HEY GUYS I AM SOOOOOOOOO SORRY FOR THE LONG DELAY. I HAVE A LOT GOING ON RIGHT NOW, AND WHEN I FINISHED THIS CHAPTER MY COMPUTER CRASHED AND I LOST IT BEFORE I GOT A CHANCE TO PUT IT ON HERE (.) BUT SINCE THAT DID HAPPEN I DID DECIDE TO MAKE THIS ONE THE LONGEST CHAPTER THAT I HAVE UPLOADED THUS FAR! I REALLY HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY IT AND PLEASE REVIEW... AFTER THIS CHAPTER THERE IS ONLY GOING TO BE MAYBE 2 MORE CHAPTERS AND THE STORY WILL BE OVER =/ ITS HARD TO EVEN IMAGINE THAT WE HAVE GOTTEN THIS FAR, BUT I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY IT IMMENSELY. IT WILL BE UP TO YOU GUYS IF I MAKE A SEQUAL SO LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS THINK... ENJOY!
When I walked into the dress shop she hadn't noticed me right away. She was too busy looking through the racks of dresses on the clearance rack. That gave me a chance to look over her wardrobe and figure out my next move. Sookie was dressed very casually, sporting a Bon Temps Football tee, which was rather big on her, and some cute denim shorts. By the time I looked back up at Sookie's face she was staring dead at me. Let me tell you she didn't look too happy to see me either. If I was her, I wouldn't be too happy either, given the situation we left her in. I slowly started walking over towards her, since I figured I just couldn't stand there and look at her all day.
It seemed to take me a while to get in front of her. I was looking at some dresses and pretty much procrastinating on my way to do the inevitable, talk to Sookie. By the time I got to her, she looked angrier that I had originally anticipated. Of course I couldn't think of anything to say. I felt bad and she knew it. She could probably tell by my awkward body language. I wanted to somehow still be on her good side. After all Sookie was the only, and closest thing I had to a friend.
"Hey Sook." That was all I managed to say when I got to her.
Sookie had stared at me for what seemed like a minute then went back to looking through the rack of dresses that was next to her. "Emelie." She said in a blasé manor.
I looked around at some of the items that were around us. I really wasn't sure how to continue this conversation. "So… how have you been since… you know the incident."
"Don't act like you care about what happened to me in that damn mansion now Emelie!" She said turning abruptly towards me. "You and Eric just left me there!"
I looked around at the customers in the shop. Everyone seemed to be staring at Sookie and I do to her sudden outburst. Even the clerk behind the counter seemed suddenly interested in our conversation. "Sookie calm down." I said slowly hinting at the people who were staring at us.
Sookie took a quick look around then her face flushed red. I guess she hadn't anticipated being so loud. I walked up beside her and started looking through the racks of dresses with her. Slowly everyone around us started going back to minding their own business, and finished up with their shopping.
"I didn't want to leave you there Sook." I said as calmly as I could. "I was just following Eric's lead, but you certainly didn't help things when you told the king about my powers."
"Well you screwed me over so I figured I'd spice things up a little bit to help get myself out of a sticky situation." Sookie turned to me and said bluntly and with attitude.
"Well your out of that situation now aren't you?" I returned with just as much attitude. "I mean you're out shopping for dresses, so things can't be too bad."
"If shopping for dresses for a god-forsaken wedding while your only cousin just died is not to bad, then I guess your right." Sookie said with her hands on her hips.
I immediately felt bad. How was I supposed to know that her cousin had died? I didn't even know that she had any close relatives. "I'm sorry Sookie." Somehow that was all that I had managed to say. I mean when my grandmother had passed I found her underneath my Viking; Their lips tangled and him slowly moving up her red and white dress. A flash visual of that night passed before my eyes, and for an instant I was filled with rage all over again. Although there were other things going on that night and later she did apologize for my grandmother's death the thought of her touching my vampire was enough to make me go mad.
"Its fine." Sookie said calming herself down. "Hadley and I weren't very close, but she is still family. I'm going to New Orleans tomorrow to start sorting through her things, and the queen has asked to meet me personally before her wedding." She said smugly. "I need to find some dresses for the nights I will spend with her. That's why I'm at Tara's store now." She spoke casually pointing to the African American woman behind the counter. "Hadley was real close to the queen."
