This has been posted on my blog for a few days, so I'm sorry it's not a real update. But to those
who haven't already read it... Here it is! And to those who have read it, it has been cleaned up a bit.
Less typos.
A/N: Y'all are hysterical! Everyone was worried about Pam. I find that so sweet, except where was the love for Sookie? Dude, she's the one who you gotta worry about.
Alright enough of my prattling and thinly veiled warnings, on with the story!
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My eyes burst open in shock. White flashes of light blurred my vision, and tears instantly stung at the corners before spilling over onto my cheeks. I tried to scream, but there was no sound. I tried to see, but I was momentarily blind from the white light. I groped the air with my outstretched hands, searching for something. Someone.... Eric. The only sense I could process outside of my pain was sound. Someone was screaming a guttural choking cry. It was violent and somewhere in the back of my mind, I processed it as a satisfying sound, but it was muffled and fading. All sensory connections to my body were fading. I was turning numb.
This was it... I was dying. I'm sorry Niall, I know you tried. But some things I realized, you're just not meant to survive.
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Ten minutes earlier I had found myself in the strange hall with the gold and red curtains on opposite walls. The King and Victor had appeared from behind the gold curtain, and when it came time to see what was behind curtain number two I was relieved. It was Eric.
My relief didn't last long.
The red curtain had been lined with a fabric weaved with silver. It created a total wall of blockage from me to him, hence my murky assumptions as where he was before. It also served as an extra prevention from him escaping. Victor walked over and gingerly pulled the long ropes to separate the curtains to relieve Eric sitting behind them. In an old wing backed chair with small silver chains draped about him, as if he were some macabre christmas tree. His head was bowed, weakened from the constant strain of the metal touching his beautiful skin. His hair was messy and had fallen into his eyes and down around his shoulders. Covering his strong, elegant face from view.
"Eric," I said, no louder than a whisper. His head shot up with the only energy he had left and smiled. I ran to him and sat at his silver bound feet. We were together again. Everything would be fine.
Oh, how naive I still was.
I heard the click of boot heals on the marble floor approaching as I rested my head on Eric's lap. Rubbing my hands along his thighs to sooth him. I had missed him so much and it had only be a day. I closed my eyes and hugged him for dear life. Eric's voice was weak when he said, "That desperate to get all up on my jock again, woman? You're un-satiable." He tried to manage a chuckle, and so did I, but it was difficult, his voice sounded so far off. So pained.
I had to smile though, I couldn't help it. Leave it to Eric to make a joke at a time like this. I held him tighter, wanting to rip off the silver chains desperately, but scared to give the King any reason to harm us.
Someone was clapping above us, I opened my eyes and turned in the direction of the noise. It was the King. He sighed with a condescending smile.
"Ah, young love. How I enjoy to see it bloom." He put his hands over his dead un-beating heart and closed his eyes. I wanted to slap his face. Hard.
"What do you want from me?" I asked him sharply; wanting to skip directly to the end of this whole mess as fast as possible.
"I want proof Sookie, that is all. Just proof." He spoke softly to me, in his heavy spanish accent. All of his charm was lost on me now. He was just full on creepy, and I hated him for putting Eric through so much unnecessary pain and uncertainty. Bastard.
"Fine. Lets get to it. I'd like to be home for Thanksgiving."
He chuckled at that and then said, "very well. Victor, you may proceed any way you wish." The King walked away then as Victor stepped into my view.
Eric immediately started to struggle against the restraints of the silver, thrashing his head wildly back and forth. I stood up, extremely on edge, why was he reacting to violently to this? I put my hands on either side of his head and stared into his eyes, trying to calm him. What I saw in them chilled me.
Eric's eyes were rimmed with red. I had never seen him cry in the years that I had known him. He hurriedly communicated to me through our connection of Victor's intended plan to prove my supposed immortality.
The sword was for me.
Oh god.
