Thanks to my beta RubySun03
and thanks to Beege24 for your support when the pressure almost crushed me with a downpour of lemon dreams.
Nothing else to really say just yet... so enjoy. :)
Last time....
"Let's go home, lover. I'll take care of Victor tomorrow." He took my hand and we walked to his new corvette that was already pulled out front. He laughed as he stuffed my dress into the tiny car. When he finally got me into the car he climbed in himself and started towards the 'no longer creepy' house by the lake. He stayed quiet as I pouted in my prom dress, but I could tell how entertained he was through the bond.
"Why did the vampire not have any friends?" I broke the silence after it started to annoy me. He looked over at me with a smirk. I could tell he knew the answer, but he was willing to play along.
"Why not, dear one?" He asked attempting to hide his smile.
"Because he was a pain in the neck." I glared at him and lifted a brow as he laughed. He took my hand in his and brought it to his lips, laying a soft kiss as he did.
I was asleep by the time we made it to the house by the lake. Eric must have carried me in and tucked me into bed, because that was where I woke up in the morning, still in the prom dress. I peeled the now painful toile out of my skin as I rose. I lifted the skirt to see the toile had indented a pattern into my legs as I slept. I looked to the sleeping vamp still on the bed and considered my options of retribution.
That was how I found myself digging through what I assumed would have been Pam's closet at one time. It appeared that Pam was very into disco in the seventies. I cheered when I found what I was looking for, "Jackpot!" I yelled to no one. I pulled the oversized makeup case out of the bottom of the closet and drug it to the bed and the dead to the world Vampire sheriff of area five. When I opened it up I almost cried tears of joy when I saw an industrial sized container of body shimmer. I laughed quietly to myself, even though I could probably scream at the top of my lungs and still not wake him up.
I unscrewed the top of the shimmery glittery powder and thanked God for the days of disco. I pulled the sheet off of my vampire and was not surprised to see him already naked for me. I was finishing up the last of his skin when I noticed a note sitting on the bedside table.
Lover,
I did not remove your dress for fear that I would wake you. It has been a long week and I wanted you to get much needed rest. Feel free to go through Pam's things, they may be a bit old fashion, but I'm sure you will be able to find something suitable.
If you insist on going to work this evening, which I'm sure you will, take my car. I have set the GPS to get you there. Go under the menu and choose the location: Shifter's dump. I will see you tonight after I meet with Victor for a bit. Try to stay out of trouble until then.
E
I almost felt bad for the glittery sparkles that were currently covering Eric from head to toe. Almost. I got up from the bed and headed back over to Pam's old closet. I walked in, but not without another glance at my twinkling vamp. I laughed, then went to the task of finding something to wear home. I resisted some of the silver lame halters and skin tight bell bottoms. The further I got myself into the closet, the older the clothes appeared to get. I found outfits ranging from the forties to the late seventies throughout. I picked out the most boring, normal looking thing I could find and pulled it on. I hung my prom dress up in its place hoping it would get lost in the museum of clothing.
Walking out of the closet, happy to be out of the torturous dress, I came upon my vampire once again. I found myself laughing out loud, wishing I could ditch my responsibly to Sam to see Eric's reaction. For the first time I could remember I actually considered calling out to be with Eric. This realization scared me into kissing my shiny sleeping Eric goodbye and leaving as quickly as my feet and his corvette would allow me.
I did as Eric told me and rolled my eyes when I saw that he had indeed labeled Merlotte's as 'Shifter's dump'. For a thousand year old man, he could be so immature. I giggled again when I pictured him waking up this evening. It was still a few hours until sundown so I pushed it to the back of my mind to think on later. When I reached Sam's I realized I was without a uniform. I hopped out of the car anyway; making sure it was secure and walked into the back of Merlotte's.
Sam was seated at his desk and looked relieved to see me standing before him.
"Cher, everything alright?" He stood from his seat and walked over to hug me.
"Everything's fine." I smiled and looked down at my clothes, suddenly feeling ashamed that I obviously wasn't coming from home. "I need to borrow another uniform." I looked at my feet as my cheeks filled with red. I was thankful that my sneakers hadn't been ruined through the whole battle. At least I had those.
"Oh, come on Sook." Sam sounded a bit disgusted as he led me down the hall to the store room. He pulled out my size and handed it to me. When I finally looked up he seemed flustered. I grabbed the uniform bracing myself for the 'Eric's no good' speech once again. That reminded me, I should swing by Walmart and pick up some invitations to throw my 'Everybody hates Eric and Sookie party'.
"Sookie?" Sam was saying my name; I had apparently left my body for a moment.
