A/N: We're going to do a little jump ahead in time right now, just to keep the momentum going, so this chapter starts 6 months after Sam's untimely demise.
Thanks again so much to everyone who's been reading, reviewing, favoriting and alerting this story! Y'all ROCK!
And of course thanks so much to my beta, Northman Maille, for her rad editing skills and her ability to put up with my neurosis!
Disclaimer: I own nothing…
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She'd followed the man for well over two hours before finally cornering him in a darkened alley behind an abandoned restaurant. She'd watched him change clothes, in his small apartment, after his work shift. She'd paced him at a distance as he made his way to the seedier section of Shreveport, and watched as he made the deals for small bags of white powder that actually brought him the bulk of his income. She'd shadowed him as he visited with one of the sickly looking women who stood on the street corners selling themselves for money. He'd never once noticed her presence even though she was always there.
Now, as the man he was meeting left with the larger part of his takings for the night, she stepped out of the darkness, revealing herself and walking slowly towards him. She saw him tense with worry at the sight of her, wondering how much she'd seen.
"Hi there." She drawled, her southern accent thick and sweet. "Are you looking for a little company?" His shoulders relaxed visibly as she smiled widely, only her human teeth showing.
"Maybe…." He answered, smiling back, his guard dropping completely at the sight of what he thought was a harmless, attractive hooker.
"I could help you out with that." He was right in front of her now and without warning she moved behind him at her heightened speed, placing a hand over his mouth to muffle his screams of surprised fright, and pulling him down so that his neck was bared.
In seconds her fangs were in him, drinking from the artery in his neck which pulsed abnormally hard with his fear. When she felt the flow of his life slow she pulled away reluctantly. She knew no one would truly miss this one if she were to drain him, but she also knew he was nearby and he would not let her. Holding the Human tightly by the throat, nearly cutting off his air supply, she stared deep into his eyes and took his mind effortlessly.
"I was never here. You dropped off your payment and simply went home to sleep off your hard night." Releasing him, careful to make sure she hadn't left marks on his skin, she watched him stumble off in a daze.
He'd hardly been gone a moment when another figure emerged from the darkened corner of the alley, tall and imposing, beautiful and fierce. She smiled as he came to her.
"How did I do?" She asked, batting her eyes and giving him a toothy smile. Her fangs, she knew, were something of an obsession for him.
"You were perfect Lover." He purred as his arms wound their way around her waist and he pulled her into a frenzied kiss, licking the excess blood from her sharp teeth.
Hunting, they'd found, seemed to be one of her Vampiric gifts. She instantly excelled at scenting and tracking, at staying hidden and undetected by her prey, and at glamouring them to forget it all afterwards. He'd told her that it might have been because of her Fairy heritage. The Fae, he'd assured her, were a fierce race, unparalleled at both cunning and cruelty.
She had no reason to dispute his claim. In fact she felt comforted there might be a reason why the bloodlust she felt showed so little sign of simmering down, even now: six months after her turning, when her other instinctual urges were finally showing signs of becoming controllable.
"Come, Pam is waiting for us at Fangtasia." He said, his mouth reluctantly leaving hers, as his arms tightened around her and he shot them into the sky.
She'd flown with him many times, but she never tired of the raw feeling of the wind in her face and hair, or the power of defying the gravity which held others to the ground. She hoped this gift might still be somewhere in her future too, though she knew that her Maker possessing flight only gave her a slightly better chance of inheriting it. Certainly it hadn't helped Pam to acquire it.
"What are you thinking so hard about dear one?" Eric asked, his hand running soothingly up and down her back, trying to keep their lust at bay until they were in a better place to deal with it.
Sookie had hunted and fed and now that her hunger for blood had been satisfied her body would be yearning to sate its other most primal need. He had watched the whole thing with great pleasure. However, twenty feet above the city, was not the place to gratify either of their desires. Luckily, her words suggested she agreed.
"I was just wondering, what Pam's gift is." She had wanted to ask her sibling a million times but thought better of it. Pam could be quite scary when she was annoyed. Satisfying this curiosity now seemed a good way to distract herself from the feelings Eric's body pressed so close to hers incited.
