Chapter 38 – Follow Our Heart
A/N: I own nothing! CH does… PLEASE remember to enter the contest that I am co-hosting with sassyvampmama called The Snarky Side Kick! Give me your funniest/snarkiest Pam. See the sight for all the rules. I have no idea when FF will post this. I can't get it to download to Document Manager at all! I am sooooo sick of all FF crap! I hope you all get this and I am sorry it is late! HUGS, Momma Minion!
LAST TIME: (Sookie saved Eric from certain death, but in her hurry to heal him she accidentally feed him bottled blood that was pure faery blood. In his drunken state he takes too much of her blood and injures her while they are making love. Unbeknownst to him he had asked for her blood each time and he had asked to 'have' her, but right now he thinks he has taken her against her will and now she is not responding to his call.)
EPOV "SOOKIE… oh God please no… SOOKIE wake up…come back… SOMEONE HELP ME!" I reached to the end of the bed and took her grandmother's quilt. I gently wrapped her in the quilt. I could feel Pam so I gently laid Sookie back down as I ran to the door to open it. I unlocked it and ran back to Sookie. Pam, Belinda, Marcus, Laurell, Lillianna and Alexander all entered in. I was weeping and rocking Sookie in my arms.
"Eric, give her to me." Laurell said with little emotion in her voice. I nodded and handed Sookie to her but I was still calling out her name. I could not stop and I did not know why. Marcus had walked past us and into the bathroom. I looked to Alexander and he asked,
"Brother, how did this happen?"
"I don't know. I don't really remember last night at all. I remember her cleaning me…the shower… she feed me bottled blood and then… nothing… Oh God, she has lain down here all day hurt…" I was confused and dazed. I felt so helpless and I was not used to feeling this way.
"I know what happened." Marcus said very stoically as he held out bottles of blood. I vaguely remembered drinking from them but not really.
"Royalty blended Faery blood and one bottle of straight faery blood, where the hell did she get those?" Alex asked.
"From my wine cellar, I showed her those and told her I could get drunk off a glass. So why would she give me all three bottles? It must have been a mistake." I walked back to the bed and pulled Sookie from Laurell and rocked her in my arms.
"Lover, come back to me…come back...You said you would never run…I am so sorry…please…please…" and with that I prayed for the second time in a millennium.
EPOV
She looked so fragile in my arms while the others stood in a silent vigil around our bed. I rocked her and whispered her name over and over until I couldn't take the pain of what I had done any longer. I passed her limp, broken body back to Laurell and walked to the door of 'our' resting chamber. She had promised to never leave me and to never run, but had I kept my promise? No; I had harmed her. I had promised her that she would never be harmed again and yet this time it was I who had injured her.
I sat down in the hall way and wept, feeling Marcus' hand on my shoulder as he sat with me for a while, before Pam joined me on the floor. She curled up on the floor beside me and laid her head in my lap. My sweet child, I had not even acknowledged her earlier. She thought she had lost me last night and now I hadn't even acknowledged that I had seen her this evening. I was batting a thousand at taking care of my family tonight.
"Laurell and the others are healing her, but she seems restless." Pam advised as I stroked her hair.
"I'm sorry I scared you. I love you Pam." And knowing how her mind operated I added, "And none of this is your fault. There was no way you could have prevented any of it." Then once again we sat in silence until I felt a pull, a very familiar pull but with a twist. It was the pull of a newborn vampire calling out to their maker, but stronger…much, much stronger.
I flew back into the room as Laurell made room for me to climb on to the bed with Sookie. She was waking and she looked up into my eyes and smiled.
"Hey baby. Are you okay? I was so worried about you. I love you." Her little voice was so soft and shaky it was not lost on me that she was worried about me. I had almost drained her dry and broken her fragile little body and she was worried about me. Looking confused, she glanced around the room and then down at her barely covered body. She was wrapped only in her grandmother's quilt and I saw a beautiful blush bloom underneath her skin, but vampires don't blush. So how was she calling out to me like a newborn, but still had a beating heart and the ability to blush? I looked to Marcus and asked,
"What is this? How does her heart beat and yet I can feel her like she is my…"
"She was unique as a human and she will be unique in whatever it is that she is becoming." He smiled as he tousled her hair which caused her to blush even more while she pulled the quilt around her as if to cover herself even more. She then smiled at Marcus and Alexander as she said,
"Ya'll know that I love you, but I'm naked and you need to go." The two looked to each other and nodded to her as they simply left the room. She then looked at Laurell and Lillianna.