"Sorry Sam. I was just thinking about throwing a party." I smiled the crazy Sookie smile everyone was familiar with. "Thanks for the uniform!" I ran to the ladies room to change before he could say anything else.
The afternoon went smoothly. I didn't spill a million things or forget my orders. It was a little before sunset when I started screwing up again. I was almost knocked over with the feeling of anger followed shortly with amusement. I sighed, grateful that he at least had a good sense of humor about the whole thing. It wasn't until about a half an hour later that I felt frustration and annoyance building through the bond. I imagined he was starting to figure out that glitter was the herpes of craft supplies. Once it was on you, it was never coming off. I ignored it as best I could and went back to my job.
I was almost done with the early dinner shift when I heard the door slam open. I turned on my heel to see a very angry and very clothed Viking stomping towards me. He grabbed my arm and despite the stares and murmurs pulled me into the back hallway. I had never see Eric so covered up before; he even had a hood pulled over his head in attempt to hide the tiny crystals on his face catching the lights. I bit my lip trying not to smile as he pushed me into the wall trapping me with his arms on either side of my head.
"It's not coming off." He said quietly as he leaned down closer to my face.
"What's not coming off?" I was surprised how steady my voice was, considering I was holding back laughter.
"You know what's not coming off." His voice was stern as he pulled the hood off his head revealing his face to his lights. It looked like diamonds. I put my hand over my mouth to hold in the giggles that were starting to escape. "I am supposed to be subjecting Victor to hours of pain. I cannot go looking like this." He was talking through his gritted teeth. I probably should have been afraid, but it was just too funny.
"You're beautiful." I tried to sound serious between snorts of laughter.
"Lover, do not try my patience. You will not be happy when I seek vengeance in this matter." He narrowed his eyes at me and I put all my strength into not laughing.
"I'm sorry." I bit the inside of my cheek after taking a deep breath.
"Are you going to help me get this off or do you intend to anger me further?" He ducked his head down as someone walked into the back hall. They headed to the men's room, but I was sure the crowd in the bar was dying to know what was going on and had sent him as a spy. When Eric looked back up he gave me a challenging look. I held my hands up in surrender.
"Okay, let me tell them I'm leaving." I stooped under his arm and walked back into the bar. I let the new waitress know that I was done and caught her up on any tables I had left.
When I entered the back hall Eric was nowhere to be seen. I walked into Sam's office to say goodbye and get my purse. Upon exiting Merlotte's I saw him. He was leaning against his car, face towards the sky. The moon wasn't quite full but it still shined beautifully down on Eric. He was beautiful. Not because of the glitter, the glitter made him look downright silly. I smiled as I watched him watching the sky above.
He smirked as I approached, "Very funny, lover, very funny indeed." I knew I was in trouble and hoped his revenge would be quick and painless.
"You made me be in that awful dress all night." I pouted, hoping to take the edge off of whatever he was planning to do to me.
"You will get no pity from me, lover." He raised an eyebrow at me, knowing exactly what I was trying to do.
"Fine, let's go." I climbed into the car and let him shut the door behind me. On the way to the farmhouse I noticed how quiet he was and I hoped he wasn't plotting. "What are you going to do to me?" I asked watching his face carefully.
"Oh, you'll find out when I'm ready, but I assure you it will not make you happy. You won't know when it's coming or what it will be, but you'll know it's me." He smiled wickedly.
When we got to my house I was filled with anxiety. I had a feeling that it was all part of his revenge. I tried to forget the war I had started as I led him to my bathroom. I sat him on the side of the tub and took out my make up remover. About a million cotton balls and an empty bottle of makeup remover later Eric was mostly glitter free.
"There." I blew the hair out of my face and sat down hard on his knee. He chuckled at my exhaustion and ran his arm around my waist. He laid a soft 'glitter free' kiss on my shoulder in thanks for my hard work.
"You would not have had to remove it had you not covered me in it." He pointed out as he rubbed his face against my arm.
"You wouldn't have been covered in it had you just let me wear your clothes home last night." I admit, I was still pouting a bit. He ignored me.
"I suppose I will visit with you until you sleep and then go and see to Victor." He said, sounding disappointed.
"Oh by all means, don't feel obligated to stay with me if you have torturing to do." I stood from his knee, knocking his arms off of me and walked out of the bathroom. I didn't stop until I was at the front door, holding it open. I knew I was being a bit sensitive, but I was already on edge from Eric's prank war declaration. I had a feeling he would kick my butt in any kind of war, except maybe one that took place under the sun. The more I thought about it though; he would probably find some way to win that kind too.
"Sookie, I do not feel obligated to be here so shut the door." Eric responded as he made himself comfortable on my couch. Annoyed, I went to shut the door when something caught my eye. I saw a small blinking red light coming from the woods.