I closed my eyes, my hands still cupping Eric's face. His shook his head again, gaining my attention and I opened my eyes once more. He wouldn't speak, I wasn't supposed to know what was going to happen. He surged me with as much reassurance and strength as possible, but it was mixed with feelings of love and manic fear and merely made me want to cry. I took it in though. Determined. We could get through this.... I hoped.
"Sookie," Victor prompted, "if you could stand in the middle of the room for me please."
I nodded my head, still staring into Eric's scared face. I kissed him on the lips, breathing into his mouth the words, "I love you," before turning away, never meaning it more than right then, but I had to let him go. If I kept on staring at all the fear I saw in his eyes I would have chickened out. And this sooo wasn't the time to chicken out. If this is what they wanted, so be it.
Great Grandfather, please.... I don't know what to ask, but please...
I didn't know what to ask of him or who to pray to, this was definitely out of God's hands. I assumed that when my lifeline was altered it was so that I wouldn't age or sicken. Not to survive drastic violent acts against my body. And what ever Victor was planning with that sword was not going to be docile or simple. It wasn't like he was going to Knight me for fun.
This was a leap of faith. Faith in my great grandfather, and faith in Eric. Every pragmatic nerve in my body screamed for me to run. Flee, get as far away, as fast as I could. But that of course was useless. The vampires would have me down in two seconds, and I'd be done. It would also mean that I was a coward, and I was no coward. "Lead by your own example," my Gran would always say, and this was it. I was being brave and facing my fears. Take that Felipe, you bastard! If I could have given him a good kick in the balls, I would have.
As I walked to the center of the room, to stand in front of Victor, I heard Eric growling from his seat. The King walked over to him with a smile on his face and pulled the rope holding the red curtains back. They fell down in a sweeping motion hiding him from view and Eric roared with anger. The King merely laughed. Surely all this trepidation about what was going to happen to me, meant to him that I'd not survive. He was already tasting victory, and I almost couldn't blame him.
I wasn't feeling too confident at that moment.
When I was finally standing in front of Victor, perfectly centered between the gold and red curtains I spoke. "I don't want to see whatever it is you're going to do to me Victor," I spat at him. "I'm closing my eyes." I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing my fear.
"Oh, I'll tell you what I'm planning on doing Miss Sookie. I plan on impaling your heart with this sword." He lifted it up for me to see more closely, it still looked like Mel Gibson's. Just older and cruder. "Do you know who's it is?"
I didn't, but I could have ventured a guess and it scared me. I wanted to be a smart ass and just say Braveheart's but instead I said, "Who's?" taking the bait.
"Eric's," I winced. "I thought it symbolic you know. He always wanted your heart it seemed, and now he'll have it, in two pieces." Eric roared once again from behind the curtain. He seemed to have lost the ability to form words, his animalistic anger having taken over. My stomach turned and I wanted to vomit. This douche bag was creative and sadistic. I held back and urge to spit in his face and say "Bring it bitch!"
Instead I opted for, "Whatever Victor," and I opened my arms, holding them out in a defenseless position and closed my eyes. I didn't say anything else. I just waited. I didn't trust my voice at that point not to crack and closing my eyes kept the tears at bay. I felt Pam come up behind me, taking a protective stance at my side.
"May I offer a counter condition?" Pam asked the King.
"If you wish. You are Eric's second, are you not?"
"You know who I am." I kept my eyes closed, but would have bet anything that Pam had rolled hers. She continued, "Sookie is Eric's bonded and chosen mate. If she dies, he will suffer a great deal. Clearly, an eye for an eye is warranted in this case?"
"So it would seem," the King said, his accent becoming more pronounced with his rising agitation.
"If Sookie dies, I ask, as Eric's "second", to have the right to kill Victor."
After a long pause in which the only noise was Eric's growls and the only thing I could feel was Victor's shock, the King spoke.
"Hmm, that does seem to be a fair condition," he said.
"But my King," Victor started, worry evident in his voice. At that I had enough, I really didn't want to hear that bitch beg.
