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A Sookie/Eric/Godric fic.
Chapter Twenty-One.
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Disclaimer: See Ch. 1.
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A/N: Thanks for all the awesome reviews so far, I'm glad you guys are still enjoying this story.
I know, I'm evil for leaving it like that. Will you ever forgive me? How about if I throw in a steamy Eric/Talbot scene somewhere down the road?
Sookie gets another insight into Eric's past in this chapter.
I hope you guys like this one, I know I'll love writing it.
As always, please read and review, I live for feedback!
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"What happened?" I asked worriedly.
Eric was out the door in an instant, headed for the car. "I don't know."
I rushed quickly behind him, barely having the presence of mind to shut the front door behind me.
"Dammit, this is my fault," Eric cursed, slamming the driver's side door behind him after he got in.
I shook my head, hurrying into the passenger's side seat. I didn't doubt he'd leave without me if I didn't step on it. "No, it's not."
"I never should have left him alone!" Eric roared. He turned the key sharply, and with too much force. The tiny piece of metal snapped under his strength, half of it getting stuck in the ignition. "Fuck!"
I realized in that moment how rare it was for Eric to swear.
Without hesitation, Eric turned towards me, gripped under my arms, and shot up into the sky. I wrapped my arms around him hurriedly, not wanting to fall.
"Are you sure it's safe to be flying when you're so ...?" I couldn't finish.
Eric flashed his eyes at me. "I'll be fine."
I was clinging to him like a spider monkey, and under any other circumstance, this would be highly romantic. We hadn't flown pelvis to pelvis before, he'd always cradled me with one of his arms under my legs. I hated myself for thinking of such things, when Godric was in danger, or worse. "Did he ... I mean, is he ...?" I was having issues with words tonight.
Eric shook his head, understanding what I meant. "No. If he was dead, I would feel nothing. He is in pain, and so he is still alive. For now."
I took small comfort in that fact. What Eric said made sense; I could feel Godric's pain as well, though likely not as strongly as Eric was feeling it. I looked into Eric's eyes as he looked past me into the night sky, taking in the stressed contours of his face. His face was bathed in unabashed concern and anger, while his heart was filled with self-loathing and guilt. He blamed himself for whatever had happened to Godric - he hadn't been there to protect his maker, 'cause he'd been with me.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, not entirely sure if he could hear me. We were flying very fast, and the wind rushing by was very loud.
"Don't," Eric replied simply.
I couldn't think of another thing to say, so I remained silent. I tried not to shiver against the icy blast of the wind, wishing I'd worn more than the short-sleeved half-top over my summer dress. Not even my tan from spending the day soaking in the sun could keep me warm.
Silently, and with nothing else to do, I watched Eric's face. He was so full of emotion, so unable to guard his face from expressing his inner turmoil. Godric was pretty much his surrogate father, and something or someone strong had hurt him. Probably taken him. I could relate to the helplessness that Eric was feeling.
I was hit with an involuntary flash from my own memory.
"Jason Stackhouse, I'm gonna find you if it's the last thing I do!" I hollered out, my eyes peeled for any sign of movement. My brother was a pro at this game, but I just knew this would be the time I found him before the time ran out.
I'd already checked all inside the house, in Gran's car, and all around the back yard - even into the trees! We weren't ever allowed to go very far from the house, so I knew he was hiding out front.
'You ain't gonna find me, Sook. This wheelbarrow was the perfect spot! I can't believe I can still scrunch up in it!'
I knew it was cheating, but I hadn't meant for it to happen. I couldn't control whatever it was, so I just went with it. With a triumphant smirk, I skipped over to the overturned wheelbarrow by Gran's garden. I waited a second, letting him sweat - I knew he'd heard my stomping footsteps - and then I gripped the wooden handle. When I rolled the wheelbarrow off of my brother, he looked up at me in shock.
"How'd you know?" he wanted to know, standing up and brushing himself off.
I shrugged. As much as my brother loved me, he wasn't crazy about the fact that I could hear him even when he didn't speak.
"Dang, Sook, you cheated!" Jason cried out in protest, knowing what I'd done.
"Aww, c'mon, Jason! I didn't mean to!"