"Eric?" I whispered at the same time his phone rang.
"I am here." I heard him speak into it as he stood and walked into the back bedroom. I stepped foot onto the porch, squinting in the darkness to see what could be blinking at me. Hell, vampires were real, I wondered if it could be Rudolph. I giggled a bit at the thought. As I reached the top of the porch steps the red light was no longer blinking, but a steady glow. Not a second later I heard a soft whistle and felt a tiny pinch in my neck. Everything slowly went black as I watched the steps in front of me appear to come closer. I was falling.
I was disoriented to say the least, when I finally woke up.
"Eric?" I called, even with my eyes still closed. I searched the bond and couldn't feel him except a tiny hum of his existence. "Eric?" I whined the second time even though I knew he wasn't there. I tried to move, but found myself to be held down by something.
"Ah, Miss Stackhouse, you are finally awake. I was beginning to wonder if we over drugged you." I heard Victor and had no desire to open my eyes and see him. I did anyways. I had to know where I was.
"Why aren't you getting tortured?" I asked sharply. Eric was wearing off on me in the worst ways. I should not have been giving attitude to a vampire at all, let alone when I was without Eric and strapped to a wall.
"I escaped." He said simply, as if it were no big deal. I looked him over. He appeared to be a bit paler than normal, but otherwise unscathed. Eric would be pissed, I worried that I couldn't feel his anger that he should be experiencing. Not only had Victor escaped, but he must have noticed at this point that I was missing.
"How did you get me?" I was pulled out of my thoughts by my own voice asking the question out loud.
"I had the tiger shoot you with a tranquilizer." He smiled evilly and my stomach flipped.
"Quinn?" I asked for clarification. When he nodded I held back expletives and tears. I guess that was one less invitation I would have to send out for the party. Eric would surely kill him before then.
"Not that I care what you think, but he only did it because I convinced him he was helping you. Stupid creature, really." He shook his head at the thought. Unfortunately for Quinn, the 'why' wouldn't really matter when it came to whether or not Eric would kill him.
"The king is dead, why bother at all anymore?" I asked, suddenly exhausted by all the most recent activity in my life. I had almost gotten used to normal life since the 'thing 1&2' experience had ended. I guess when it rains, it pours.
"Revenge." I was tiring quickly of his short answers.
"You know Eric's going to rip your skin off, wait for it to regrow, and then rip it off again, right?" I was disgusted I had such a thought. Was I channeling Eric these days?
"Oh my dear, I have no doubt that is what the Viking wishes to do. Perhaps I'll try that on him later." He was smiling again and I was sick.
"He'll find me and he'll kill you." I ignored Victor's previous threat to make one of my own.
"He won't have to find you." He stated plainly. I looked at him waiting for an explanation. "He's here." With that said he knocked loudly on the metal door to his left. The lock clanked and the door swung open with a thud. A vampire I recognized as Fat Tony pushed in a chair that held Eric. It appeared Victor made a friend while being held at Fangtasia. I didn't need the bond to tell me Eric was fuming, but I missed being able to feel him regardless.
"Eric!" I squeaked as I saw he was once again being restrained by silver.
"What is the point of all of this, Victor? You've lost your king, your position, and will soon lose your existence. Just give up and I will make your death faster than I had originally planned." Eric was his always assertive and confident self.
"The point?" Victor repeated. "Well, I'm going to let you watch as I enjoy your bonded before I drain and turn her." Tony stood behind Eric's chair and smiled widely at me. "After I turn her, I will have her kill you. Then she will be mine for eternity."
"Why not kill me yourself?" Eric was egging him on. What the hell was wrong with him?
"Because I would like Miss Stackhouse to do it." He replied and you could tell there was no room for argument. "For now, I will leave you. I am sure you have much to discuss." I hoped he would walk out, but first he came to stand directly in front of me. "I will return shortly and we will begin our fun." He roughly grabbed my breast, earning a growl from Eric. Victor blew me a kiss and left us with Tony trailing behind him. I resisted the urge to throw up and/or cry.
"Are you alright?" Eric was staring into my eyes.
"Considering…" I answered as honestly as I could. I wasn't in pain or dead, but I was strapped to a wall being told I was going soon experience some sort of 'fun' with Victor as Eric watched. "Why can't I feel you?" my voice shook a little more than I had hoped.
"You've been drugged. As much as I prefer to feel you, I am glad you cannot feel any pain, dear one." He looked me over and I wondered whose pain he was referring to, his current or my own to come. I didn't feel drugged. Maybe a little lighter than usual, but coherent.