"I love you Gammy and Lilli you are the best cousin ever. Thanks for helping me save Eric and for tonight when you healed me, I feel so much better. You all are the best family in the world. I am going to miss you so much when you go home and I want you to come back all the time, okay?" Both women leaned in and hugged her gently before they turned to go back upstairs with their men who were waiting patiently by the elevator.
Sookie then turned to Belinda and a very quiet Pam motioning for them to come to her and she patted the bed. The girls climbed in together and she held them, she just held them and cooed to them for the longest time about how much she loved them and that they were her sisters and nest. She used the word nest and that was not lost on me. She was surprisingly lighthearted; I was so full of shame for my behavior and I expected her to be furious with me. I expected her to leave me. How could she stay? How could she still love me? I had betrayed her. I had betrayed not only her, but our bond and promises to each other as well.
"Now go upstairs and enjoy the night. I need to talk to Eric; we'll be up in a while." And with that she kissed Belinda and Pam goodnight and turned to me and smiled. She looked at me with such love, but how is that possible? How could she still love me? She ran her hand through my hair and to my surprise she giggled out,
"You are in so much trouble mister… you scared the crap out of me. You knew what rising up like that on that table could do to you while those chains were around your neck, but you did it anyway. You did to save Belinda. You are the best man in the whole wide world. I love you." She wrapped her arms around me and cooed. I could not believe what I was hearing, but still fearing she just had not realized what I had done I took in a breath to just breathe in her scent which was the same as always but somehow different. I paused to offer her my deepest apology for what I had done to her.
"Dearest one, I am so sorry for last night; for taking you against… I understand if you can no longer be my mate. I failed you and…"
"What are you talking about?" she asked as she looked at me like I had two heads.
"Sookie, I drained you and took and turned you against your will…"
"What? You don't remember anything from last night do you?"
"I remember the shower and drinking the bottles of blood. I remember you healing me and then… nothing really but I dreamed I had captured a faery and was having my way with her…"
"Well you did that." She laughed out a comfortable laugh before realizing the hell I was in, it was then that she pulled me close and said,
"OH no sweetie, your really don't remember. Oh honey, you didn't do that to me baby. You asked me, Eric. You asked you never took; when you needed blood you asked me for it every time and every time I told you yes. You had had a lot of my blood when you told me you wanted me and I told you to take what you wanted. I won't lie it was rougher than normal but it was like coming home… just like it always is with you. When I started responding and trying to keep up you went crazy… all I could feel was lust and need…that was when I got hurt a little but baby you stopped when I asked and you gave me blood immediately to help with the pain. I don't know why you were so wild but you calmed after that for the most part."
"I was wild because I drank two Special Royalty Blends and One Bottle of Fae Royalty Blend. Sookie, it was the three bottles I showed you that were the most dangerous for me to drink." I tried to explain why I had been so out of control.
"I was in a hurry, I must have grabbed them by mistake; I had always meant to move them away from the door…I guess I forgot. I mean, you had been kidnapped and I was trying to prepare the room for when I brought you home. I knew they were hurting you and I was trying to be prepared for when we came home… Oh sweetie, I am so sorry I scared you."
"You're sorry… I almost kill you and you are apologizing to me. You are unbelievable Lover." And with that I hung my head in shame regardless of what I had been given to drink I am ancient and my control should have been better. She had saved me from certain final death and I had repaid her by almost killing and raping her. I was no better than those who had abused and used her. I had become what I had sworn to protect her from.
SPOV
I was trying to explain to Eric what had happened the night before between us. He explained that I had given him faery blood to drink 'Well that explains him seeming drunk to me' was my thought. I felt bad that he was so sad and that he thought he had taken me against my will. I was trying to explain that he did not do that, but he hung his head and all I could feel coming through the bond was shame. It was horrible to feel that coming from him. I was starving but I knew I had to put that off and help him through this horrible pain.
"Eric, YOU DID NOT RAPE ME. You are not Bill Compton! You are not Bartlett Hale! You did not lose control or at least not in the way you think you did. Baby, did you not hear me?" I paused as his head was still down so I tried again,
"You asked me Eric. Every time you asked to drink. You asked to take me. Eric I have no doubt that if I had asked you to stop you would have. I was never afraid. I just gave up all control and trusted the bond to heal you. I knew you needed my blood and my body to heal you so I GAVE them to you. You did not take me. YOU are my husband, my mate and my maker. I'm a whole lot'a vampire now. You can feel it too, right?" I smiled at him to show I was happy about it but he did not look up to see my face.
