Sookie was too shocked to do anything. Not that there was anything to be done. Not anymore.
Eric and Ben hurriedly dug holes in the ground to lie in with their 'children'. Once Ben's was dug, he picked up Bill and just tossed him into the ground like a sack of something!
"Fuck you, Ben!" Sookie yelled. "How could you? How? If you had ever loved me..."
"I never said I loved you, Sookie. I said you were to be mine. And maybe love would have come later, if you had not tried to go back to this cretin."
"It will NEVER come as far as I'm concerned! And don't think what you've done will make me love Bill any less! I love him more than ever after what you did to him!"
Ben rolled his eyes and jumped down into the ground with Bill. Eric obligingly covered them with dirt. He then looked at Sookie.
"I will need for you to cover us with dirt."
Sookie just shook her head. She didn't know which broke her heart more: what Ben had done to Bill or what Eric had done to Tara.
"I vouched for you, you sonofabitch! I told Tara that you loved her! I told Tara that she shouldn't be so hard on you! That you were TRYING! Look what you have done to her?! Look!"
Eric sighed, then reached down and began removing Tara's clothing! Sookie gasped!
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Taking off Tara's clothes." Eric said patiently.
"Why? You didn't do that the first time! And Ben didn't do it with Bill."
"No. I did not." Eric said. He took all of Tara's clothing off, then folded it neatly next to the hole. Eric soon began removing his own clothing...
"Eric Northman, if you don't tell me what you are doing..."
"Watch Ilsa and Alexander. We will all be up tomorrow night."
Sookie just shook her head.
"Unbelievable! Un fucking believable! Tomorrow night, you are going to face Tara's wrath over what you have done! Don't you see that?"
Eric picked up Tara and answered Sookie.
"Tara, unfortunately, has a very bad habit of not being able to see beyond today. That deal she made with Kibwe would've ruined her. And it probably would've ruined our children somewhere down the road. Kibwe originally dealt with Lettie Mae Thornton. He then came after Tara. Who is to say that Ilsa would not be next?"
"I get that! I get it, okay? But what does that have to do with what you've just done? Kibwe will still expect to be with Tara in hell, whether she is a vampire again or not! This is not about Kibwe. You stopped being able to control her when she became human again! That's what this is all about!"
Eric moved closer to Sookie, while still carrying Tara.
"Cover us with dirt, watch our children and refrain from your running commentary on my misdeeds, or when Tara awakes, I will tell her this whole thing was YOUR idea!"
"Oh please! Tara will never believe that!"
"Or course she will. Especially if I tell her you did it out of jealousy. That you wanted me again...I could say anything. And as Tara's maker, AGAIN, I can order her to believe it. Now, cover us with the dirt and watch Ilsa and Alex. Tara and I will see you again tomorrow night."
And with those words, Eric carried Tara down into the ground. Sookie stood there for a long moment, then slowly picked up a shovel and began scooping the dirt back on the two of them. She could not help but think that Eric was up to something else! Meaning this business where both he and Tara were naked.
NEXT DAY
Sookie stomped into Merlotte's and tied her apron on. She then motioned for LaFayette to come out of the kitchen. He followed her into Sam's office and Sookie shut the door.
But Sam could guess that Sookie wanted to talk about Tara. He did not. Not anymore. He was still smarting from being fucked up by the feds! He had almost been too weak to turn into a fly and escape! If Ben hadn't come for him, he didn't know where he would be!
Sam felt as if Tara should've known something was wrong. Yes, the two of them had history, but they hadn't been close in a long while. Tara should've known something was wrong when he suddenly seemed so in love with her...
Sam shook his head. A part of him knew he wasn't being fair to Tara. But damnit, the last thing he needed was to end up like Alcide Herveaux!
"Sam, LaFayette, I have bad news for you...no, skip that, I have FUCKED UP news for you: Tara and Bill got turned back into vamps the other night. They'll be waking up this evening. I don't know how Bill is going to react but Tara is going to be pissed off!"
LaFayette's mouth dropped open! Sam stood up out of his chair.
"What are you talking about?" LaFayette stammered. "I thought that fine ass Chancellor Kibwe was turning people back human? And Tara made a special deal with him or something...she fucked him in hell, didn't she?"
"Eric never liked it! Ben...jealous fucking Ben, turned Bill because he thought I would get with him if he did! Bill is going to be devastated when he wakes up tonight." Sookie sniffed.