"What are we going to do?" I asked hoping to hear those four little words every girl in my situation would be longing to hear, 'I have a plan'.
"Do not worry, I will think of something." Said the vampire chained to the chair by silver. I rolled my eyes at him and shifted uncomfortably hoping to find that I wasn't attached to the wall as securely as they had hoped.
"You know this wouldn't have happened if you had just killed him. You had to torture him." I chastised Eric. He looked up at me with a smirk.
"Are you blaming this on me?" He asked, bitterly amused.
"Yes." I answered narrowing my eyes at him.
"Perhaps you should consider we would not be here if you hadn't wandered outside on your own." He shot back at me.
"Oh, you are so not going to blame this on me!" I whispered loudly in his direction, not wanting to let anyone listen in on our argument.
"But you can blame it on me? That doesn't seem fair, now does it, lover?" He asked between gritted teeth. I guess my arguing with him wasn't helping him plan. I suppose he was right, too. It was Victor's fault. I stayed quiet. He seemed appeased with that and I could see he went back into deep thought. After what seemed like an eternity of silence I couldn't take it anymore.
"Eric?" I whispered in a small voice. He broke out of his thought and met my eyes. "Just in case, I mean if we don't get out of this…" He waited for me to finish, "If he makes me a vampire, I don't want to be a vampire." I tried to ask him to save me from such a fate without asking him. Eric's eyes softened.
"It will not go that far. Trust me, Sookie." He spoke with sincerity and I tried my best to stifle my fear. Eric's head turned quickly to the door suddenly before he whispered to me, "Close your eyes, lover." I did as I was told as I heard the metal door squeak open. "Why Tony, it is so good to see you again. Played any good bar games lately?" Eric spoke condescendingly to the vampire that had entered the room. "How's the tongue?"
"All grown back. No thanks to you and your little family." Tony said bitterly. If I wasn't restrained to the wall I would have found it interesting that he called me and my vampires a family. I guess that's what we were though. Eric, Pam, Bill, me, and even Ben if he made it through the week… we were an odd little family. "What's wrong with her?"
"Your idiot leader pumped her tiny human body full of drugs. What do you think is wrong with her?" Eric was speaking through his teeth again, obviously annoyed with Tony's presence and questions.
"Well, since she's out again, I'm sure Victor won't mind me taking her down and looking over her condition." I could hear the desire in his voice. I braced myself for what was to come.
"You will not touch my pledged." Eric said firmly. I felt Tony's hand run along my waist and then up and along my arms. My skin was crawling and it was taking everything in me to not shiver in disgust.
I heard the restraints click and made my body feel like dead weight as I dropped into Tony's stubby fingered hands. He allowed my arms and head to fall back as he turned to move me further into the room. As we passed Eric, I peeked out of my closed eyes to see him nod in the direction of the silver draped across his arm. I allowed my hand that was hanging back behind Tony to grab hold of it, freeing Eric's arm and arming myself in one act.
"I owe you this after what you and your children did to me." Tony growled at Eric as he laid me on a cold hard table.
"Ben is not my child." Eric picked the least important part of the statement to comment on. I gripped the chain in my fist as it hung from the table.
"Well then, I owe you this after what you let that bitch and her young vampire do to me." I could hear that Tony was facing away from me and chanced opening my eyes. We were to the side of Eric now and there was a table filled with torturing fun above my head. I gulped as quietly as I could when I saw it, knowing that they had intended to use those tools on me.
"You dare call Pam a bitch? She will greatly enjoy showing you how bitchy she can be if she makes it here before we kill you." Eric smiled and I understood now that he was distracting Tony for me.
"We?" Tony asked with a snicker. "You're alone here, Northman." He sounded cocky and overconfident, much like Eric.
"Am I?" Eric asked with a smirk and a quirked eyebrow. I took that as my cue and sat up quickly, wrapping the silver chain around Tony's voice box. He yelped as he fell back onto me, smashing me against the table and knocking the wind out of me. "Sookie, push him this way." Eric commanded from his chair. I got my feet positioned under Tony's back and pushed with everything I had. He barely budged. So I pulled the silver tighter and tried again. This time he flew in Eric's direction. Eric grabbed him with the one hand he had and held on tight.
"What now?" I asked out of breath.
"Move the chain to bind his hands. Then undo mine." He held on tight to Tony as I peeled the chain from his neck. Melted skin stuck to the chains as I pulled it from his body. I was surprised I didn't gag from the sight and smell, but I was focused. I pulled his hands together behind his back as Eric gripped his arm to the point of breaking it. I wrapped the chain around his wrists several times before wrapping them in between, praying they would hold.