"Yes, I can feel it." he said with his head still down.
"You didn't turn me against my will. This is how it has to be honey."
"Our babies, Sookie, our babies…" and with that he wept. I understood, he thought we could no longer have them so I took his hand and put it on my heart.
"Eric, feel…heartbeat… and I'm hungry for FOOD and I have a little pull that lets me know I need your blood too. It was already happening to me Eric. I realized it when I was fighting Breandan that something was happening to me and then he asked me what I was. I knew then. I'm some sort of hybrid. I'm vampire and faery with a little bit of human still floating around in me too." I paused for a moment to tell him the rest.
"Eric, when I did pass out I was with Gran. I crossed the veil and I held our babies. Take a deep breath Eric, breathe in my face and neck…I can still smell them. They will be here soon and I know how they get here. I love you so much baby. Everything is going to be fine. I promise." And then I retold my story to Eric from looking up to see the Bon Temps house to running down the road following his voice; while following my heart.
"So you say you know how they will get here?" he was still breathing in my scent at my neck and smiling like a loon at the scent of our babies.
"Yes and all you have to do is fall asleep and let me wake you up." I giggled and he smiled as he realized what my plan was.
"But Sookie, even if you wake me I have been dead for a thousand years do you really think that is how it will happen?"
"Yes. I will have to wake you several times but I know in my heart of hearts that is how it happens. No real magic, no help needed from Niall or anyone else. Just us and our love, we just have to follow our heart and that is how we will have our babies. We are one heart now Eric; one soul and we have to follow what we feel." He pulled me into his arms and whispered,
"You amaze me. You are sure you are alright?" Eric asked with that gentle voice he only uses with me.
"Yes, but I need blood. I think yours will do the trick." I grinned from ear to ear.
"Lover, you will need to learn how to feed and hunt. I will teach you." And there he was; my vampire was back and he was so proud. He was so proud to be my maker. I laughed and nodded. We needed to talk about what had happened in Dallas, what we were going to do with the Newlins since it was my understanding that Stan had Steve and I knew that Bill had Sarah. I also wanted to go see Hunter but in this moment there were other things that we had to take care of, like each other.
"Maker, will you feed me?" I purred.
"Oh yes, my mate, I will feed you. Are you well enough to feed me?" He asked with uncertainty in his voice.
"Oh I am better than fine." I laughed as I threw the quilt aside, but I did not get the response that I wanted.
"Oh Lover…" his eyes were clouded as he pricked his finger on his fang. He very lovingly began to heal the bite marks that were on my chest and waist. He worked his way down further and settled between my legs healing the marks that were on my inner thigh. He was so precious, so gentle with me. I was amazed and dazzled by the softness and ease that he used with me. Once I was healed to his liking he started to make his way back up to me, but I felt like being playful and lifting the cloud that was hanging over us so I grinned,
"Not so fast cowboy, I think there are a few more spots down there that you might have missed. Could you check for me and kiss them all better?" He smiled his cocky grin and replied,
"You know I do believe you could be correct, but it might take me some time to find them all."
"Well, I think you better get to work then. After that I can feed you and you can feed me." I lifted my eyebrow and smiled. With that he laughed and lowered his head to my hot sex. I was so needy and I ground myself down on his face and I felt him smile against my crotch. I love it when he does that. Was my thought and he chuckled as he stopped to say,
"I know you do. That is why I do it. That is why I do most of things I do…because you love it." Then he went back to his task of sending me to the moon. I was panting and writhing against him in no time.
"OH Eric… that feels so good… please do that again… I love it when you kiss me like that."
"Lover, watch me. Don't close your eyes look straight into my eyes Sookie." He commanded and I obeyed. I didn't know if it was a side effect of him now being my maker but I REALLY wanted to please him and make him proud. I leaned up on my elbows and watched him set to his task. He made lazy circles around my throbbing nub with the tip of his tongue, never really licking where I wanted. I was wiggling and trying to get the friction I sooooo desperately needed it but he was not ready to comply with me just yet.
"Patience Lover, my mate…" I had noticed he had started calling me that his 'mate' since we felt the change in our bond. My mind was not functioning on the higher levels but I was thinking that perhaps him thinking of me as his 'child' even though he was my maker was just too weird for him so he was going with 'mate'. Oh hell, if he would just do that thing he just did; with his tongue again, a moment before, I would let him call me Jo-Jo the monkey girl.