Eric laughed at her answer. Poor Pam, he knew it rankled his eldest child that her gift was not apparent, well not apparent until it was much too late for the wonderer to do anything about it.
"Ah, Pam's gift is an excellent one, just as yours is. You haven't yet had the chance to see it in action yet, but Pam's gift is her strength and her speed. She is far stronger and faster than others her age and, thanks to my excellent tutelage, she is able to outclass and overpower Vampires nearly twice as old as her. She is a sight to see in battle." He answered, pride in his voice.
Sookie too, though not gifted with increased strength, was becoming quite a formidable warrior. The gifts that allowed her to excel at the hunt transferred quite easily into battle. She had chosen to learn to fight with knives, blades small enough to be easily concealed on her person, but sharp enough, under her skillful hands, to be frighteningly deadly. Her skill, coupled with her cunning and creativity, made for an opponent who quite easily found ways to dart in close to a person, with even a longer blade, and cut them away with violent efficiency.
"What are you thinking about so intensely?" She asked, repeating his question from earlier with a lustful twinkle in her eye as he set them down behind the club.
"I'm thinking of your last training session." He answered, his voice darkening with yet more lust as they made their way to his office.
In the months since her turning he had been channeling her more violent desires into training and hunting and it had helped her to cope and control herself to some degree. He still felt how much she longed to kill each time she drank from her prey or trained with him, but there had been no more incidents like Merlotte's death.
They were still suffering the fallout from her disobedience though. Despite the fact that they'd been able to circumvent investigation by the Human authorities, the good relations he worked hard to foster with the Were packs and Shifters in his area had abruptly turned sour when he hadn't bothered to deny the rumors of his guilt. And Compton, fearing he might be next on the list for his own involvement, had defected like the coward he was. He'd run straight to Victor and sworn his fealty directly to him, taking his database and any insights and information he had gathered over the years to Eric's most immediate enemy.
It had turned out to be every bit the cluster fuck he'd imagined it would be when he landed on the grass by the highway and saw what she'd done, but between the two of them at least, they seemed to have come to a point where they could both be content. She was able to vent enough of her savagery to keep from killing and he was able to indulge her darker needs to some degree without fear of what might happen if she ever remembered.
As he sat behind his desk, he tried to stifle the sigh the thought caused. It seemed apparent now that whatever had brought about her memory loss would not correct itself. In the last six months they had covertly consulted with her Fairy cousin, but he had been unable to offer any insight. Though she was certainly not the first part Fae to ever have been turned, it was a rare occurrence. Still the few others that existed hadn't suffered the same circumstances so it was probably not related to her heritage.
They had also consulted with Dr. Ludwig, calling her in under the pretense of fixing a damaged Human. The healer, in her usual brisk way, had informed Eric she could shed no light on the problem. She was a doctor, she could only treat physical ailments and as a Vampire Sookie suffered no such problems. The good doctor had offered to make inquiries but Eric had been forced to refuse her offer, both because it might alert the wrong people to Sookie's condition, and also because she herself had been so adamantly opposed to it.
In the months that had passed, Sookie had become openly hostile to any attempt to recover her lost memories. She felt no particular desire to be returned to her former self. She was happy as she was and hated any indication he was not. It caused more than one heated argument between them, and he knew she had yet to fully forgive him for it.
Their last fight had finally made him understand he would have to leave the woman he loved behind. She was gone. He could either try to find happiness with the Vampire who had taken her place, or he could keep forcing the issue and drive his child's affections further from him. He was her Maker, he could have forced her, but even if she did not remember his promise to her, he did. He had sworn, that night in her living room, he would never use his power as her Maker to force her to his will. It was his duty to keep his promise no matter how much he wished differently.
Looking at her now, as she closed his office door behind her and began to stalk her way over to him, he knew letting it go had been the right decision. She was not the same Sookie, it was true, but she was a magnificent creature: beautiful, fierce, passionate, intensely driven, a Vampire through and through and she was his. No matter what happened he would not have it any other way.
