Lorena opened her mouth to scream.
But it was too late.
With one last agonizing look of hatred for her nemesis, she was blown into smithereens.
"That's right, bitch!" Tara shouted, looking slightly insane. "That's what all them crazy fangers deserve!"
Sookie fell back on her heels, the stake dropping out of her hand. She had really killed Lorena…
Suddenly, all the werewolves that had converged on Eric stopped as one entity. They all turned, seemingly drawn, to the vampire blood that now covered a good part of the area surrounding them.
"Get out of the way," someone growled, and Sookie gasped as she was pulled backwards into Alcide's arms. Tara, likewise, jumped out of the way as the werewolves ran towards their drug of choice.
As soon as they were sufficiently engrossed, Sookie ran to where Eric was lying. He gritted his teeth as Sookie hurriedly pulled the silver chains off him.
The burn marks on his arms healed almost immediately, and he jumped to his feet, fury masking his face.
He began to speed towards the werewolves, obviously intent on the kill, when Sookie grabbed his arm. Eric whirled towards her, his face blazing. "They deserve to die," he growled, "They would have showed us no mercy."
"I know," Sookie whispered. "But this is our only chance to get away. Come on."
Eric hesitated, but Sookie tugged on his arm and he reluctantly followed her back into the truck.
"Let's get out of here," Alcide quickly slammed down the truck door and he and Tara clambered into the front. By the time the werewolves had realized what was happening, the truck was already speeding away.
Sookie let her head fall back against the door, still unable to believe what had just happened. She stared at Bill's body lying on the floor next to hers, and briefly laid a hand on his blood-soaked hair. "Lorena is gone," Sookie whispered to Bill softly, knowing fully well there was no chance he could hear her. "She won't ever bother us again."
"How does it feel to kill?" Eric suddenly asked. "Have you gotten the taste for it yet?"
Sookie leveled him a look, "I won't ever be the cold stone killer that you are, Eric Northman. I certainly don't want to ever get the taste for killing!"
"You say that now," Eric mused, staring at her. "But perhaps one day you'll find out..."
It was nearly nightfall when they reached Bon Temps. Sookie tiredly woke up when the truck rumbled down her driveway, stopping with a sudden jerk. Alcide opened up the back door, and Eric hopped out easily. He held out a hand to Sookie, and she sleepily let him help her down.
"Are you working at Merlotte's tonight?" Tara asked, joining the group as they stared at Bill's body.
"I told Sam I'd be taking a few days off," Sookie replied. "I think I'm just gonna go to bed."
"Alcide and I will take care of burying Bill's body," Eric said abruptly. "He'll be as good as new soon."
Sookie nodded, watching as Eric and Alcide both got back into the stolen truck and drove off. She sighed and turned back to Tara, whose arms were crossed tightly. "Tara? You okay?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine. I'll just let you get back to—"
"Nonsense," Sookie said immediately. "You're more than welcome to stay here."
"I don't want to impose," Tara began, but Sookie cut her off.
"I'll be more than glad for the company," Sookie smiled at her best friend and the two of them walked up the porch steps and into the house. Sookie stopped short on the threshold, her mouth opening in shock.
The house had been completely cleaned of any remainder of Mary Ann. The kitchen sparkled, the floors shone, the walls completely dust free. "What the—?"
Tara walked in behind her and whistled, "Lookin' good, Sooks. When did you have time to clean all this up?"
"I didn't...someone must have..." Sookie trailed off, thinking about Eric. She vaguely remembered that when he had picked her up several days prior, he had made some comment about the state of her house.
Well, it don't always look like this! I just haven't had time to clean up the filth that Mary Ann left behind!
Why don't you just hire someone to clean it?
As if I had the money for that...
"I think Eric must've hired someone to clean it while we were gone," Sookie muttered almost to herself as she walked around admiring the place.
Tara placed her hands on her hips and stared at Sookie knowingly, "Well that sure was nice of him. Wonder what he wants in return?"
A part of Sookie knew that Tara was right, but another (larger) part of her just wanted to be grateful for the gift. "Not everything comes with strings attached," she chastised.
"The hell with that! If it involves vampires, you know they're up to no good," Tara snapped. "Get to bed, Sookie. I think the tiredness is messin' with your good judgement."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Sookie agreed, but as she walked upstairs to her room, she paused again to look around the house. She smiled slightly for the first time in a while, and continued on her way.
Sookie didn't know what time it was when her eyes flew open, but night had clearly fallen. She looked wildly around the room for a minute before relaxing. She was at home. Russel was far away. Everyone was alright. Bill—
She sat up abruptly. Bill! He still hadn't returned to her...but he was going to be okay, wasn't he? Eric promised...
Not really thinking about what she was doing, Sookie quickly got dressed. She wanted to make sure Bill was okay. That he was healing.
That he wasn't actually dead.
Tiptoeing down the stairs, Sookie saw Tara had passed out on the couch. She padded quietly to the door and shut it behind her. The problem was, she didn't know where Eric had decided to bury Bill. Would it be at the cemetery? As she begun walking in that direction, she had a brief flash of a recent conversation she'd had with Eric.
Do you have any idea what lurks in the shadows?
Oh, I don't know...Vampires?
If you think vampires are the worst thing out there, you've got a lot to learn...
Sookie looked around again, but she didn't hear or see anything suspicious. She let her telepathic mind wander to pick up any trace thoughts, but there were none. Still, she picked up her pace.
Soon, she reached the graveyard without any interruption. She walked around carefully, looking for a freshly dug up site. As she neared the edge of the cemetery, her gaze fell upon a mound of dirt. She cautiously walked towards it, squinting down. "Bill?" she called uncertainly.
There was no response.
She stared back at the site, strangely disappointed. Maybe he hadn't fully healed yet...
Sookie sighed and knelt down. She placed her hand above the dirt and whispered, "I miss you, Bill. You better come back to me soon, you hear? I don't know what I'd do without—"
A hand shot out of the dirt.
Sookie screamed, stumbling backwards.
Another hand shot out, scrabbling for a good grip.
"Bill? Is that you?"
Sure enough, Bill eventually emerged out of the dirt, struggling.
"Oh thank god!" Sookie ran towards him, "You're alright! You look god awful though, what—"
He grabbed her arm painfully, and turned to look at her.
Yet not seeming to see her at all.
Sookie paused, suddenly feeling nervous. "Bill? It's me..."
His fangs extended as he regarded her with dark eyes.
As a predator would regard its prey.
In one swift moment, he hurled himself at her, knocking them both to the ground.
Sookie opened her mouth to scream, but Bill clamped a hand over her mouth as he sank his fangs into her throat.