I instantly got the feeling that she was trying to throw that in my face, but I just gave her a small smile. "I met the queen a few days ago. She was an interesting person, loves Yahtzee. Plus I'm sure the king doesn't mind dangling his shiny new toy in front of the queen. I guess the next time I see you will be at the wedding huh?"
Sookie's face went pale. I guess she had never thought of it like that. It seemed like the King or Bill or both were keeping a lot of information from her. Maybe Sookie didn't understand that we were just chess pieces in a much larger game that was being played. She turned away from me and looked at her friend 'Tara'.
"Tara im leaving, Ill be back when it isn't so crowded."
Crowded? I thought to myself. There were barely 5 people in the small store. But once I felt an abrupt and rather harsh bump on the shoulder I realized she was talking about me. I rolled my eyes. I guess Sookie and I weren't going to be close friends any more after all. I let out an aggravated sigh as I started looking at dresses again.
"Sookie is usually real slow to anger but you seemed to do that in one night." As I turned I realized Sookie's friend Tara was talking to me. "Once she is mad though, she stays mad for a while so good luck trying to do… whatever it is you were trying to do." She said smartly.
I rolled my eyes. Was that supposed to have made me feel better? And who did this woman think she was telling me about my relationship with Sookie. I had met her a few times before at Merlots, but she seemed like she had more issues than everyone in the town put together. Which basically boiled down to her opinion being irrelevant in my eyes. After a few minutes the aggravation subsided and I started actually enjoying myself, until I realized how alone I felt. I hadn't realized how the lack of daylight and human interaction had probably made me grouchy and cynical just like my vampires. I held up a back and white corset cocktail dress. It was really cute, and would probably fit my figure perfectly. Plus I would be able to run in it when all hell breaks lose.
"Now are you really going to wear that to a wedding Emelie?" A soft voice said behind me in Swedish.
I swirled around quickly at the familiar voice. "Nana!" I nearly screamed as I gave the younger version of my nana a long hug. It was still awkward seeing her in her younger form, but she looked great.
"I see Jeanette has been keeping good watch over you." She said releasing me from her hug but grabbing my hand and whisking me outside of the shop. As she walked her white gown seemed to flow carelessly even though there was no breeze outside.
"Actually I saw Jeanette a few days ago, she gave me a warning about her not being able to help me when all hell breaks loose at the wedding." I said nonchalantly.
My grandmother furrowed her eyebrows together. "So you know something will happen and you are still deciding to help the vampires. Emelie you're risking your humanity!"
Well that was a short-lived happy conversation. "He is my charge, Nana. I can't just leave him." I said bluntly.
"I think it's more than that." She said quietly leaning up against my car.
"Are you going to speculate about mine and Eric's relationship now too?" I asked. I was getting tired of speaking to everyone about my relationship with the Vampire when I really didn't understand it myself. I closed my eyes and began massaging my forehead.
"I'm merely stating a fact Emelie. You are not going because he is your charge. You are going because you love him, and you don't want anyone to hurt him." She said matter-of-factly.
My eyes flew open at the words that came out of my grandmother's mouth. I looked down not being sure what I should say. I'm not naïve; I know that I have deep feelings for both Eric and Godric. But I don't think that I would go as far as to say I loved them in that way… Or did I? I'd never had a boyfriend, or a husband or two before. The thought of having not one but two husbands almost made me laugh. But as soon as I caught my grandmother's facial expression I knew she was serious.
She gave a long drawn out sigh. "I have to go my dear." Her voice was different. It sounded strained like she was struggling to tell me something.
I scrunched my eyebrows together at the sudden change in her attitude. Since my grandmother had turned into her new 'form' she, like other Faeries and Seer's, was rather bubbly and always seemed to have a happy presence. But right now she looked like she was about to break out in tears. "Nana what's wrong?"
A smile crossed her face. "You stay strong Emelie. I'm proud of you. I wish you wouldn't go, but I know if I were in your place I would go too. Just try and make the right choices. I fear you will have to make a rather large decision soon." She gave me a quick hug and pushed a piece of my blond hair behind my ear. "Try and be safe for me."