He had felt her affection for him growing with each passing night and despite their unhappy moments, she was coming to care for him again. It was not as it had been, it couldn't be, those emotions had been the emotions of a Human, but it was strong and deep and only for him.
She was just about to straddle his lap, intent on relieving the lust that had been building between them all night, as she hunted and he watched, when the door swung open, hitting the wall behind it hard. Pam sauntered in, a scowl on her face and a cream colored envelope clutched in her crimson painted fingers. Sighing audibly, Sookie moved from her position, almost in his lap, to lean against the wall.
"I'm sensing annoyance." Eric arched his eyebrow, hoping to inject some levity into the moment, if only to keep from breaking something in his frustration.
"You'll be feeling some first hand in a moment." Pam snipped back, thrusting the envelope under his nose.
Taking the expensive paper from her, he opened it, pulling out the card inside. He had only to glance at it before he hissed, the annoyance Pam had promised welling up almost instantaneously.
"Fucking Victor." He growled, throwing the thing on his desk and getting up to begin pacing the room in anger.
"What's going on?" Sookie asked, annoyed now too since she was the only one in the dark about what was going on.
"Victor is opening a Vampire bar here in Area Five. He's just invited us to the grand opening party…on Halloween night." Pam informed, crossing arms under her chest as her fangs snicked out. "He knows Fangtasia's Halloween party is the event of the season each year."
"He's doing it to bait me." Eric interjected, not bothering to stop his pacing as he did.
"He's doing a good job of it." Pam replied dryly. "Frankly I liked it better when he was only trying to kill us. We've already set everything up. We can't back out of our contracts for the party this late and we can't have it now either." Pam was right on both counts. They were obligated to appear at the party of Louisiana's Lieutenant if he wished it so.
Sookie knew enough to understand it wasn't the money that was angering either of them. Victor was Lieutenant of the state yes, but his principle duty was as Sheriff of Area One. His setting up shop in Eric's territory was a direct challenge to her bonded's rule in this part of the state, and it made her blood boil with anger. Even if she hadn't known from Pam and Eric all that Victor had done in his attempts to get Eric out of the way, her single encounter with him would have been enough to let her know that he was a self-aggrandizing bully, unworthy of the fealty her bonded gave him. Before any of them could say anything more though, one of the waitresses appeared in the doorway, looking nervous.
"Mistress Pam, there's a woman here to see you." She said nervously, her head bowed meekly.
Pam turned ready to berate the barmaid for her intrusion, but from behind her the 'visitor' made herself known. The angry sneer Pam had been giving dropped and a startling look of affection took its place.
"Miriam?" Pam said, the question evident in her voice.
Sookie was astonished by the change in her sister's demeanor. In the months she'd known Pam the other Vampire had never looked at any Human that way. But then she'd suspected for a while now this girl had somehow gone from being simply a pleasant food source to something more, though Pam would never admit such a thing out loud.
"I'm sorry Pam. I didn't mean to disturb you but…." The girl, Miriam, trailed off there, her voice breaking on a sob as she buried her face in her slender, trembling hands.
The waitress took the opportunity to flee back to the bar as Pam gave one quick look to Eric, who nodded his head just slightly. Using her heightened speed Pam moved swiftly to the girl, putting her arm around her in a gesture of comfort and shepherding her away, probably to her own office.
"What will you do about Victor?" Sookie asked when they were alone again.
Eric sat behind his desk once more, raking one hand through his hair even as he sent most of the papers on his desk flying to floor with the other, still annoyed and angry.
"What is there to do? We cannot refuse his invitation." It seemed that, unable to destabilize Eric by hurting those close to him, Victor had descended to attempts to hurt his bottom line instead.
Another Vampire bar in this area would be stiff competition, since Northern Louisiana might be vast in terms of land but not population. Opening the bar on Halloween and forcing Fangtasia to close for the night would certainly start him out with the upper hand as well.
Growling audibly Eric knew he had no choice but to concede this particular skirmish to Victor. They would go to his party and do their duty, but every threat, every slight Victor committed only brought him one step closer to his final death. Eric didn't know how or when, but he knew Victor would die by his hand.
