I'm so sorry this took me literally forever! I had a few family crises, a crises of my own, and then a bad reaction to a new medication. And then my second summer class started last week.

To make up for the long delay, here's a super long chapter! This is the moment we have all been waiting for.

OH and the new episode! I swear if they actually killed of Roman, someone is going to pay dearly. And if Salome or Nora released Russell and then get punished for it, I will be so pissed. Those two are the lights of my life.

Cameron truly had no idea what she was doing. She couldn't just go up to the house and knock on the door at nearly 3 in the morning, asking if they had seen an ancient vampire running around. Even worse, what if whoever answered the door wasn't friendly or sympathetic? Cameron had no idea what she was about to walk into, which was utterly terrifying. She wasn't usually one to do anything without considering all of the factors.

At the very least, she had been in the house before. If something did go horribly wrong, she at least knew her way around the place.

It briefly crossed her mind that maybe Eric didn't want to be found, or that he might not even be missing or in trouble. But the weight in the pit of Cameron's stomach told her that something was wrong.

Even if Eric did need help, and he was in that house, what was Cameron going to do? She had no gun or physical strength. How could she expect to rescue and protect a vampire? She wasn't even particularly clever. All she had in her tool belt was being a fast runner, and she hadn't even trained for over a year. God knew how slow she was now.

Finally, Cameron chickened out and backed out of the driveway. She at least knew now where Eric was. Well, not for sure. But she had a feeling that he was in there. She could go find Pam, or some vampire friends of Eric's to help save him. Did he even have vampire friends? Cameron remembered meeting the vampire king and wondered if he could offer any sort of help.

But knowing Eric, he wouldn't want anyone's help, and he wouldn't want anyone knowing that he was in a vulnerable position.

As Cameron slowly drove onward, she hoped that Pam would be enough.

Driving down the dark and rural road was unnerving and incredibly spooky. Cameron was expecting vampires and all sorts of monsters jumping out into her headlights. As the wind picked up, fallen leaves swirled into the road, the movement making Cameron jump out of her skin every time. To say she was jumpy would be an understatement.

It seemed as if Cameron's worst fears came true as she noticed a lone figure up the road a ways. The figure was walking slowly along the side of the road. As she got closer, Cameron noticed that he was missing his shirt and shoes, and looked disheveled. She knew better than to stop. As she pressed down on the gas to speed past the man, she realized with horror that her car was slowly coming to a stop alongside the man. When the window started rolling down on its own, Cameron cried out, but she made no sound.

Looking around, Cameron realized that she wasn't even in her car. It was small, dirty, beaten up, and old. Looking up from the dash, she realized that the man on the side of the road was now standing at her window. Though, she was no longer frightened. The man was Eric. He was speaking, though Cameron couldn't hear him. Everything sounded as if she was under water.

Although the man was definitely Eric, he seemed off. Apart from walking down the road with no shoes or shirt, and messed up hair, something about the situation seemed so wrong.

Suddenly a dark look flashed across Eric's face and his fangs dropped. He took a step towards the car, but before he could reach it, Cameron was speeding away.

Cameron's mind shifted out of the vision as she was thrown around the inside of her car. She immediately pulled her foot of the gas pedal and braked hard, missing hitting a tree by only a few inches. Towards the end of the vision, Cameron's car drove off the road.

As she sat in her car, clutching her chest and breathing hard, all Cameron could focus on was Eric's face. She felt like she had seen him in a similar state in past visions. She leaned back into her seat, putting her head back against the seat, and took in a deep breath. She had to help Eric now.

Before she could back out again, Cameron pulled back onto the road, turned around, and sped back toward the Stackhouse home. She didn't even pause at the start of the driveway this time. She drove straight up to the house, parked on the grass, and hastily ran up the porch steps.

She was fueled purely by her loyalty to Eric. Up until this point, she had no idea how deeply that loyalty ran. Now, she was realizing how frighteningly much she cared about him and his wellbeing.

Cameron knocked loudly on the door, waiting for someone to answer it, not even concerned about waking someone up.

After only a few seconds, she could hear footsteps coming toward the door, and soon enough, a short blond woman came to the door. She peered out through the window curiously at Cameron, and cautiously opened the door.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked suspiciously, words dripping with a thick drawl. She noticed Cameron trying to look beyond her and into the house, and closed the door slightly, blocking Cameron's view of the interior of the house.