We were saved from an argument when a car made its way up the driveway, bouncing along in a couple of dips in the gravel. It was the Sheriff's car.
"Gran!" Jason called out, turning his head towards the house. It wasn't often we got a visit from the police.
"Coming, dear," Gran's voice called back from the house. By the sound of it, she was on the upper level.
Sheriff Dearborn got out of his car after it stopped, closing the door slowly behind him. He looked at us with sad eyes before he pulled his hat onto his head, dipping his head down. 'I hate doing this, wish I didn't have to bring such bad news - they seem like a real nice family, even if people say the little girl's kinda strange.'
"Afternoon. Sheriff," Jason greeted, putting Gran's lessons in manners to good use.
"Good afternoon, Jason," Sheriff Dearborn replied. "Is your grandmother home?"
Jason nodded. "She's comin'."
The sheriff nodded, glancing between us nervously. I wondered what bad news he had to tell us. I tried to hear what he was thinking, but I couldn't always control it.
Finally, Gran made her way outside. When she spotted the sheriff, she waved and descended the steps. "Bud, it's nice to see you out and about. How's everything at the Sheriff's department?"
Sheriff Dearborn replied politely, "Busy, I guess. Adele ... could we speak in private? I'm afraid I have some bad news."
I looked between Gran and Sheriff Dearborn, wondering why he wanted to talk to her in private. Did he think we couldn't keep a secret? Could Gran? Gran was real quiet, staring at the sheriff with wide eyes. After a moment, she nodded, and told the sheriff that he could come into the house.
Jason went to follow, but Gran told him to stay out in the yard and keep playing.
We stood side-by-side in the front yard, watching the two grown-ups walk inside.
"Sook?" Jason spoke.
"Yeah?" I replied, glancing over at him.
"Can you hear them?"
I didn't need to ask him what he meant. Normally, Jason never asked me to do this. When he wasn't pretending there was nothing wrong with me, he was saying I should just act normal and be quiet about it. Whatever was going on with Gran and Sheriff Dearborn, Jason was worried. I strained myself hard, trying to pick up what they were thinking. At first I couldn't hear anything, but then I heard too much.
'Oh, god, no ... not my baby boy. A flood? On a bridge? Oh, I shouldn't have let them go! We should've stayed here and had a picnic! Oh, god, the kids! Poor Jason and Sookie - how am I going to tell them? They're just babies themselves, and now they've lost their parents. Oh, please god, say it isn't true. They can't be dead!'
My eyes widened in shock, and I fell backwards onto my butt, my hand clasping tightly over my mouth.
Jason was by my side in an instant, crouching down and gripping my shoulder. "Sookie, what is it? What did you hear?"
My eyes began to fill with tears, and I fought to meet Jason's eyes. "They're dead ... Mom and Dad are dead."
My big brother stared back at me silently, his tousled, blond hair sticking to his skin in the hot sun. His eyes were wide and hard. "No ... no, you heard wrong, Sook."
I shook my head, wishing it were true. "They're gone." I felt empty just saying that.
Jason stood up quickly from the ground, rushing towards the house, determined to prove me wrong.
Just as quickly as it had hit, I was back in the present with Eric, flying towards Shreveport. I rested my head on Eric's shoulder to hide my tears, blinking rapidly. If Eric was feeling a tenth of what I'd felt when my parents had died, I didn't know how he was coping. "He'll be okay," I whispered, not sure if it was for Eric's benefit, or mine.
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I don't know how Eric got in touch with Pam after we left, but she was waiting for us at the house, and she already knew what was going on.
"They took him outside the club," she relayed to Eric when he set me down in the back yard. "Ginger saw it while she was on her break, came in screaming to high heaven."
"Who?" Eric asked, his voice grainy and rough.
"Weres, by the smell of it," Pam commented with an air of disgust. "They used silver."
I assumed that Eric was cussing in his language, but he was talking so fast that I could scarcely make basic sounds out. He was furious.
"There's more," Pam continued, looking at Eric warily.
"What?" he demanded.
Pam pursed her lips, seeming to debate something in her mind.
"Tell me, Pamela, now!"