"Done." I confirmed breathlessly. Maybe the drugs were still affecting me after all.
"Now come take the chain from around my chest and I'll take it from…" His voice stopped as he faced the door again. "Do you see something you could use as a weapon?" He whispered, his eyes narrowing towards the door.
"Other than you?" I asked frantically. The corner of his mouth lifted in a half smirk before he returned to looking fierce. I turned to the table to see lots of cutting tools and a single wooden stake. I had to assume they planned on using it on Eric if he got out of hand. I grabbed it and headed to stand behind the door as Eric nodded me in that direction. I was shaking when I heard the door lock clank once again. My hands were sweating and I clutched the stake to my chest hoping I wouldn't drop it. Eric was facing forward, acting as if nothing had changed and Tony wasn't on the floor under his foot.
"What is going on in here?" Victor sounded furious. I was thankful he didn't slam the door open or I would have been smashed into the cement wall behind me. I gripped the stake as I jumped from behind the door, aiming it for Victor's back. Buffy I am not, I was too slow. Victor turned and his hand went around my throat, as my body went into the metal door.
"Ouch." I squeaked out.
"What are you up to, my dear?" Victor sneered at me. He thankfully had not noticed the piece of wood that was in my hands as he moved to press his body into mine. "Excited to get started? I admit I was getting a bit excit…" His words stopped as the sliver of wood pressed into his chest thanks to his own movement. He looked down for a split second before emitting a powerful scream in my face. It didn't end there; soon he was spewing blood and liquefying all down the front of me. I screamed along with him until mine was the only voice to be heard. Without Victor holding me up, I fell to the floor into the puddle that was formally known as Victor.
I don't know how long I stared at the floor, but I didn't hear Eric as he called my name. I didn't hear Tony as he protested his captivity. I didn't even hear when Pam and Ben entered the room. That is, until Pam slapped me. Eyes wide I looked up to see the two of them standing before me, Pam looking thoroughly amused.
"She smells good." I heard Ben say as he stared down at me.
"Down boy…" Pam disciplined him before looking to me. "Isn't this fantastic, Eric chained to a chair and Sookie the hero." Pam smirked at me.
"Eric!" I hated to admit it, but I had forgotten he was chained to a chair on the other side of the room. I pulled myself off the floor and threw myself in his direction. "Where's Tony?" I asked with more fear in my voice than usual.
"We gave him a head start." Ben answered smiling, quickly taking after his adoptive mama with the desire to hunt.
"I'm teaching Ben how to hunt down the enemy." Pam added proudly.
"Well that's just great!" I pulled on Eric's chains a little harder than I should have and received a hiss in response from him. Pam and Ben looked confused by my anger, "If I get knocked out, kidnapped, or injured again, I'm coming for you and you!" I pointed at Pam and Ben before I ripped one of the chains off of Eric without any care.
Pam chuckled, "You're adorable when you are angry, little Sookie."
"Well I'm gonna be downright precious if you two don't go get Tony and make sure he stops coming after me right now!" I shouted, exasperated as I ripped another chain off of Eric.
"Lover…" Eric attempted to get my attention.
"And you!" I cut him off while removing the chain that was holding his ankles together. "This is the third time this week you've ended up in silver chains! Get yourself together before you get killed!" That's right, I was yelling at Eric for being careless. I threw the last chain in the pile with the others and stood leaving the room behind. The silver was too tempting while I was fuming at the vampires in my life. I thought I heard Pam mumble something about Eric losing his touch before she was silenced.
Eric was behind me a moment after I made it out of the big metal door. He didn't stop me, he just let me stomp away, him following behind. When I finally found my way out of the building I was faced with a forest of trees. I crossed my arms over my blood drenched chest, angry that there was most likely no way out of this without the help of Eric. I knew he was behind me, but he had yet to say anything.
"I killed someone, again." I looked up at him with wide eyes. I felt my lip quiver, but I didn't want to be sad, I wanted to be angry.
"You did what you had to. You protected me and yourself, dear one." Eric finally moved forward to touch me, but I backed away. He stepped closer again, "I am sorry you had to go through this." I could see the sincerity in his eyes. I didn't back away this time. "I'm sorry I can't make this all go away. If I thought me leaving you alone would give you everything you want and keep you safe, I would consider it, but it won't."
I gave him a skeptical look.
"Okay, I wouldn't consider it. You are mine." He smirked.
I turned away from him and started walking through the woods. He stayed silent and close behind me. When I would trip he would catch me and place me back on my feet. When I would stop to breathe, he would stop. He did this for at least an hour without saying a word or trying to force me into speaking. I didn't know where we were or where we were going, I just knew I couldn't stand still. I had to keep moving. Still deep in the woods, I finally stopped to face him when I reached the shore of a rather large body of water.