Backing up she gave me a half smile and disappeared. That left me more aggravated then I was when Sookie left. Clearly she knew something that she couldn't tell me. Clearly shopping wasn't going to happen today. I jumped in the car and went back to the house.
You would think I would be used to the silence during the day since I had been living with it for months now. But with so many different thoughts running through my head I wasn't quite sure what to think. I got in my car and thought the whole way home. My mind was wrapped up in the problems that just seemed to be stacking up in my life. SHEESH for someone who doesn't really know any one, I sure had a lot of problems. I walked into house and laid down on the couch for a little while. I was actually exhausted from the crazy day I had. Not to mention the lack of sleep. I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. Soon after however I felt a familiar blond Vampire was hovering over me.
"That color blue looks absolutely lovely against your pale skin Emelie" The vampire said touching a part of my dress moving down towards my legs.
"I see you like me today Pam." I said groggily. I wasn't sure when I had fallen asleep, but I knew I needed the rest.
"Well I think you know about our little situation from my perspective now." She said grazing a finger over my thigh. She raised her eyebrow a little bit, giving me the hint that she was happy as long as I understood what stake Eric had to play in this whole situation. I felt a small pang of anger searing through me.
"Pam." I hear a dark recognizable voice from a few feet away.
"Oh your just no fun anymore Eric!" Pam said sarcastically. "And I was so looking forward to getting to play with her a little bit." She licked her lips after that statement.
"Pam, you are crossing boundaries that you might not be able to come back from. I suggest you take your leave to Fangtasia. I will be soon." Eric said walking closer to where I was laying.
Pam left the room without another question or comment. I thought Pam would have retorted with another witty comment but instead she left just as quietly as she came in. Eric was all dressed in his normal Fangtasia attire. He wore a casual black tee and some designer jeans.
"I didn't even know I fell asleep. If you give me 10 minutes ill be ready to go to work." I said slowly stretching that working my way off of the couch.
"No, Felicia is filling in for you. You are going to need as much time as possible to work on your powers and recuperate. I will bring some food home for you." He said nudging my shoulder to get me to lie back down. "You wont be working at Fangtasia until after the wedding. Godric feels you need as much time practicing as possible."
"I had a vision today, and I was practicing. So you don't think I could just come to work for one last night?" I said nearly begging for normalcy.
"Lover, I need you to focus on practicing. Godric and I will be at the Wedding to protect you, but you need to know how to protect yourself just incase…Tell Godric about the vision we will talk about everything when I get home tonight."
Eric swooped down kissing my lips briefly then walking out to the back of the house. I head the garage door slam then an engine starting up and I knew Eric had left. I decided to get a little more sleep before I started this "practicing" with Godric. I laid back down on the couch wishing that Eric were here to just lay with me. Slowly I nodded back off to sleep thinking about being in Eric's arms.
There is only two words to describe the utter chaos, the practices, and the meetings that occurred within the following nights and days after Godric first started practicing with me: stressful and exhausting. Godric had me practicing night and day with my powers. We would spar to make sure I was able to deflect attacks from Vampires and deflect any weapons they might have. Godric also taught me some counter moves to turn my defense into offense and kick some Vampire but! Where as Godric was finally starting to open up a little bit towards me again, Eric was becoming distant… again. I just couldn't have both of my vampires happy at one time.
Eric was moody, well what's new that's Eric for you, but he didn't even sleep in the same bed anymore. He would stay at Fangtasia during the day and he would only come in to take a shower and get some new clothes. He was planning something and he was keeping it from me. I couldn't speak for Godric, but I definitely knew he was keeping something from me. I hadn't seen Pam around the house either since that last night she was here stroking my leg. An even stranger notion was that none of my visions had included Eric in them. It was like he disappeared from the wedding completely. And that worried me more than anything else. Any time I had a vision it would simply be me looking around at all the chaos and blood and vampires fighting.