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Eric spent the rest of his night cancelling the arrangements they'd made for the now defunct Halloween party and tallying up how much money they'd lost in security deposits on catering, specialty bloods and bands. All in all it had been an infuriating night even if there hadn't been anymore outright drama.
He and Sookie were just pulling up in front of the house when he spied Pam leaning up against her car in his driveway. He hadn't seen her since she'd left his office with the little Human earlier in the night, but as he looked at her now, in the glow from his headlights, the tracks of blood running down her cheeks were apparent.
He felt Sookie take his hand and heard her gasp of shock. Bringing the car to a stop next to Pam's, he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.
"Give us a few minutes." He said softly.
He knew Sookie wanted to stay and find out what was wrong. She was worried seeing Pam so… broken looking and not knowing the cause. But she also knew it was Eric, Pam must have come to see and so, getting out of the car, she went into the house with only a quick backward glance. When he and Pam were alone he stepped out of the Corvette and came to stand in front of her.
Pam's emotions were rarely ever overwhelming anymore. She had, in the centuries since her making, always been cooler and more controlled than any other Vampire he knew. But when she felt, though it was not often, she felt with a depth that he'd rarely seen equaled. Till now her fierce devotion had always been reserved for himself and more lately for Sookie. He knew the pain he felt coming from her now though had nothing to do with either him or her sister.
They simply stared at each other for a long moment, he not knowing what to say and Pam seemingly unable to speak, before she launched herself into his arms. Shock was his first reaction as he felt Pam collapse into him. He couldn't remember the last time she'd touched him like this, it had surely been decades, perhaps even centuries.
It wouldn't matter if they lived for millennia though, he would never become accustomed to or apathetic about his child's anguish. Wanting to find some way to help her, Eric wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight with one arm and petting her long, pale blond hair with the other.
"What's wrong dearest?" He asked softly, soothingly into the top of her head. He heard Pam make a hiccupping little laugh at the term of endearment, before she gave herself over to another body racking sob, her arms tightening around him.
"It's Miriam," she began.
"Your little Human?" He asked. Pam nodded in answer.
"She…she's dying. Cancer." It was all Pam could get out.
"I'm sorry," He answered her, the words sounding strange in his mouth. "You know they're not very sturdy, dearest. They die of the smallest things all the time." It was true of course, but he regretted saying it when she began to sob all the harder.
"I know. I know." Pam's voice was small, almost like a little girl's.
"But you don't want this one to die. She…means something to you, something more?" He didn't need her to answer really.
He could feel how her emotions spiked when he spoke of Miriam dying. It was like the thought of the girl's death was an actual physical pain to his child, resting right over her normally still chest. It was a feeling he was only to familiar with and, without consciously choosing to, he found himself looking at the house and thinking of the woman who waited for him within.
"Is this love Eric? Is this what it feels like?" She asked him pulling away, her face betraying her pain, puzzlement and anger all at once.
"Yes." He answered simply, wishing he could take her hurt away and knowing it was impossible all at the same time.
"It sucks!" She snapped, turning away from him suddenly angry, as though she'd just realized she'd been crying like a hysterical Human in his arms. Pam hated being weak, even in front of him. It was just more proof that what she felt for the girl was exceptional.
"That's mostly been my experience as well." He found himself telling her. He'd never admitted that to anyone, not even to himself, but he'd never lied to her in their many years together and he wouldn't start now. "What will you do?" He asked her after a moment in which he tamped down on his own feelings of hurt and grief.
"If you are in agreement I will bond with her. Surely my blood is strong enough to cure her." He felt his eyebrow rise at her statement. He remembered with crystal clarity how incredulous Pam had been when he'd come back to their hotel room in Rhodes after bonding with Sookie and she'd liked Sookie, even then.
"If that is what you desire, you know you do not need my permission for it." He told her, even as he felt his eyebrow climb up to his hairline.
"I know I don't, but I want it just the same. You have your hands full with Sookie, if I bond with Miriam…" Pam trailed off, but Eric didn't really need her to finish that statement either. His bonding to Sookie had been unconventional to say the least, but normal bonded pairs were very attached to each other, especially in the beginning. It was a connection second only to that of a Maker and their child.
