Sookie's front door and leaving as quickly as possible, I began to watch him closely. I knew Eric was handsome, but I was beginning to realize his personality wasn't so bad either. Sure, he could be an ass at times, but he was funny. He had a dark sense of humour, which I admired. And he knew what he wanted and would stop at nothing to get it. That's admirable. Right?

"What do you plan to do about your money problem?" I asked softly. "Accuse everyone else you've ever come into contact with?"

"I apologized for blaming you Nero. And actually, I was thinking more along the lines of hiring your telepathic friend."

"Sookie? Hm. Bill won't be happy about that."

"You'll be surprised to find I don't actually care about Bill's happiness."

"Eric, stop, you are over-whelming me with your selfless consideration for others," I murmured sarcastically, staring out the window. "You would think that, having accompanied me as I took the soul of Sookie's very recently deceased grandmother, you would stay away while she dealt with her…grief."

"Of course I plan to get her time, Nero. I'm not a complete monster," he smirked.

"If you say so."