It was the night before the wedding and Godric was actually giving me a break tonight. He said that I needed to be well rested for tomorrow night. It was just beginning to get dark. I was staring out the front bay window when I saw Eric pull up in his cherry red Corvette. It seemed like the perfect time outside. You know that beautiful time of the day when the sun just set but the sky is still a deep orange and purple? Well that's how it looked outside when Eric walked into the house. He looked as strained and tired as I felt. I walked/ ran over to him and before he could push me away I pulled his head into mine and gave him a long hard kiss.
All the tension built up from whatever he was working on seemed to melt away, and his hands began to stroke gently through my messy hair. He pulled away slowly and just looked at me for a minute before he spoke.
"I need you to get dressed, nothing fancy, were going to Fangtasia then I'm taking you out." He said in almost a whisper.
A genuine smile fell over my lips as my heart fluttered to life. "Why are we going to Fangtasia first?" I should have known better than to question him, but I couldn't help it.
He took a moment to answer. "We have some business we have to handle there. Try to be quick." And that was all he said before he left me standing in the middle of the hall.
I took a quick 10 minute shower and threw on a nice fitting red cocktail dress that flared out at the waist. There was a back ribbon around the waist that tied into a bow. After throwing on some black heels, putting on some makeup and grabbing a black sweater I was ready to go. Eric was wearing a tight fitting long sleeved black sweater and some dark wash jeans.
"You look beautiful." He said kissing my forehead.
I smiled and took his hand. "Well you look awfully handsome yourself." He gave a half smile for a millisecond, but the bags under his eyes seemed to overwhelm his whole face.
Once seated in the car Eric's phone rang. I new it was Pam immediately because they started speaking in the ancient language that I still couldn't understand. Only this time I wasn't too upset, Eric was taking me out on, what seemed like, a date. I wouldn't let anything ruin this night.
"There has been a change of plans." Eric said smoothly as we rolled out of the garage and started making our way out of his gated complex.
"Oh?" I said in an airy kind of way. I was looking at Eric the whole time waiting for his next response.
"We will have to go to Fangtasia after I take you to dinner." He said easing on to one of Shreveport's many country roads.
"Sounds fine to me." I said easing back in my seat staring at the trees that seemed to literally fly by.
"Believe it or not there was a method to the order of things tonight." He said keeping his eyes on the road.
"I don't doubt you. With you there is a reason for everything. Hopefully whatever happened didn't screw things up too much." I said with a smirk.
"Lets just hope you keep that attitude and everything will be fine."
He took me to a chic Italian Restaurant that was just outside of Shreveport. It took us about a half hour 45 minutes to get there and most of the time we sat in silence listening some classical music. The restaurant itself was beautiful and the food was delicious. Eric sat and watched me eat. We did have some small talk here and there, but I was mostly wondering why any of this was even happening. I didn't want to question things because everything was going so well. Eric paid for the bill, as I polished off my 2nd class of red wine.
"What is all this about Eric?" I asked in Swedish just in case there were people listening to our conversation. When Eric and I first entered we had a lot of attention on us. I guess the people around here weren't used to seeing Vampires still.
"I can't do something nice for my wife." He retorted in Swedish with a smirk.
"No you cant. What's going on?" I asked suddenly. I wasn't sure why I was getting worried but something told me that this situation just wasn't right.
"There is unfinished business that I need to handle tomorrow night." He said smoothly. "You have not seen me in any of your visions and we need to cover our bases."
I wasn't sure how dinner constituted covered bases but ok. I furrowed my eyes together. "What unfinished business are we talking about Eric?"
HE slinked out of his chair and held his hand out. "Lover," I took his hand and gently rose out of my chair. "If you think hard you know what business I'm talking about."
After the restaurant, we went to Fangtasia. The whole ride there I was thinking about what on earth Eric could have had up his sleeve but I couldn't figure it out. The parking lot was completely empty. It was still pretty early by the time we got there, around 10, but the parking lot should have been packed. It was a Friday night after all. Eric parked in the front by the door and got out. I looked around the parking lot, when I stepped out of the car. I was still confused by the whole situation.
"This is a meeting lover. We needed to close for the night."