"OH God Eric! Again…MORE…HARDER!" and with that I was gone. He pushed me over the edge and I was falling but the wonderful thing about falling with Eric was that he was always there to catch me. I was looking in his eyes when he gently sank his fangs into my thigh and I was flying now instead of falling. I was pulling at his shoulder encouraging him to come up to me and fill my desire.
"Greedy, I love it." he murmured to me as he made a slow ascent up my body, all the while making strategic stops along the way. All I could do was thrash around and beg mewing like a damn kitten wanting more milk and he was chuckling at me, but I did not care. I wanted what I wanted and what I wanted was between his legs and mine. I grabbed him and pumped his cock hard three times and he was not chuckling anymore but growling. I lined him up with my center and raised my hips to meet him as he gently pushed into me.
He was being painfully gentle and slow with me. I knew why, but there was really no need. What Laurell, Belinda and Lillianna had not healed would soon be fine. I leaned forward and felt my fangs descend they clicked a little at the end. It was still my canines elongating instead of a separate set like all vampires had but instead of taking so long to descend, they clicked into place much easier than normal. I smiled at my new toys as I pulled them in and out twice more before I kissed Eric. He took his tongue and circled each fang with his tongue and that was so damn hot! I was in need and he knew it as he bared his neck to me.
"Maker, Master… mmmm…" was all I could say as I drank. He tasted better than he ever had to me. Whatever had happened the night before had sealed the vampire deal for me because blood had NEVER tasted as good as it did tonight. When I finished feeding I was able to just lay back and enjoy him thrusting in and out of me for a moment. I did not raise up to meet him but lay still and just looked down to watch his body enter mine. He caught me watching and asked,
"Do you like that Lover, do you like watching?"
"Yes, I love watching you slip in and out of me."
"Come here." I complied as he lifted me from the bed. He thrust back into me again and walked with me impaled on his cock into the bathroom. He leaned me against the counter top and from that angle there was not a mirror in the room that I could look into and not see us. He kissed me ferociously as he grabbed my hips and really drove into me. He was not being quite so gentle but he was VERY controlled. I knew it would be sometime before he would really let go with me again.
Suddenly something seemed to hit me in the chest it was warm, sweet and all things in the world that were good. It was Sunday morning sleeping in late, it was up early to watch a sunrise, and it was safety and happiness. It was LOVE it was Eric's love for me and it overwhelmed me as I clung to him and wept tears of joy as he brought me to the sweetest completion of my entire life.
EPOV
'So my baby girl likes to watch…well let's let her watch,' was my thought as I took her to the bathroom. She was in total lust, and while I drove her a little bit harder than I had been, but I was still holding back. She said she was fine, but just an hour earlier she was broken so in this moment I only wanted her to feel love, all my love. I let every emotion and every ounce of my love for her pound through the bond into her and I watched her eyes cloud over with happiness. She clung to me as she convulsed around me and brought me with her.
"Eric…Eric…" she sniffed as she cried and clung to me. "Thank you… Thank you for loving me. I love you so much." Her little arms were wrapped around me and I pulled her into my arms as I carried her back to the bedroom. I laid her on the bed and whispered,
"You are so precious to me. You are my world and now you tell me thank you for loving you? My sweet precious wife, my mate, how could I not love you. You are all I see and all I know is that you are my fate. I love you and you never have to thank me for it. I could have ten thousand years and I would never be able to earn the love you give me freely." I pulled her to me and let her cry. I could feel her happiness and joy. I loved her so, my sweet, sweet, Lover.
She slept for about a half hour before she woke with a sweet smile and said, "Eric, we need to get up soon and go upstairs. There are a lot of things we have to talk about." She was worried I knew that from the bond. She was afraid to tell me something.
"Sookie, never fear me. What are you afraid to tell me?"
"Eric, Steve Newlin is alive, Stan is holding him for us in Dallas."
"I see. What do you want me to do? Turn him over to the authorities? We can't do that. Stan probably had a hell of a time covering up the war that happened in that house and Newlin will just come after us again and…"
"I want you to kill him. It's the only way we will ever be safe. We have to kill him and stop the movement." Well that surprised me.
"We will have to find a way to kill him so that his wife cannot make him out to be a martyr." I advised with weariness.
"That won't be a problem, we have Sarah too. She is at Bill's house. She actually helped save you and Hunter." She went on to tell me what had happened with Sarah.
"Well that is interesting. What do you suggest we do with the woman?"
"I don't know, but I would have sworn in the middle of everything I heard Gran telling me not to judge a book by its cover or a person by one mistake."
"She has made more than one mistake, Lover."