"They were working for a vampire," Pam spat out. "Ginger said he showed up after they had him in chains, said he wanted to make sure 'the acquisition went smoothly'."
I spoke tentatively, "Ginger saw all this, and they let her live?"
"They likely wanted Eric to know they had his maker," Pam explained to me.
I looked back at Eric, and saw a haunted expression on his face. "Eric?"
He didn't answer, just kept staring off into space.
I debated internally for a moment before I decided that whatever Eric was going through, I needed to know. Better to ask forgiveness than permission; I'm sure he would agree. Silently, I pressed into his mind, thinking I'd gather a few thoughts and then pull out again. What I saw was enough to catch my breath in my chest.
Again, it was like I was there, but not there. I was viewing the scene, but I wasn't a part of it. That made it infinitely harder to watch.
We were in a large room, probably as big as two barns. Candles and torches lit the area dimly, but it was enough to see what I needed to. Eric was there, and he was holding a baby. He was holding a tiny little baby, and he was smiling. That in itself was a treasure in sight to behold.
Eric looked to be younger, even if only by a few human years. His hair was long, like it had been when I'd first met him at Fangtasia.
I didn't even notice anyone else was in the room until a woman spoke.
"Hand me your sister," she said in an ancient tongue, but as before when I'd witnessed Eric's rebirth, I could understand her perfectly.
'Sister ...' I thought fondly, smiling at the scene before me.
Eric's mother and father were sitting at a table, smiling lovingly at one another, while Eric brought his tiny, baby sister over to his mother. As Eric brought the little baby to his mother, a young woman came to the table and began clearing items away. When she walked past Eric, he grinned at her, following her with his eyes.
I was extremely uncomfortable watching him make eyes at another woman.
His father spoke next, drawing Eric's attention to him when he sat down at the table. "My son ... it's time you were betrothed."
Wow ... way to jump right in there.
Eric grabbed some food out of a dish, bringing it to his mouth. With a wink at his father, he replied, "Soon."
"The sooner the better," his mother added in, stroking her baby's hair softly. She was beautiful ... they both were.
"Where were you all day?" his father asked him. "I never saw you."
Eric avoided the question, his eyes following the same woman as she passed.
His mother caught the look, smirking a little. To her husband, she spoke, "He was in the barn with the redhead who feeds the goats."
All day? Seriously ...?
The girl left the room, and Eric leaned over to watch her go. "It's not wrong to enjoy my life."
His mother chuckled at that, but his father was not amused. "You have no sense of responsibility.
Eric picked up his drink, looking like he'd heard this conversation before. "Can we talk about this later?"
"Eric, grow up."
I felt bad for Eric, but continued to watch in silence.
"You can't spend your life between a woman's legs," his father continued.
I almost snorted at that. He certainly tried, after all.
"I can try," Eric countered, taking another drink from his drink. He spared a glance for his mother before standing up from the large table.
His father apparently wasn't ready to end the conversation. "Get back here! Your place is with me!"
"All you want me to do is follow you around," Eric scoffed, impatience and annoyance filling his eyes.
"I want you to learn to be king!" his father told him.
That shocked me. I'd known Eric was a Viking, but I didn't know he was the son of a king.
"I will!" Eric responded with an air of petulance. "Tomorrow!"
I had a sinking feeling that tomorrow wasn't going to be what he thought it was.
Eric left the room, ignoring the knocks on the door to their home.
He made his way out to the barn, anger in his eyes. There were two things that he wanted to do when he got that look on his face ... and when I saw the goat girl waiting expectantly, I knew which one he'd be choosing.
I tried to turn my eyes away as he pushed her up on a bench and commenced with the kissing, but it was his memory ... it was impossible to look at anything else. His hands pulled down the top of her dress, squeezing one breast while he kissed the other, and then traveled back up her neck with his lips. She was moaning appreciatively, holding his hips between her legs with her knees. When his hand drifted between her thighs, I saw the pleasure in her face, and her breathy responses doubled.
I knew it was stupid to be getting jealous over a woman who'd died a thousand years before I was born, but right then, I wanted nothing more than to pull her away from him and claim him as mine ... mark my territory, so to speak.