Like, come on... "Hey!" I shouted. "Look! I am trying my best not to pass out here from stress! I don't have time to listen to you three bicker. If I croak, then Pam gets to kill Victor. Good?" I looked back and forth between the King and Pam, ignoring Victor's stunned face as they slowly nodded in agreement. "Great. Now! Lets just get this over with!" And I closed my eyes once more and opened my arms. I realized how much of a martyr stance I was taking, after the fact. I didn't want to go for that much melodrama but its not like you ever really plan these kinds of things.
When I had closed my eyes again, time stopped. Something was blurring into my vision from behind my eyelids and I strained to "see" it more clearly. As it came into focus, I saw the face of my Great Grandfather. He was still as beautiful and elegant as I remembered, and smiling from ear to ear. He was the picture of serenity. It calmed me and every nerve in my body relaxed. I let the feeling wash over me as if I were floating in a pool of warm, soothing water. Thank you Niall, I thought. I embraced the warm illusion happy to have the moment of peace.
It wast the calm before the storm.
When I finally smiled back at the vision of my great grandfather behind my eyelids; I felt it. The hot sting of pain so strong it knocked the wind out of me. Victor wasn't lying, the concentration of the pain was in my upper left chest. Directly into my heart.
My eyes burst open in shock. White flashes of light blurred my vision, and tears instantly stung at the corners before spilling over onto my cheeks. I tried to scream, but there was no sound. I tried to see, but I was momentarily blind from the white light. I groped the air with my outstretched hands, searching for something. Someone.... Eric. The only sense I could process outside of my pain was sound. Someone was screaming a guttural choking cry. It was violent and somewhere in the back of my mind, I processed it as a satisfying sound, but it was muffled and fading. All sensory connections to my body were fading. I was turning numb.
This was it... I was dying. I'm sorry Niall, I know you tried... But some things I realized, you're just not meant to survive.
I felt my body collapse beneath me, and my vision finally went black. I think my eyes were open, but I really couldn't feel anything. The pain had left and so did all my senses. I was nothing but a brain wave in a void of blackness.
...A brainwave that was hearing things. I cringed away from it. Why, why was this noise penetrating my death?
It was that scream. That shaking violent scream. I hated it, I wanted it to go away. But it persisted and I realized I could feel myself curling up. I could feel my arms and and my legs and I hugged them to me, forcing myself into a ball. Natural instincts taking over.
Why is it so loud?
I tried to back away from it, but it wouldn't stop. Somewhere, something told me to open my eyes and I obeyed.
I wasn't dead.
I was on the floor.
Pam was leaning over me, her hands lying on my shoulder and hip. She had told me to open my eyes, and I didn't know why until I saw what was in front of me.
Victor. He was the one who had been screaming. His body was flailing about in contorting, screeching pain. The King was behind him, his mouth open in shock. The sword in Victor's hand was vibrating and pulsing. I could see the magic in the air around it, working over time.
It was killing Victor... Slowly and painfully. I couldn't take it much longer.
I stood up and without thinking shouted, "NIALL!"
Everything went silent. A second later my Great Grandfather stepped out from behind the Red curtains. They had parted magically of their own accord. Eric was glowing and perfect at his side; standing at his full height. The silver chains, gone, as if they had been a bad dream.
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A/N: I know, I know, another cliff hanger. Go ahead, pelt away. *holds up bucket* Here! I'll start collecting them. My sister loves olives! :-)
I know I've been saying that I will update Northman's soon, but I really just need to get this story out of my system first. I'm gonna try and work on a new chapter today, but sometimes you just gotta go with the flow. Ya know?
*Stewie voice* Well, even if you don't, that's how I roll. Deal.
EDIT: That shit was written back on saturday.... I've now just been through two days of withdrawls, during which all I could manage to do to sooth my shaky ass hands was to sketch. So, in other words.....
I have no other words. Damn.
I'll go work on Northman's now! how about that? Ta!