Episode 205: A Bunch of Fives in the Face
Pam entered her maker's office to find him at his desk. He was still dealing with the aftermath of Godric's death, the succession, his belongings, the boring paperwork brought by the Revelation. Since Eric had come back, Pam found him changed. Nothing amused him anymore, and he was even more prompt to anger than he used to be.
"- Should I open the bar tonight?
- Of course, Pam. Why wouldn't you?
- Maybe we could use a few day's break.
- I don't need a break.
- Then tell me what you need. What do you need me to do, Eric?"
He paused to look at his progeny, all too ready to snap at her. However, when he saw the genuine worry in her eyes, disguised as frustration, he decided to lay back instead.
"- You know what? I need you to bring me that new Estonian dancer of yours.
- Do you, now? – Her eyebrow raised, and her smile betrayed her delight.
- I think I'm in dire need of a feed and a fuck.
- She'll be right there."
Pam disappeared at her highest speed. But before she could come back, he heard someone pounding on the outside door of the bar. He walked out of his office when he smelled the delicious perfume of two young children. It had been a long time since he had seen some of those. His progeny though, was less than pleased.
"We need your help."
He recognized the man with them as Sam, Jill and Sookie's boss. He remembered vividly the only time they had met, when the man had broken a pool cue in half to make a stake.
"- And why would I help you, shifter? In all accounts, you haven't been a fervent defender of our cause.
- Because you're a friend of Sookie, right? And Jill?"
That got Eric's attention. Pam, on the other end, rolled her eyes.
"I'm listening."
The children, amazed, moved to sit on one of the bar's divan.
"- Don't let them sit there! – Pam exclaimed, - they're going to put their awful smell all over.
- Listen, there is a maenad in- – Sam started.
- Can we see your fangs, sir?
- Coby! I'm sorry, I had to bring them. They weren't safe in Bon Temps; nobody's safe."
Eric popped out his fangs to make the kids shut up.
"- I'm so happy I never had any of those, – Pam snarled.
- Come on, Pam, they're funny. Like humans, but miniatures. Teacup humans. – He licked his lips.
- Could we focus here? – Sam, getting nervous, tried to get their attention. – Sookie might get killed and-
- If Sookie Stackhouse were in danger, Bill Compton would know.
- He knows. He tried to bite the maenad, but he got poisoned or something. Haven't seen him since."
Eric became serious at once.
"Where is Jill?"
I fought it. I fought it with all I had. I put the barriers up, in my mind; I had drawn my weapons; I was ready for it.
When the driver had left me at my place, the town was empty. Sookie had had to make sure Bill's coffin was safely delivered to his house, before going back to hers. She was supposed to call me as soon as she got there. But she never called. When I parked my car in her alley, the sun was coming down. Her grand-mother's house was in bad shape. And the woman who lived there now, she was the weirdest, craziest thing I had ever seen. She wanted Sam for a sacrifice of sort. She wanted Sookie to be her maid of honor at a creepy wedding with a horned god. And she had the whole population of Bon Temps under some kind of spell.
They were freakishly unshackled. Everyone was running around practically naked, laughing maniacally, when they weren't plainly fucking in the garden, for everyone to see. I felt the pull on my mind too. And I knew immediately that I had to make it stop. It was stronger than everyone else's. Stronger than Sookie's telepathy, and stronger than any vampire's glamour. I had to stop the source, before it overpowered me. The source was not difficult to locate. She was vibrating like a bumblebee in the living room. However, as soon as I approached her, a huge guy punched me in the face. I'd had worse in the last few days, so I got up swiftly. Although, he was not alone. Many others attacked me suddenly, going from their dazed state to the worse violence, still laughing.
I tried to fight back. But I've only been trained to kill. And those people are Tara, Jason, Arlene, Terry. Even as they beat me to a pulp, I couldn't counter. I would have been able to run, though. If the pull hadn't been so strong. I felt a black mantel enfold my mind, and each punch tightened it around me.
It feels so cozy inside it… I finally let myself being unshackled too.
Eric landed himself in Sookie's garden to find a huge orgy taking place on her lawn. Everywhere, fires were burning through the night, and a huge woody sculpture sat in the middle. He chuckled. People, in all shapes and sizes, fucking each other in every conceivable position, if that was the work of this maenad creature, he could be on board with it. Some of them were going at it savagely too, and a lot had black eyes or broken noses to show for it. In a quiet, religious town like this one, it must have been the work of a powerful enchantress.
His smirk fell when he spotted Jill. She was caught under a naked man's body, with nothing but her panties on. He was licking her breast, drooling all over, while she was laughing and moaning. In a second, the guy was flying through the window, into the house.
"- Eric?
- Sookie, invite me in."
She was tied up to a chair in the living room, wearing a white dress.
"Not if you're going to murder my brother!"
He looked at the man pulling himself up from the rubble, with a deformed smile and completely black eyes. Though, before he could say anything else, Jill grabbed his arm.
"Fuck me, then! I'd rather you than him anyway!"
That would almost make him laugh. However, despite how enjoyable those words were in her mouth, he couldn't deny that something was clearly wrong.
"Ravage me!"
He had longed for her to offer herself to him; now, he would rather have the blushing ingenue back. As he froze for a second, Sookie's brother leapt through the shattered window, onto his shoulders with a piece of broken wood in his hand. Eric shook him off in an instant, letting him tumble through the flower bed.