She then began to cry. Sam put his arms around her, just as a knock on the door made them all pause. LaFayette went to the door and opened it to Halleigh.
"Hey ya'll! Uh, it's getting kind of backed up in the kitchen...what's going on?" she asked, her face registering concern.
"Tara and Bill got turned back into vamps last night." LaFayette told her. He then looked behind him at Sookie and Sam.
Sookie moved out of Sam's arms and nodded.
"Eric turned Tara and Ben did Bill."
"Your fairy friend with the British accent?" Halleigh asked softly. Sookie nodded and swiped at her eyes.
"Oh honey, I'm sorry. Tara is going to be pissed when she wakes up." Halleigh noted.
"Well yes and plus Eric did something even worse. He took off her clothes and then took his off. When she wakes up naked she's going to be angrier than ever!" Sookie sobbed.
Halleigh gave Sookie a strange look. One that Sam caught.
"What is it? What do you know?" he asked her.
"Well," Halleigh said, "it might be nothing. Or it might be something."
LaFayette rolled his eyes!
"What the fuck are you trying to say?!" he snapped.
"Hey!" Halleigh snapped back. "I don't need your attitude, okay?"
Sam tried to keep the peace.
"I'm sorry. And LaFayette is sorry too. It's just that this whole thing has been nightmare after nightmare, ever since Tara was first turned. If you know something, please tell us."
"Yes, Halleigh, please!" Sookie sniffed.
"Well, there is some old vamp folklore about certain things that are done to a baby vampire when they are being created."
"Look," LaFayette said, his tone still belligerent, "what the hell is happening to Tara down in the ground with Eric?"
Halleigh coughed.
She then said it.
"She's probably getting fucked. Sorry."
Sookie was the first one to respond to that!
"What are you talking about?! Eric wouldn't do that! He wouldn't have to! He could have sex with her when Tara awakened!"
"No, honey, Eric wouldn't be having sex with her for enjoyment. And Tara probably wouldn't even be aware of it. It's done so that the maker can have more control over a child he or she perceived as difficult." Halleigh told them.
"It sounds like," Sam said, "that now that Eric has this second chance with Tara, he's going to make sure she does what he says without any trouble."
"Oh fuck no! I'm not having this shit!" LaFayette hissed and left the office. Sam looked at Sookie.
"Who's watching Ilsa and Alex?" he asked her.
Sookie looked away. Halleigh frowned and eyed Sam.
"Sookie," Sam asked again, "who is watching Ilsa and Alex?"
Sookie took a deep breath.
"Tara's mama."
Halleigh screamed! Sam shook his head!
"What part of your mind have you lost?! Jesus, Sook that drunk..."
"She had stopped drinking, Sam...Halleigh! But it was the Kibwe thing that stressed her out. There are plans to get rid of him so she looked a lot better. Plus she's a reverend's wife now. The babies will be in good hands."
Arlene hurried back!
"LaFayette tore out of here and he left food on the stove burning!"
LaFayette screeched to a stop in Tara's circular drive, then hurried around the house and towards the back part of the property...
He could see two mounds of dirt. One had to have Ben and Bill in there. The other Tara and Eric. Which one was Tara in?
Then he saw it.
The dirt on one pile was moving...or hopping and shaking! Jesus! LaFayette looked around for a shovel! This shit was over! He would take care of Ilsa and Alex and raise them right. But he was going to give Tara the proper death she should have had, when Debbie Pelt shot her that fateful night that seemed like a lifetime ago.
And Eric could burn as well.
LaFayette was about to dig, when Lettie Mae came out holding Alex. Lafayette put down the shovel and glared at her.
"Heifer, what are you doing here?"
"Sookie left the babies with me."
"Oh hell to the naw! Just give him over right now! Your ass is probably drunk right now!"
"LaFayette, I am not inebriated."
"Inebriated? Where the fuck did you learn a word like that?"
Lettie Mae struggled to keep her patience. She just BARELY considered LaFayette family anyway, with his unclean ways.
"I will be watching over my own grandchildren. And when Tara comes up out of there, the Reverend and I will see about turning her back human again, and killing off this devil that keeps turning her."
LaFayette eyed her.
"You know Tara wouldn't have gotten used to being human again, if you hadn't made that deal with Kibwe."