"I will be fine." He said, his voice steady and firm. It would have convinced another, but not Pam.
"I had thought things were getting better between you." She said, pulling herself away from her own sorrow for a moment, almost happy to have another's to concentrate on.
"She hasn't tried to kill anyone lately." He snorted in reply. Pam's only response was a raised eyebrow of her own. Eric could only sigh, it was becoming almost habitual for him at this point. "She hates me for curbing her darker instincts, but can't escape her attachment to me. She feels something close to love for me sometimes and at others she despises me outright, believing my love is only for the person she used to be and not the person she is now."
"And do you love her…this her?" Eric looked at Pam with utter disbelief painting his face. "Then why not take her away from here, Eric? You've never cared for power and with Victor breathing down your neck Louisiana has ceased to be the sleepy backwater you came to, searching for peace and quiet. Why not resign and take Sookie somewhere where she can indulge some of her less…mainstream desires?"
This time it was Eric who turned away in anger.
"Do you believe I haven't thought of that already?" He asked, his voice rising incrementally. "Do you think for a single second I would not love to take her away from here? Do you not imagine I would not love to indulge her, to truly hunt with her, to drain them with her, to take her in the blood of our prey?"
Visions filled his head at his words, visions of he and Sookie, running through the woods in the tattered remains of what had once been fine clothes, hunting for their blood, reveling in the fear of the helpless Humans they had chosen. He would take her to the woods of his homeland, rest with her in the caves that dotted the snow covered mountains, warm themselves in the springs which bubbled up from the earth, make love on the soft moss covered floor of the vast forests in the endless night of the northern winter, and kill.
They would kill without fear of punishment or reprisal, kill without worry for the consequences, the political fallout, the human backlash. They would be free to live as true Vampires, as he knew she yearned too. The images excited him more than he dared to admit and he could feel himself hardening, his need for her rising as inevitably as the tide, before it died suddenly in the face of reality.
"Then why not do it?" Pam prodded, feeling his sudden deflation. He turned on her then his fangs dropping in a sudden swell anger and frustration at the hopelessness of the situation.
"Because she will NEVER forgive me if she remembers!" He spat, his eyes blazing. "Do you not understand Pam? If I deny her as I have she will grow to resent me, more than she already does, to the point she will no longer be able to stand being with me. She will blame me for stifling her, for curbing her bloodlust and she will leave me! If I give into her, let her have her wish, slaughter the innocent, bathe in their blood, she will love me now but should she ever remember she will be revolted by what she has done, by what I LET her do, and she will turn away from me forever!
It doesn't matter what I do!" He felt himself falling to his knees without even realizing they'd betrayed him. "No matter what I am bound to lose her. And I do love her, Pam. I love her more than I have ever loved anything! I loved her when she was an obstinate, willful, beautiful Human full of love and light and humanity and I love her now, a ruthless and murderous Vampire, filled with her barely suppressed darkness. It is my curse to love to her no matter what form she takes for as long as I live." The last came out as a whisper, his anger having burned itself out with the admittance of the realizations that had been tormenting him for months.
He flinched, slightly startled, when he felt Pam's arms come around him again, as she knelt on the hard cement of the driveway beside him. They held each other in silence for a long while this time, both of them unbelieving of how such a Human emotion could have brought them so low.
"So what do we do?" Pam asked finally. She was slightly shocked when she heard Eric begin to laugh softly beside her. Though she supposed it was a moment where you either laughed at the irony and rose above it or gave in to the pain and allowed it to sweep you away.
"We are immortal Pam, we keep moving." Something so simple to say and yet, sometimes, so hard to do, she thought.
"The sun is coming up," was her only reply.
"Rest here today?" It was a question though neither of them truly believed she would answer anything but yes.
"Let's go find Sookie, she's worried enough I can feel her." Eric nodded, picking himself up and offering his hand to Pam, grateful for the first time in many years for the oblivion of death, even if it would only last a few hours.