"- Stop! You can't blame him, Eric, he's not himself! None of them are; don't hurt them!
- Where is the maenad?
- I believe that's me."
A tall black-haired woman entered the room. The way she walked and talked told Eric that she was ancient. He knew he couldn't drink her blood, but that didn't mean he couldn't kill her. And he just got all the motivation he needed.
"- Sookie?
- Eric, please come in!"
Without further ado, he entered, vampire speed, caught the woman by the neck, and tried to rip off her head. He only managed to break it, but it should have been enough. Only the maenad stood before him. While she put her neck back in place, she laughed at his face. People were gathering behind him. He tried really hard not to look at Jill specifically; the last thing he wanted was to draw attention to her.
"Come on vampire, why do you come to spoil the fun? I wish no quarrel with your kind. In fact, I want nothing to do with you!"
He suddenly felt the burn of silver on his wrist. Jill had found back her neckless. The enchantress had figured she could use her hunter skills. He pulled on the chain to set himself free, but she used his motion as momentum to throw herself at him with her wooden dagger. She was fast, but not fast enough. He caught her arm right before she could plunge the weapon into his heart, and twisted it to make her drop. The hardest thing for him was to avoid breaking it. Faster than the eye could see, he grabbed the table cloth to use it as protection, to remove the silver from his skin. Then, as she attacked again barehanded, he managed to grab both her wrists in one hand, and wrap his arm around her shoulder. With her back against his chest, one arm around her neck, he could pretend to use her as a shield, as he kept her close.
The creature was still laughing, despite the failure of her attempt.
"- Then what is it you want, maenad?
- I want Sam Merlotte.
- If I gave him to you, would you leave these people alone?
- Eric, no!"
He shushed Sookie with a wave of his hand.
"If it pleases my husband. They are my tribute to him. The shifter is my sacrifice."
- What about her? – He nodded toward the blonde still tied to the chair.
- I would never hurt my maid of honor!"
She seemed genuinely shocked he could imply this. That's when he realized she was completely crazy. But he still hadn't found a way to kill her.
"- Alright then. I will give you Sam Merlotte-
- Eric, you can't do that! Please!
- In 24 hours.
- Give him to me now!
- I'll have him in 24 hours. Play nice till then."
Without letting go of his struggling hostage, he flew away.
"Jill, look at me. Look into my eyes."
I see myself punch him in the face. Then the black comes back. His voice is so seducing. But so far away.
"Jill, I know you can hear me. You're stronger than this. Fight it."
I love how my name rolls on his tongue. I can feel the glamour trying to reach my brain. But I've been conditioned to protect myself from it. The barriers come up by themselves.
"You can fight this. Just follow my voice and come back to me."
I close myself in. So nothing comes in or out. My mind is protected by an unbreakable barrier. It's been ingrained in me by my elders as a child. We would often play this game. I don't even need to be conscious to bring them up.
Although, something is wrong. The barriers are way too close. My mind is bigger than that. I need to protect all of it, not just the core. I breathe in. And expend them. I see it. The darkness. I can repel it. My barriers as shields, I advance upon it. Until I claim the whole of me back.
Finally, I look upon Eric's face. He is so close. So worried.
"- You're back.
- Where was I?"
He doesn't answer, but seems relieved. I marvel at the genuine sentiment I felt behind his words. I chuckle at his anxious eyes. He doesn't seem amused. Then, I realize my body hurts all over. And then, I realize I'm practically naked on my porch.
I push him off me as hard as I can. Then I get back on my feet and put more distance between us. The last thing I remember is going to Sookie's house in the bright of day.
"- What happened?
- You were under some kind of spell. I didn't do that."
He gestures to my appearance, with a shadow of his smirk for a second. I try to hide the most of me with my arms. But I believe him. I remember now, all the other people in town and their depravity.
"Did I…
- Don't worry. I can still smell your virginity."
With that, his luscious smile is fully back. I'm torn between thanking him and slapping him. Though, truly I can't say how relieved I am. I mean, I'm traumatized enough without having to deal with that shit.
"- You saved me… But, what about everyone else?
- I thought you might ask that. The truth is, I don't really care. But I can't seem to be able to kill this creature. That is strange. I must go, to see someone who might know how."
I want to ask him more, but I feel exhausted, wounded, and I'm pretty sure he won't answer anyway. He quickly comes closer.
"- You're hurt. Do you… want my blood?
- I'm good. I'll heal fast enough."
I could feel the hesitation in his voice. Godric's blood, even if there's little left, is still working its magic anyway.
"Then lock yourself into the house. Enough so that even you couldn't get out. I'll come back for you tomorrow."
I barely nod. I know he's right, but I don't want to make any promise. I saw how people were in danger over there. I know I can fight it this time; I've got the tools now.
He should go, but he lingers. He gives me an unfathomable look, and I find myself blushing like an idiot. I bite my lower lip to avoid gaping too. I hate how my whole body responds to him without my consent. Though I can't bring myself to hate him anymore. He lowers his head for a kiss. But stops, inches from my lips. The hem of his shirt grazing my naked clavicle. When he breathes me in, my heart skips a beat.
"And take a shower. You reek."
Then he disappears in the sky.
Jerk.
But still, I don't know what I've been doing all day. So, I try to smell my own scent and find nothing too wrong with it. Except, maybe, the remnant of a guy's sweat. Why the fuck do I smell like Jason?