"Where are we going?" I sighed, defeated, settling myself on the edge of the water.
"I don't know, lover. You are leading the way." His face was blank. He walked into the water until he was calf deep. I watched as he removed the hooded sweatshirt he had been wearing to hide the glitter earlier. He tossed it to me before removing his t-shirt. I could see where the silver had burned him through the cotton material that had been covering him. I was about to explain to him that I was in no mood for skinny dipping when he bent with his shirt in hands and dipped it into the water. He approached me slowly, dripping wet shirt in hand.
"What are you doing?" I was so confused by his actions until he crouched down and began to wipe my face with his t-shirt. I had forgotten that I was covered in Victor. I would have to ask Sam for yet another uniform next time I worked, there was no way all the blood was coming out. Eric held my chin in his hand as he gently cleaned the blood off my face. Next he peeled the sticky shirt off of me and over my head.
"Better?" He asked quietly, but emotion had still not returned to his face. I nodded. He pulled the hooded sweatshirt over my head leaving him bare-chested. He appeared to be pouting.
"What's wrong?" I asked concerned that something had occurred that I didn't realize.
"I didn't get to torture and kill Victor." He pulled me to my feet. I rolled my eyes.
"Can you take me home?" I asked as I stood, the sweatshirt he had given me falling down to my knees. Without a word, he pulled me up into his grasp and took off into the sky.
I was somewhat surprised when he took me to my farmhouse instead of one of his many homes, but I wasn't going to argue with small favors. Instead I made my way to the front door hoping to find Amelia home to let me in, god only knew where my things had gone after the week I had just had. Instead I found Pam and Ben sitting on my old porch swing, waiting.
"Yes?" I asked with more attitude then you should ever give a vampire. Pam stood with Ben following.
"We finished off Tony, Miss Sookie. You seemed really upset before, so we found him and we finally killed him." Ben looked remorseful, Pam looked bored.
"Thank you for letting me know, Ben." I smiled as best as I could at the young vampire.
"Pam…" Eric was standing beside me on the porch, "call a meeting for tomorrow night. Insist that all vampires in the area attend. We have a house full of badly made vampires that need to be taught our ways." I reached over and put my hand in his. He didn't kill all the vampires Victor had made. He was keeping them safe until they could be properly reared.
"Adopt a vampire?" I looked up at him and smiled past all the pain I was feeling from earlier.
"Something like that." He smiled down at me as he raised our entwined hands to his face, brushing his lips against my fingers.
"Come on, kid. Let's get out of here before things get sickening. Let's go annoy Compton." Pam grumbled as she walked off the porch. Ben strayed behind for a moment eyeing me.
"Bye Miss Sookie. I hope I get to see you soon." He grinned at me and walked past Eric and me on his way off the porch. "Bye, Grandpa. See you tomorrow night." He waved and with a laugh from Pam they were rushing off towards the woods.
Eric was silent for a moment as he stared after them, "Did that boy just call me Grandpa?" He sounded astounded and a little disgusted.
I nodded, "That's what it sounded like." I laughed as his mouth hung open and his brow creased. "I wonder if Pam's making him call her mommy." I speculated out loud. Eric was still staring at the woods when I felt him start to move away from me, his hand still holding mine.
"Grandpa…" He mumbled to himself as his boot hit the first step.
"Whoa there, Gramps!" I yelled as I yanked on his hand. He stopped turning to look at me.
"First, that idiot calls me grandpa and now you speak to me as if I'm a horse?" He asked as he slowly came back to stand in front of me.
"You were about to drag me off into the woods again all because… what? You feel old? You don't like the idea of your child's child calling you the only thing he can use to identify your position over him. He doesn't understand vampires yet. He knows Pam is taking care of him and that she is your child. Sorry, Grandpa, but that's kinda what you are to him. And newsflash… you're old." I held tight to his hand keeping him in place, symbolically anyway. We both knew he could easily remove himself from my grasp. Hell, he could just take my hand or me with him if he really wanted to leave.
He scowled.
"Correct him tomorrow." I walked so that I stood in front of him, stood on my toes, and kissed the line on his chin. "Come inside, I'll clean us up and then you can remind me why I put up with you." I smiled in hopes of lightening a tense mood.
"Why you put up with me?" He asked in disbelief.
"Uh huh." I nodded before testing the door. It was locked and no one was home. I huffed, "I don't suppose you could break into the house?" He was already smirking when I turned to look at him.
"Lover, of course I could, but there is no need." He pulled out a set of keys and inserted them into the lock.