Lettie Mae patted Alex's back but said nothing. LaFayette continued.
"I heard he'd been coming by at night to fuck you. How was it?"
"You vile...why do you care?"
"Because I think you're one lucky biatch! Kibwe looks as if he'd be a helluva a lot better than that husband of yours!"
"You don't know anything about anything. Now why don't you find Kibwe and tell him that yourself? Maybe he'll leave Tara and I alone and turn his prurient interests to you."
Again, LaFayette was tempted to ask where the fuck Lettie Mae had learned the word 'prurient', with her drunk ass, but he let it go. He did not, however, want to leave Alex and Ilsa with this woman. But he figured not too much harm could come to them, before Eric and Tara woke up.
EVENING-
Sam asked Sookie if she wanted him by her side, when Ben and Bill awoke. She told him 'no'. She would have to deal with Ben's betrayal alone.
Sookie stood over the dirt mounds with a bottle of True Blood in hand. Bill would need it.
One of the dirt mounds began to move. Then Ben clawed his way out of the ground, spitting out dirt! He stood up, gave Sookie a look she couldn't read, then reached for the True Blood.
"Fuck you! This is for Bill!"
"Nice. Nice to hear my fiancee..."
"If you call me that one more time!" Sookie threatened.
"Sookie?" a weak voice from the ground called out. Ben sighed heavily and headed into the house. Lettie Mae Thornton was descending the stairs after putting the kids down.
"Well? Is Tara up?" Lettie Mae asked.
"Not yet," Ben told her, "I know what this could be costing you. The Reverend doesn't know, does he?"
Lettie Mae sighed and shook her head.
Ben walked over to a glass door and peered out. Bill was drinking the True Blood Sookie had given him. His eyes then moved to the other mound that was moving.
Sookie and Bill looked over and saw Eric come up, naked, out of the dirt! He stretched!
"You fuck!" Bill snapped.
"Hello, to you too Bill. Sookie. I'm going to go inside and shower. Tell Tara..."
"Oh aren't you a piece of work," Sookie said snidely, "Tara is this close to waking up and 'suddenly' you need to shower! I guess you don't want to face her, hey?"
"I just need to shower," was Eric's response, "please let her know that she's welcome to join me." Eric told them and sauntered into the house. Lettie Mae averted her eyes as Eric walked casually up to Ben.
"Are we ready?"
Ben nodded and looked over at Lettie Mae.
"I'll call Kibwe now." she said softly.
The lights were dimmed when Chancellor Kibwe stepped into Tara's house, with a bottle of wine in hand. He reached for Lettie Mae, who allowed his caress before stepping aside to let him in.
"Are Tara and the twins out?" Kibwe asked.
"Yes." Lettie Mae said and walked over to him, pulling on his tie. "I don't want wine. And I don't want to talk about Tara."
She then kissed him softly.
Kibwe responded to her lips, overpowering them with kisses of his own. They fell to the floor and Lettie Mae silently asked for her beloved husband to forgive her, as Kibwe lifted her dress...
Kibwe had begun to make love Lettie Mae and she willed herself to respond automatically, as she did when he had come to her all those other nights. It was during mid copulation, that Eric and Ben revealed themselves.
Chancellor Kibwe suddenly stopped thrusting! They were not on the floor of Tara Thornton's home anymore! Lettie Mae managed to weasel away from him pulling down her dress, as Kibwe focused in on his new surroundings.
Ben shoved him through a door and rank stink hit his nostrils! Kibwe growled and swiped at Ben, but it proved to be ineffective.
Human. No. No, no, no...
Ben kicked at Kibwe's ankles and he fell to the ground, enshrouded by the other prisoners in the cell! Sam cried out from hunger and shock, while Bill lay half conscious.
"No! Listen to me! I will offer you anything! I will restore Sookie Stackhouse to you! I know that she went back to Bill Compton when he was turned..."
"I took care of that. Sookie is mine again and Compton is back to being a vampire." Ben said. Eric appeared in the darkness and he looked around. This place COULD use a good scrubbing down!
"It's over. You will stay in this dungeon unless I deem you useful in some way. I would spend this very unpleasant time, trying to think of ways that would ever let me think of releasing you from here." Eric said patiently. He then turned to Ben.
"Get Compton out of here."
"Just him?" Ben asked. Eric looked at Sam and smiled.