When I walked into Fangtasia I immediately spotted a man sitting down at a table with Pam pacing close behind him. Yvetta stood close by with her hands crossed over her chest. She had a look of pure anger written all over her face. Eric pulled out a chair for me across from the man sitting down. And he sat next to me.
"Are we ready to start?" The man asked shuffling through his paperwork.
Eric proceeded to tell the man, who I found out was a lawyer by the name of Mark Barnes, that all of his possessions he was hanging over to Pam and me. I got the Corvette and the house Godric and I was living in and Pam took over his other Estates. Pam and I were both to get Fangtasia and split it 50/50. I sat back in shock as he planned his will out in front of me. Pam was pacing and looked angry. She was able to hide her anger better than Yvetta though, who by the way had me wondering why she was there to being with. When it came time for the witness to sign however, it became clear that that was the only reason why she was here. Eric grabbed her hand and 'helped' her sign the will.
"You are giving everything to them?" Yvetta said in a rather angry tone. "You promised to take care of me!" She yelled suddenly.
"I promised you nothing but a job and good sex, you gold digging WHORE!" Eric yelled. The whole good sex thing caught me off guard though. I had honestly thought Eric was only sleeping with me. I guess I was wrong.
Yvetta ran off to the back, to I'm assuming the bathroom, and slammed the door.
"Are we done here?" Pam said with an attitude. Clearly she was angry about this whole will thing too. Me on the other hand I just didn't understand why he was doing this.
Eric gave a quick nod and both Mr. Barnes and Pam left the building. After another quick conversation with Yvetta Eric and I left too. I was silent the whole car ride just thinking and processing what just happened. Once we pulled up into the garage, Eric cut the car off and closed the garage door with his garage remote. The garage light however, was on, so the room was lit.
"You have been very quiet." He said looking dead at me.
"There is not much to say after what I just witnessed." I said staring at the dash in front of me. I was trying to prevent a slow pang of anger from washing over me.
"I thought it might be easier to talk about it over dinner, but the lawyer was running late…" As if that would make anything better.
I rolled my eyes. Here I was thinking he was trying to do something nice for me, on the eve of a catastrophic night. When everyone is hinting at something horrible happening to me, I thought Eric was trying to be considerate of my own emotions. But obviously that was not the case, and that actually upset me. "What do you have up your sleeve Eric? You are planning something and I know it. Enough with the bullshit just tell me."
"I thought you would have figured it out by now…" I gave him an angry eye and telling him to continue. "We made a plan in Russell Edgington's mansion, and I'm going through with it."
"You are going to try and kill the KING tomorrow? He is 3 times your age Eric!" suddenly I was overcome with anxiety. I didn't want him to go through with it.
"I know how old the king is Emelie…" his voice reeked of tension. "Every bone in my body is telling me tomorrow night I will meet my true death."
"How can you say that? Why would you say that?" tears started flowing down my cheeks. I hadn't seen Eric in any of my visions and he knew it. That was cause enough to think that he was good enough as dead. "Why are you so infatuated with him. I thought after everything died down you had given up on this suicidal mission." I said barely audible.
"He killed my human family… he slaughtered them like pigs over a crown. My fathers crown." He answered carefully. My mouth dropped and suddenly I was unable to speak at all. "And now, both he and the queen are putting you in danger over vampire politics."
That was all I needed to hear. I nodded with understanding. The king seemed to be on a mission of killing off anyone that Eric had ever loved, and this all started when Eric was still human. There was nothing I could do or say to stop him. He needed to do this for himself. This is why Pam was upset. She must have known for a while what Eric was thinking, what he was going to do.
"I promised my father revenge… And this is the best time for it. With the chaos going on it would look as if the king died in the fight. Which would save me from any persecutions from the magister or the authority."
I got out of the car and walked over to the driver's side. Eric was already out of the car before I even got there. Tears were still rolling down my eyes, and I knew that my voice would sound half broken, but right now I felt Eric needed me as much as he ever would. I grabbed his hand and gave him a hug. Eric stiffened. Now I knew why he was trying to distance himself from me. He didn't want to feel anything when this moment came, when he told me what he was actually going to do.
"Well if you do think this might…you know be your last night… lets make it worth it."