"Do you live here?" Cameron asked, focus back on the woman.

"Yeah," the woman answered slowly, eyes narrowed in concern. The thought that legally this house belonged to Eric crossed Cameron's mind.

"I know this is probably really weird, getting some stranger knocking on your door so late," Cameron started.

"I'm no stranger to weird," the woman interrupted her.

"Ok, well, I'm looking for someone," Cameron continued. The woman stared at Cameron quizzically, but remained silent. "And I think you can help me. I'm pretty sure you guys were friends. Or maybe not, I don't know."

"Who are you?" the woman asked quickly, cutting off Cameron's nervous rambling.

"Uh, my name's Cameron. I'm looking for my friend."

"You're not a vampire, are you?" the woman asked, ignoring Cameron's introduction. Cameron confusedly shook her head. Both women's attention snapped to the interior of the house at the sound of a creaking floorboard. The woman turned her attention away from Cameron to whoever had made the noise. "Go back upstairs!" she ordered. The door blocked this person from view.

"Who is it?" the person the woman had yelled at asked. Cameron was absolutely positive that the voice belonged to Eric.

The woman yelled at him again, and then turned her attention back to Cameron. "I'm sorry, I can't help you. Bye," she said quickly. She shut the door quickly, leaving Cameron out on the porch alone.

She listened as hard as she could. She could hear the two walking away from the door, but not their voices. However, she never heard the 'click' of a lock.

Throwing caution to the wind, Cameron grasped the door handle and turned it, letting herself inside the house quietly. She stepped carefully and closed the door softly. She was quiet enough to avoid detection from a human, but she knew Eric would have heard her.

Before taking three steps into the house, Cameron was thrown on her back onto the floor, a knee in her stomach and a hand wrapped around her throat. Like she had expected, Eric had heard her enter the home.

The woman was yelling and Eric was snarling, but Cameron tuned them both out as she tried desperately gasping for air.

The woman knelt down next to Cameron's head and tried prying Eric's fingers from around her neck. Having Eric's hand at her throat was an experience that she hoped she would never have to experience ever again, and it was just as terrifying as the first time it happened.

The woman succeeded in getting Eric to let go of her neck, though he remained on top of her. Knee in her stomach, hands pressing her shoulders into the floor with a bruising strength. His fangs were out, and he looked ready to kill.

As Cameron finally found her breathing again, her hands found their way to Eric's chest.

"Get the fuck off me, Eric!" Cameron yelled as she earnestly tried to push him off. Eric's grip slackened a bit at the mention of his name, and the woman let out a surprised "what."

Cameron continued to struggle under Eric, though her efforts moved from his chest to trying to ease his knee away from her stomach.

"You know him?" the woman asked Cameron.

"I swear to god, Eric!" Cameron yelled as Eric pressed his knee harder into her stomach. He continued to look down at her in utter confusion, until finally he eased up, removed himself from on top of her, and sat down on the floor next to the woman.

Cameron instantly rolled onto her side, clutching at her stomach, her legs curling into her.

"He didn't hurt you too bad, did he?" the woman asked, concerned that Eric had actually hurt her. She was no stranger to being manhandled by vampires.

"I'm good," Cameron muttered as she rolled onto her hands and knees.

"I'm sorry," Eric said, sounding surprisingly and sincerely apologetic. Caught off guard and unsure of how to respond, Cameron only managed a half-hearted smile. Something seemed incredibly off about the entire situation.

As she eased back into a sitting position on the floor, she looked Eric over. His hair was a far cry from his usually perfect coiffure. What was even more shocking was his state of dress. He was wearing large basketball shorts and a cut up, ratty looking hooded sweatshirt. He really must have been in trouble.

"So, uh, why are you here? You obviously know him," the woman spared a concerned glance toward Eric.

"Uh, yes. I've been looking for him." The woman gave Cameron another suspicious look and she decided that it was about time things got cleared up. The more she thought about it, the more Cameron realized that this woman was who Eric was looking for.

"What for?" the woman asked.

"I'm sorry; I don't know your name. I'm Cameron Clarke. Eric's my friend, boss, tormentor, business associate, thorn in my side, all of the above," Cameron explained.