"Why do you have keys to my house?" I poked his arm.
"I like to be prepared." He smiled proudly.
"How did you get them?" I asked as I entered behind Eric.
"I made a copy of yours while you slept." He waved it off as if it were nothing.
"You know, you're supposed to wait until I offer to give you keys." I stared at him.
"That would take forever and although I have forever, I did not feel like waiting." He walked to the spare bedroom. I followed behind and watched him open the hidey hole revealing a stack or two of folded clothing. He removed sleep pants, boxers, and a t-shirt before shutting it. I put a hand on my hip and cocked an eyebrow at him. He opened his mouth, but I beat him to it.
"I know… you like to be prepared." I turned and walked out of the room, hearing him chuckle behind me.
Eric took 45 minutes in the shower making sure no trace of Victor was left on my body. He spent the next two hours in my bed making sure there was no trace of Tony or Victor's scent left on my body. Falling back on to the bed exhausted Eric pulled me to his chest and smiled into my hair.
"Have I properly reminded you why you put up with me?" I heard laughter rumble in his chest as he spoke softly. I pinched his ribs and he jumped, more from surprise than from pain I was sure.
It was decided at the meeting the next night that all of the vampires Victor had left behind were to be matched with older vampires. Russell would send a few of them to his Mississippi compound and Bill even found himself a computer nerd in the bunch to help him with his work. Russell planned to stick around our area for a few more weeks to make sure the transition went well. He would leave Eric in charge when he left to go home to Mississippi. I could already tell, Russell was going to be much easier to deal with than Felipe would ever have been as King.
I decided not to tell Eric that Quinn was the one who captured me for Victor the second time. I hated to keep the secret from him, but I couldn't watch as another person I knew was killed because of me. I'm sure he will suspect that I am hiding something, but I'll deal with that when the time comes. Hopefully never.
Pam planned to keep Ben around and teach him the ways of the vampire, especially to think before he speaks.
"Hi, Miss Sookie." Ben grinned as he approached me outside of the club. The meeting was over and he was happy to know that Pam was his official vampire mentor.
"Hi, Ben." I smiled back at him. I was leaning against Eric's car waiting for him to be done speaking to Russell.
"I'm sure glad I you're okay and that I don't have to hurt you anymore." He leaned next to me.
"Me too." I replied. Then I thought of something, "Ben, word of advice…" He waited for me to continue, "Never call Eric grandpa, at least not to his face. If you want to get on his good side, you should stick to calling him Master or Sheriff."
Eric exited the club with Pam not a minute later.
"Off my car." He commanded Ben.
"Yes, Master." Ben replied quickly as he removed his body from the side of the corvette. Eric looked in shock for a minute and looked to Pam to see if this was her doing. While she shrugged at Eric I took a chance, smiling and winking at Ben.
After the meeting was over and everyone had dispersed, it was just Eric and I, alone in his car on the way back to my house. He held my hand tightly as he maneuvered through the streets of Sheveport and then Bon Temps. He was silent, not unusual for Eric, but content. I could feel it through the bond.
I realized as I watched him that no matter how many times I may get kidnapped, stalked, or knocked out Eric would always be there with me. If he could put up with all the strange things I caused in his life, I supposed I could do the same for him. That's what you do for the ones that you love.
"Lover?" Eric was eyeing me as he drove at unimaginable speeds. I realized then that he had caught me staring at him with a ridiculous look on my face.
"Watch the road, Eric." I glared at him for catching me. It was bad enough he could feel my feelings, but the fact that he felt the need to call me on them was mean.
"But you are so much more appealing to look at, my lover." He leered at me.
"I'm more appealing than black asphalt? That's so sweet. Watch the road." I made my voice sound serious, but couldn't help laughing when he laughed. He turned his eyes back to the road, but not without winking at me first.
When we got home I took my time reminding him why he put up with me. I feel asleep way before dawn cuddled into the arms of my very own personal Viking vampire.
My dream-self sighed as I saw that I was once again in Fangtasia. Instead of looking at the bar I appeared to be in Eric's office alone. I thought about waiting out my dream on Eric's leather couch but my feet had other ideas as I made my way to the bar. The lights were bright and there were streamers hanging from the ceiling. I hoped that I wasn't interrupting a party. The room wasn't filled with people, but the ones that were there I could recognize immediately.
