Chapter 11

There was nothing to do but wait for Indira and Felicia to bring me the information I needed to make my move. Pam and the Roderick were conversing quietly. That was good as I'd been slightly worried that my vampire child's onerous nature would make her reject Adele's daytime protector. As for my daughter she was sitting in the sofa lost in thought. Sometimes I overlooked that she was only nine and very susceptible to everything that was going on around her.

"Adele"

"Yes poppa?"

"Come fly with me."

The demon and Pam looked up surprised.

"Eric you can't"

"Are you off your rocket?"

I dismissed their concerns. "Victor Madden cannot fly. I am one of the few vampires in the states who can. There is no danger if we keep to the skies."

Adele had gone to my room to find her sweater. She returned with her favorite blue button down and climbed into my arms.

"We will be gone for no more than an hour. See if you two can find a market that sells the foodstuffs Adele is accustomed to in the meantime."

I held my daughter close as we went up into the night sky. Adele laughed and urged me to go higher. She loved to see the lights and feel the change in air pressure. I'd been taking her up since she was an infant and I could not get her to stop crying through any other means.

We flew across the great expanse of the city. I dipped and swerved and got the prescribed giggles of excitement from Adele. This may be the very last night that we are alone with just each other. I hoped that I had done right by her and have been able to alleviate somewhat the emptiness that Sookie's absence left in our lives.

I remembered the first few days after having left my bonded and finding myself in that little college town in upstate New York debating whether or not I should simply cross over to Canada. Adele was resting in her car seat and I was trying to locate somewhere to sleep for the day. A hotel was out of the question as I would not risks strangers around my child when I was dead to the world.

My safest bet was finding one of the few empty homes that I could enter and hide in the basement until the next evening but I'd been driving for miles without any luck. I'd begun to feel the painful twinge that usually alerted me that the sun had begun its trek through the sky. Desperate, I got back onto the highway and decided to risk a hotel room if only for today. A few minutes in I spotted what seemed to be some sort of abandoned farmhouse and without any options left I revved the car towards it.

I left Adele in the car while I made a quick exploration of the building. The structure was old and unkempt but was still structurally sound. There was a filthy but dry basement where we could spend the day. Retrieving the baby, her bag and a few thick blankets, I set out to secure both of us in the space.

Adele watched me carefully as I made a nest with the blankets and set her down in the middle. Her eyes scanned the gloomy surroundings as I mixed a bottle for her using the gallon of water I picked up at a convenience store. I apologized to her for not being able to warm it but she did not seem to mind and drank it with her usual gusto. A few minutes later she had consumed a respectable three ounces and needed to be burped. I complied and then changed her diaper quickly. Dawn was weighing down on me.

We sank into the nest of blankets gratefully. She cooed softly and stretched her tiny arm until she made contact with my face. The sweet smell of newborn and Sookie filled my nostrils and I buried my nose in the blond fuzz of her head remembering my bonded and loving the child we'd made. I watched fascinated as the baby's large blue eyes fell shut. She would awaken in a few hours and her cries would be enough to stir me from my daytime sleep. I attributed this idiosyncrasy to the bond which placed her needs above my nature. Even under the full sun I would and stay awake until she too slept.

Having become aware of my daughter's many abilities; I now suspect that it was Adele's latent powers that accomplished that feat. She needed her father to survive so she was able to interrupt my sleep cycle to ensure that her needs were met. It was truly miraculous but then in that abandoned farmhouse with so little to call our own and the future murky I was afraid.

And yet somehow here she was healthy, beautiful and powerful. She was the child of the impossible and I was fortunate to have brought her forth.

"Higher poppa!" she commanded and I obeyed.

XxXxXxXx

We returned to the house at the same time that the demon and Pam returned laden with groceries. Adele gleefully searched the bags until she found a package of non-fat tofutti rice dreamsicles and settled to indulge on the kitchen table. Pam came to stand besides me.

"I know that I haven't been human in a while but I really don't think any of that is food."

I shrugged. "Adele is health conscious."

"Tell me about it. The demon kept prattling about gluten content and phytochemicals whatever those are. I remember her mother eating her way through a bucket of some captain's chicken with nary a thought."

I couldn't help but smile. Sookie was a southern girl and quite fond of her pecan pies and fried foods. Adele would be mortified when she found out.

"So I take it your impromptu bonding flight went well?" Pam asked evenly.

"It was something we needed to do." I took a glance at my daughter who was holding her ice-cream and letting it melt on the table. There was something wrong. "Adele?"

I rushed to her side and found her blankly staring into the space before her. I shook her as hard as I dared but to no avail. "Wake up Adele!"

Her blue eyes were glassy and wide open as if she were looking into something beyond what surrounded her. I pulled her up from her chair and laid her across the kitchen table. The demon dropped the groceries he was putting away. The fear was naked in his face.

Only Pam kept her cool as Roderick and I called my daughter's name repeatedly. I could sense that she was thinking hard and coming to a conclusion.

"She's having a vision. Ease down and let her come out of it at her own time" she ordered us both.

Adele stayed in trance for a few moments longer until her eyes slowly drew shut. When she spoke her voice sounded eerily like the Ancient Pythoness. "You need to get Sookie now. She is going to do something bad to herself."

My blood grew cold. My Sookie would never…

"She thinks that this is the only way to save her husband and child. She's wrong but you have to find her fast."

I was out the door and flying towards Victor's mansion without thinking twice. Midair, I tried to sense her and the bond responded by flooding me with Sookie's raw emotions. Her mental anguish called to me like a siren and I flew even faster. I pushed against the bond trying to calm her but she was blocking any interference from me. Her intent was clear.

"Please my lover, my wife if you go I will too" I plead with her through the bond "don't do this to us."

Sophie-Ann's Garden District mansion materialized under me and without hesitation I dove for one of the windows and crashed into the multicolored glass. I knew she was behind it. Her fading breaths told me so.

My bonded lay still as death in her bed. I pulled her to me and placed my ear against her chest.

There was no heartbeat.

TBC.

Sorry. I know it's awful. I couldn't get Eric's voice for some reason so I just kept rewriting but it's still not right. Hopefully next part won't be so. Please review if only to tell my how much this part sucked.