"Oh, right, sorry. I'm Sookie." The two women shook hands awkwardly after standing up. Eric looked confusedly between the two.

"What, you don't have any sassy remarks?" Cameron turned to Eric, surprised that he had been so quiet. All he did was shrug and continue to look confused.

"Was I mean to you?" he asked, seemingly genuinely concerned that he had hurt Cameron in the past.

"Eric's not really feelin' like himself lately. If ya want, I can call you later," Sookie offered, still trying to get rid of Cameron.

"Look, I'm not leaving without Eric."

"Well, I'm not lettin' you take him," Sookie crossed her arms defensively. Cameron noted with smug satisfaction that she was slightly taller than this other woman. For once, she could look down on someone the way Eric sometimes looked down on her, though she doubted she was even half as intimidating as he was.

"I know for a fact that he is not supposed to be here," Cameron said, lying through her teeth. She didn't know anything for sure.

"Is that right?" Sookie challenged. Cameron held her ground and nodded.

"Pam said I have to stay," Eric interjected. Cameron snapped her head towards Eric in surprise.

"Pam? Pam knows you're here?" Cameron demanded, infuriated that she was being kept out of the loop.

"You know Pam?" Sookie asked.

"No wonder she left so suddenly last night," Cameron thought out loud. "Hey, did you pick him up on the side of the road?" Cameron asked Sookie, suddenly getting an idea.

"Uh, yeah. How did you know that?" Sookie asked defensively.

"Oh, just something I heard," Cameron answered vaguely.

"You smell kinda good," Eric muttered, lifting a hand towards Cameron's hair. Sookie watched curiously as he wound Cameron's hair between his fingers. As Eric dragged his hand through the length of Cameron's hair, he noticed faint scaring on her neck. He pushed her hair over her shoulder and pressed his thumb against the old, now healed bite wounds.

"Did I do this?" Eric asked, visibly concerned.

"Uh, yeah," Cameron answered, more and more confused by Eric's actions.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

"OK, what the fuck is wrong with you? I didn't think you knew the meaning of the word "sorry." What the hell did you do to him?" Cameron grabbed Eric's wrist, pulling his hand from her hair and neck, and shot a dirty look at Sookie.

"Me? I didn't do anythin'! I'm just hiding him here," Sookie explained.

"From what?" Sookie shrugged, indicating that she didn't have any idea, though Cameron could tell that she was lying.

"Seriously, did you put some sort of spell on him?" Cameron accused. It had been a ridiculous thing to say, and she didn't actually think that that had been the case. However, the look on Sookie's face told Cameron that she had hit the nail on the head.

"Oh fuck me, there's witches?" Cameron cried out, infuriated and confused by the whole situation. Nothing was making sense. Eric was no help. His hand kept straying to her hair, and all he offered was a stupid look on his face. He was acting like a child.

"I didn't do this to him, but I don't really know who did. I'm just keeping him here until someone figures out how to fix this," Sookie said.

"Why isn't he with Pam? Don't you think she would be better equipped to handle him?" Cameron asked, comparing Sookie's short stature to Eric's tall frame.

"Pam thinks he's not safe in this vulnerable state, and that this will give Bill a good enough reason to kill him," she answered.

"Bill?"

"The vampire king. My ex. Eric's rival. The list goes on."

"Oh, right. I nearly threw up on him once," Cameron remembered the night she had met him at Fangtasia. Sookie giggled at the thought of this strange girl throwing up on Bill in one of his fancy king suits.

"Well, do you want help watching him or something?" Cameron awkwardly offered. Now that she knew what had happened to Eric, she felt like she couldn't just leave him again. He seemed to be safe, but Cameron was hardly a good judge of safety. She didn't know how well they could trust Sookie, and now that Eric's life was being threatened, she felt like she needed to make sure that he was going to be OK.

Losing Eric would mean a lot of things for Cameron. The thing that she should have probably been most worried about was her safety. If Eric went down, then so did any form of protection. Eric was selfish, which meant keeping Cameron all to himself. Her power guaranteed her safety with him.

She didn't even want to start considering how he actually felt about her. She knew how she felt about him. Well, sort of. But Cameron didn't want to know how Eric really felt about her, apart from recognizing her importance and usefulness. Cameron couldn't even picture Eric having a feeling, apart from hunger and lust.