I saw Bill first, sitting at the bar, True blood in hand and a scowl on his face. Then I saw Sam and Alcide sharing a booth with Quinn. Calvin, my brother, and Arlene stood by the far wall. Bobby, Eric's day man, sat at table alone…nursing a beer. I looked to Eric's fake throne on the dais hoping to see my Viking. I was greatly disappointed to see Felipe, Victor, Sophie-Anne, and Andre leering at me. Above their heads was a banner, "Everybody hates Eric and Sookie". I laughed despite the awful situation I appeared to be in. I had really gotten my party, in once sense anyway. Perhaps dreamland was the only place something like this could or should ever occur. One by one, my guests realized I was standing in the middle of the dance floor.
Bill started the protests, "Sookie, I can't tell you enough how bad it is for you to be with Eric."
Bobby cut him off, "Mr. Northman deserves more than some white trash, gold digging fang banger." He shouted with more enthusiasm than I'd ever heard from him.
I just stood in shock as they all joined in shouting at me, shouting at each other, and waving hands wildly. I noticed that they were all coming closer and I wished I had stayed on Eric's couch as I had wanted. Soon they formed a circle around me. I could hear statements here and there but had trouble placing who said what.
"He's a monster…"
"He only wants you for your telepathy…"
"He could never love you…"
"You fang-banging whore…"
"You should be mine…"
"He's using you and he'll throw you away when he's finished with you…"
"Do you really want to be a vampire?"
"It isn't natural…"
I was thankful that apparently my telepathy didn't work in my dreams or I would be getting berated twice as much. I put my hands over my ears trying to calm my nerves for a second. Taking in a deep breath I tried to remember why I had decided to have such a party.
"Stop!" I yelled over the shouts and they all shut their mouths. "Thank you." I flattened out my dress with my hands before addressing them further. "Now, I know y'all are just concerned." I turned to Arlene and Bobby, "Well, some of you are concerned and some of you are just bitter." I turned to the vampire royalty, "And some of you are dead because of me."
"Sookie…" Bill started again but I put my hand up to stop him.
"No, no matter what you have to say or what reason you have for saying it, it doesn't change anything. I'm with Eric. I'm with him and I want to be with him. I don't want to hurt anyone and I don't want to lose most of you, but if you make me choose I'm going to choose Eric. You have all made it very clear to me how you feel, but I don't care." I closed my eyes and waited for them to close in on me again, but the shouting never came. I peeked out of one eye to see what they were all doing. I was confused with what I saw. Instead of the group of haters surrounding me only one man stood before me with an amused look on his face.
"What are you doing, dear one?" Eric asked with a smirk. I looked around him and myself. The room was empty again. There were no streamers or banners, only Eric.
"Where is everyone?" I asked puzzled.
"It's just you and me, my lover." He smiled, "Is there someone else you hoped would be here?"
"Not a single person." I smiled as he took my hand and led me from the club.
I felt Eric move from the bed, waking me up.
"Where are you going?" I asked groggily.
"It is almost sunrise; I do not wish to be stuck in the hole so I was going to return to the house by the lake." He explained in a whisper. I really had to upgrade his accommodations and I told him as such.
He laughed lightly, "I would be grateful my lover, but until then." He kissed my forehead and pulled away.
"Wait!" I stood from the bed not ready to be without him just yet.
"Sookie, I'm cutting it close as it is." He warned me. He had stayed until he really couldn't stay any longer.
"I want to come with you." I looked down at the bed afraid he would reject me.
"You want to come with me?" He asked in doubt of what he had heard.
"Yes." I said firmly, meeting his eyes with confidence. He smiled as he pulled me out to his car and buckled me in to the passenger seat. I was thankful he had thought to put a nightgown on me when I slept or I'd probably be sitting in his car butt naked.
When he had himself settled and turned the car on he turned to me with a grin, "Hold on, lover, it's going to be a bumpy ride."
I clasped onto the door and my seat in a now innate response as he took off at a speed that was illegal for a reason. I thoughtfully responded,
"It always is with us."
SO that was it! What did you think? I guess I could have kept it going-- but I don't want to beat a dead horse! I hope everyone enjoyed the story, I had fun writing it! Who knows maybe Ben will be back in the next adventure of Eric and Sookie!
I hope I think of something new to write soon, but as of now-- I got nothing! :) If you miss me immensely feel free to click on my profile and check out my two mini stories! One is all human and the other is just a blurb of what I wished had occured right after Eric got his memories back!
I know some of you were wishing for lemons-- but my story is rated for teens and I wanted to keep it that way--- sorry!
Oh and I can't take credit for Glitter being the herpes of craft supplies--- that joke is all demetri martin-- he's a comedian-- and hilarious in most cases- check him out!
So, that's all I suppose. Thanks for those of you who read and reviewed! I loved hearing what you had to say about each chapter--- please do the same for this one! If anyone's bored and just wants to message with me- I'm around! I'll be out reading everyone else's stories per usual!
xoxo worthfighting4