I was about to pull out of Eric's mind, not wanting to see anymore, when a loud scream drew all of our attention. It was a woman's scream, and it was coming from the room we'd just left.
Eric pulled away from his goat girl, confusion and worry filling his eyes. He ran back towards the main room, all previous arousal leaving his body as his fight reflex kicked in.
What I saw in the room was enough to make me cry out in shock, but no one heard me. There was a wolf attacking Eric's father, and he was the only one left standing. The guards that had been by the door were dead and bloody, their bodies looking like they were torn apart. I wish I could say that was the extent of the damage done, but on the other side of the room lie his mother, and ... the baby.
I clapped a hand to my mouth in horror, seeing that beautiful baby girl covered in blood ... so silent. Just a baby.
Eric rushed to his mother's side, dropping to his knees as he tried to rouse her. "Mother," he whimpered, his voice broken. His hand cupped her neck gently, and when he pulled it away, there was blood on it. That seemed to snap him out of his grief, and he stood, swiftly picking up a sword and meeting his father's eyes. There was murder in those blue eyes I'd come to love so much.
"Eric, behind you!" his father shouted in warning, and Eric turned his sword in time to catch the wolf that tried to jump on him from behind.
With amazed eyes, I watched as the wolf transformed into a naked man, the force of the fall knocking Eric to the ground. The sword was still imbedded in the man's body.
"What the hell?" I whispered, staring at the body in shock.
Eric stared at the man in equal shock, his eyes falling to the odd brand on the man's shoulder.
Our attention was pulled away from the wolf-man by the sounds of growling, and we looked up to see the other wolf with Eric's father's crown in his jaws. Eric's father was on the ground, bleeding.
"Bring me the crown," a new voice ordered. The wolf trotted to the door obediently.
Eric pulled the sword from the man he'd just killed, standing and stalking towards the door. He gripped his sword tightly, ready to fight the newest intruder.
"Don't be a hero, Viking," the man said. He was wearing a thick, dark robe that masked his appearance, and he was holding the crown in his hands.
The wolf took off first, and then the strange man followed after, his robe billowing out behind him. Eric stood there in shock, watching him leave, torn between following him and staying with his father.
He chose to stay with his father, who was definitely dying. I watched with sad eyes as Eric dropped the sword and feel to his father's side, bringing his hands up to his father's neck. "Father," he spoke. "Look at me!"
His father lifted his head as much as he could, but the movement only made more blood pour out. Eric's hands wavered around his father's wounds. He didn't seem to know if touching them would help, or make it worse. In a weak voice, his father declared, "You are king."
"No," Eric replied, his voice hard despite his sorrow. His hands gripped either side of his father's face, seeming to need some kind of contact with him. He was watching his father die, and there was little he could do about it. "I won't allow it. Help!"
Was there anyone left alive to help him? The goat girl? Some other house workers?
"You know what to do," his father told him, knowing his time was almost up.
Eric was near tears, but answered, "Yes." I hated to hear his voice break like that.
"Vengeance ..." his father spoke, needing to be clear.
Eric's face turned angry, and he spoke with conviction, "Vengeance."
His father gasped his last few, agonizing breaths, and then his body slackened. The king was dead. Eric remained kneeling over his father, his face a deadly mixture of anger, sorrow, hatred and love.
I pulled back out of his mind with a gasp, falling backwards a few steps. Pam looked at me in confusion, whereas Eric looked both annoyed and relieved.
"You shouldn't have done that," he spoke halfheartedly. "But at least now I don't have to explain."
"Werewolves?" I asked, still trying to wrap my mind around it.
"Yes," Eric spoke in that same rough voice.
"Okay, I'm a little confused here," Pam admitted. "What's going on?"
Eric held my gaze while he answered, "Sookie can read vampire minds now. What she just saw in my head was my entire family getting slaughtered by wolves in the service of a vampire."
I'd never seen Pam look stunned before. "What?"
"We can discuss this later," Eric informed her. "Right now, we need to pick up their trail while its still fresh. The vampire can mask his and Godric's scent, but Weres can't fly, and their odor is strong. Soon, I will have my vengeance."
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End of chapter twenty-one.
Well, what did you guys think of that one? Like it, hate it?
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Until next time ...!