Cameron had two conflicting ideas of Eric. The first being a rigid, threatening, powerful force who would not take no for an answer. This version of Eric was cold-hearted and selfish, not giving a damn about how his actions affected others, so long as he benefited. This Eric did what was best for Eric. Violence was usually the answer. The end always justified the means. Sometimes these actions would work out in the favor of others, but these instances were just a happy accident.

Then there was the less known Eric. The Eric that Cameron preferred. He was conscientious of others, though he usually tried to hide it. He had a sense of humor. He could actually be quite easy to get along with.

Cameron realized that these were two extreme ends of the spectrum, though. No matter which end he was channeling, however, he was always undeniably Eric.

The Eric that was standing next to Cameron in Sookie's foyer was a version that Cameron had never witnessed, or even imagined existed. It was like standing next to a complete stranger.

"Some coven of witches put a spell on him that erased his memory, so he's not really himself. I gotta keep a pretty keen eye on him," Sookie explained.

"When was the last time he fed?" Cameron asked.

"Well, he had some TruBlood," Sookie lied, not wanting to mention anything about Eric killing someone in her front yard. She worried that Eric would correct her, but he was too interested in Cameron's hair to care about anything else.

"You have pretty hair," Eric muttered.

"I'm not used to him being so affectionate," Cameron said, unnerved by this new Eric. All of his attention was making her uncomfortable.

"No kidding. Do ya want anythin' to drink or somethin'?" Sookie offered. Cameron asked for a glass of water, and followed Sookie into the kitchen. Eric trailed behind them.

Sookie offered Cameron a seat at the table, and sat down across from her. Cameron tried desperately to not look at the floor, remembering her vision of the puddles of blood.

"I should probably text Pam. I broke into Eric's office and she's gonna be pissed," Cameron said as she pulled out her phone.

"So you're pretty involved with Eric and Pam?" Sookie asked, trying to figure out just how exactly Cameron fit into the picture.

"Unfortunately, yes. I'm technically his employee, but he definitely doesn't treat me like one."

"What do you do?" Sookie asked, expecting the worst.

"Marketing and stuff for Fangtasia. I just finished the new website. But I think sometimes Eric thinks I'm his personal assistant. He shows up at my place all the time."

"I do?" Eric asked. He was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, just watching the two women talk.

"Yeah. But I usually make you help me with some sort of chore. So don't worry, we're even," Cameron smiled fakely, completely confused about how to act around him. She realized that the way she was talking to him was pretty similar to the way she spoke to Jackson and small children in general.

Eric nodded, seemingly content with her reply.

"He does chores for you?" Sookie questioned, a bit incredulous.

"Well, not voluntarily. And he always complains about it, but he does them anyway. When I first started working for him, I thought he was going to rip my head off, but we're pretty amicable now."

"You guys didn't… you know," Sookie asked, alluding to what she secretly dreaded finding out about. She knew it was reasonable for Eric to have sex with whoever he wanted. She had been gone for a year, and of course he had sex. He probably had sex a lot.

Cameron's face instantly reddened.

"No way! We did?" Eric was at Cameron's side in an instant, a grin on his face.

"Oh," was all Sookie could manage.

"Can we do it again?" Eric asked Cameron.

"No!" Cameron shouted, scandalized. The blunt refusal visibly hurt Eric's pride, though he backed down.

"I'm sorry," Sookie apologized for even bringing the subject up. But she found that she wanted to know more about Cameron and Eric's relationship. What was so special about Cameron? Eric wouldn't hire just anybody, not unless there was something special about them. Which would at least explain one thing to Sookie…

"I gotta ask you something," Sookie started. She waited for Cameron to nod in approval before she started again. "Is there somethin' different about you? Because I can't hear your thoughts at all."

Cameron knew that Sookie was a telepath, because of what Eric had told her in the past. But for some reason, she hadn't even thought of it until Sookie mentioned it. She was surprised to hear that Sookie couldn't hear her thoughts, though.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean usually with other people, I can hear their thoughts. It's like I'm in their head. With vampires, it's like I'm a normal person and I have no idea what's goin' on inside their heads. It's the same with you. I can't hear a thing," Sookie explained. All Cameron could offer was a shrug. She knew better than to advertise to people that she was different. Although sometimes it didn't exactly seem like it, she had a sense of self preservation. The less people that knew about her, the better.