"Yes. Just 'Surgeon Bill'. Make sure he realizes he'd better keep his mouth shut as well, or he can be returned here."
Chancellor Kibwe said nothing. He slyly looked over at Sam and some of the other prisoners. He'd lived ten times the lives Eric Northman had. And the next time he returned to this reality as King Eric, it would be Kibwe that would have the surprise for him...and Lettie Mae for betraying him. Damn her!
Eric was vaguely aware that he had not seen Tara since she awakened. But he had been preoccupied with Kibwe's downfall and banishment from this reality.
Eric, Ben and Lettie Mae returned to Tara's house, only to find a note from Tara, saying she would be over at Sookie's with the twins. Ben raised a brow.
"So this is her way of showing her anger?" he asked.
"Let's just say that I decided that a different tact needed to be taken with Tara." Eric replied. His eyes fell on Lettie Mae, as she took a phone call. From the expression on her face, she seemed confused.
Lettie Mae hung up and looked at Eric and Ben.
"That was my husband. Tara and the twins are at my house. They are there to stay."
Ben left to find Sookie and find out just how hooked she still was on Bill Compton, now that he was a vamp again. Eric and Lettie Mae drove to her house.
Sookie was actually there, smirking! The Reverend Daniels, Tara and Sookie were sitting out on the porch. But it was Tara that looked odd...
She was wearing a cornflower colored dress with little flowers on it. And she also wore a headband.
In her lap was a bible.
Sookie stepped down off of the porch and said hello to Lettie Mae, who eased towards her husband and daughter. Eric frowned then looked at Sookie.
"Is that one of your dresses Tara is wearing? I've never seen it before."
"Yes. It's a church dress."
"It's ugly."
Sookie grinned!
"It is indeed. And it looks like you went too far. You see, Bill and I met a very 'different' Tara when she came out of the ground. I have to go. Bill is waiting for me."
Eric said nothing to that. He didn't even stare after Sookie. He slowly walked up to the porch and watched as Tara put aside the bible and smiled at him.
"Hello, Eric."
"Hello." Eric said, smiling at her. Tara certainly seemed pleasant enough.
"Mama told me about your getting rid of Kibwe. I'm sorry you did that. I could've spoken to him and made him see the error of his evil vampire ways." Tara said.
Eric looked from her, to her step-father.
"What is this?" he asked cautiously.
"Tara realizes that being a vampire invites all kinds of temptation. She plans on staying with her mama and myself, so that she could bring the babies up right. It's only temporary. Then she will return to you as a proper vampire wife." The Reverend Daniels said. Lettie Mae smiled wanly. Tara did seem calm and self assured.
Eric cleared his throat.
"Yes, well I don't know what kind of delusional fantasy this is, but it ends right now. Tara, go and get our children. We are going home."
Tara smiled wanly at Eric, then turned to the Reverend Daniels and her mother.
"Could you check on Ilsa and Alexander? I need to speak to my vampire husband."
The Reverend beamed and Lettie Mae smiled, as they went into the house. Once the door closed, Eric struggled to remain calm.
"What is this shit, Tara?"
"Please do not curse, husband."
"Husband?! Look, I don't know if this is a game or if you are doing this to get back at me, but I did what I did to keep you out of Kibwe's clutches. You do realize that, don't you?"
"Of course, husband."
Eric sighed and decided it wasn't worth it. This was shock from being a fresh vampire, and the mind altering sex act he had to perform on her while they were in the ground. The point was to get her to accept her vampirism more easily.
Eric bent down to kiss her, but Tara stepped back.
"One of God's creatures is watching. It wouldn't be right."
Eric glanced over and saw a German Shepherd watching the two of them. Who gave a fuck if a dog saw the two of them kiss?
"Tara, I want you to stop this. NOW! Go and get Ilsa and Alex and bring them to the car. We are heading home. OUR home."
"If you really feel that is best, husband. But there will be no fornication..."
"Oh, Tara, dearest, that is where you are DEAD wrong! Now go and get the children."
"You admit you have beastly intentions towards me on this evening?"
"On this evening and all others. Get. The. Twins. Now."
Tara turned and walked back into the house while Eric massaged his temples. This was just shock. It would pass. And Tara would return to her normal self...minus SOME attitude, right?
She had to. Eric just kept telling himself she would.