Even though Sookie was different, too, Cameron didn't feel comfortable telling her. If her secret was going to be safe with anyone, it probably would have been Sookie. But they had just met, and Cameron wasn't comfortable with the idea. She was so used to hiding what she was and pretending that she was 100% normal. She was used to the silence, and that was going to be a hard habit to break.

After a few beats of silence, Sookie looked up at the clock on the wall.

"It's gettin' pretty late," she said, trying to prompt some sort of action from Cameron. Although, all she did in response was nod in agreement. Cameron wasn't going anywhere.

"Do you live nearby?" Sookie asked.

"I live in Shreveport," Cameron answered.

"Well, I guess you better be on your way if you're gonna get back before sunrise," Sookie said, standing from the table. Both Eric and Cameron looked at her confusedly.

"You're not staying?" Eric asked, directing his attention towards Cameron. He didn't know who she was, but he liked her and he wanted her to stay.

"I thought I would at least stay until morning. I know this is weird and we don't know each other, but I know Eric. And I can't just leave him," Cameron told Sookie. In all honesty, she didn't know how safe Eric was with this woman. Not that she could offer much better protection.

Sookie wasn't sure what to say. She barely knew this woman. She seemed nice enough, but she learned a long time ago that you can't always be so quick to judge. Plus, she wasn't exactly comfortable having a strange woman stay in her house. She also didn't want to play hostess to anyone else. She originally didn't even want Eric staying in her house.

"I know it's a lot to ask."

"Uh, yeah," Sookie agreed.

"As soon as he goes to bed, or whatever, I'll leave. I promise," Cameron pledged.

"I don't want any trouble."

"And you won't get any."

Sookie sighed in defeat. Cameron seemed trustworthy enough. And if she tried anything, Eric would still be there. He may have lost his memory, but he was still a powerful vampire that could easily defend himself and Sookie if need be.

And if she was being honest, Sookie really wanted to find out more about Cameron. Specifically, she wanted to find out why she couldn't read her mind. If she closed her eyes, Sookie wouldn't even know that she was there. In her entire life, the only minds she had never been able to read were those of vampires, and Cameron was definitely not a vampire. In fact, she seemed like any normal human.

The rest of the night was spent in Sookie's living room. The three watched TV together, with Sookie and Cameron occasionally trying to make awkward conversation during the commercial breaks.

When the sun finally started to rise, Sookie herded Eric towards his underground bunker built into the house.

"Are you coming back?" he asked Cameron, ignoring Sookie's demands to go to bed. Both Sookie and Cameron were mildly surprised by his hopeful tone.

"If Sookie lets me," Cameron answered, leaving the burden on Sookie. Eric looked down at her expectantly, pressuring her to let Cameron come back. It didn't take long until she sighed in defeat and muttered a "yeah."

Eric smiled at the answer, then went down into his hole without another word. Sookie then locked up the cabinet doors.

"I guess if you want to, you can come back and visit him or somethin'," Sookie told Cameron. She wasn't exactly fond of the idea of Cameron hanging around all the time.

Ignoring her less than excited tone, Cameron smiled broadly, thanked her, and bid her farewell.

It wasn't until she was in her car that she remembered that she snuck out of the house when she was supposed to be on bed rest. There was no way that she would make it back to the house in time before Melanie woke up. As she drove out of Bon Temps, Cameron predicted that a huge fight would be waiting for her at home.

Despite that, Cameron was extremely happy that she had found Eric. She was even happier that he was more or less safe. He wasn't exactly himself, but he wasn't hurt, at least.

It at least seemed as though there was hope for gaining back his memory. As sweet and childlike as this new Eric was, Cameron found herself missing the old Eric. She actually missed his stoicism and dark humor. She missed the looks he would give her. She didn't exactly miss the threats on her life, but those days had been over for a while, anyways.

Even though she could tell that Sookie didn't want her around, nothing would be able to keep Cameron away. She had long ago deduced that Eric and Sookie had some sort of past together, though she had no clue on the details of their relationship. But that was in the past. Sookie had disappeared for a year, leaving Eric behind. She lost her chance.

It was then that Cameron realized, with quite a bit of horror, that she was jealous.

"Until We Bleed" by Lykky Li