"Perhaps, but what if Steve is her only mistake? What if he twisted her into something she was not really? I don't know how I know, I just have this feeling that if we get her away from Steve she will be a different person." She had her little brows furrowed together and I was smiling at her sweet face.
"What? Why are you grinning at me?" she questioned with a silly grin of her own.
"Your capacity to forgive is unbelievable."
"I didn't say I forgave her. I want to beat the hell out of her. If she would have picked up a phone earlier Hunter would not have been kidnapped, a lot of innocent people would not have been killed and you would not have been tortured. I just have a feeling she is not a strong person and it took being backed into a corner for her to fight her way out and that has to say something about her at her core. I think she is stronger than she gives herself credit for and once again I don't know how, but I think Newlin hurts her. Why else would you sell out your husband unless you knew in your soul he was a monster?" she theorized and I tended to agree.
"So we are not going to Compton's to kill him or her…pity."
"Eric… You are so bad…" she said as she swatted my arm playfully. "And how did you know I wanted to go to Bon Temps?"
"Well in addition to the fact that the house addition is finished; I also can feel you want to stay there to be close to Hadley while she is there to visit Hunter. You are practically vibrating with excitement to see all of your family, now that 'things' are settled between us." I stroked her hair and talked to her sweetly as she snuggled against me.
"I would like to go up and eat with Pam, Belinda and the family. I know that Laurell will want to go see Hunter. It was hard on her to follow my order to stay in the fight and not go get Hunter. She was so torn. She wanted to save you and her little grandbaby. She was in hell last night."
"And you were not?" I asked knowing the answer but needing her to voice it to clear her soul.
"When I saw you on that rack I wanted to curl up and die. I was so afraid but I knew that I had to push all that aside or I would lose you forever. When you began…to …flake…I almost…" she had tears rolling down her face as I kissed them away, "But then I felt a peace go through me and I could hear Gran again…telling me what to do…" She was calming down and settling into that peaceful place inside of her again which pleased me greatly, but something she said had surprised me.
"Sookie, did you say I had begun to flake?"
"Yes, it scared us all… it was at your neck and legs…Oh sweetie…" she cooed as she laid her hand on my neck and lit her hands as she rubbed the scar.
"I have never known or heard of a vampire to be able to be healed from such a severe wound. I should have met my final death last night. Sookie, you saved me. How did I get so lucky?"
"It was my fault you were taken. Breandan wanted me, not you. He would have gone after whoever I loved most to get me. I saw it in his head, he wanted me to renounce you and become his mate. He was going to kill you, Niall and Hunter. Then he was going to give me to Neave and Lochlan to torture. Then he was going to rape me and use me to take over all Faery." she said very bluntly.
"I know. He was telling me what he was going to do with you while he was torturing me with the others. He was getting great laughs from the crowd before you popped in to kick his ass." I smiled at the last words.
"We really should get up and get going if we are going to Bon Temps tonight." She smiled but I said,
"I promise to get up right after you let me see your fangs again… just once more Lover." As she clicked her sweet little fangs out I leaned in and licked the tip of each fang. Then I circle them again with my tongue and listened to her sweet moans. "Sookie, I might need to do more than just SEE your fangs." And with no protest at all she rolled over on top of me and took me to task.
An hour later we were on our way up stairs to see the others so we could head to Bon Temps and as she reached to hold my hand in the elevator she said,
"I hope Pam made pizza." And just like that, I was home.
Bill POV
I did as Sookie requested and I went straight for where the boy was supposed to be. There weren't any Were guards, no humans or Fae. Newlin must not think much of his mate to not have her guarded. I tapped on the door,
"Hunter, it's Bill, your Aunt Sook…" that was as far as I got when the door was flung open and the woman standing there was holding a cross bow at my chest. She was beautiful but obviously battered and tired. There was a dead Were just inside the door and I could only guess he had come for the boy and she had protected him.
"You stay right there and don't move! I know how to use this and I will…" she was terrified but holding her ground. A tiny boy peeked around her and said,
"It's okay! That's him Miss Sawah. That's who Aunt Suekee sent for us." She dropped the cross bow and went slack. She had given all she could to protect him and now that someone else was there to protect him she had nothing else left in her. I caught her and picked up the boy as well.
"Okay Hunter, let's get out of here and get you to your dad and mom alright?"
"Yes pweesse. We have to take care of Miss Sawah now too she is real tired and the man was real mean to her… both of them… but she saved me." So I moved to the front yard with my vampire speed to meet up with the Faery that was to pop us to Bon Temp. I wanted to stay and help Sookie but she was adamant that I stay with Hunter, so I did as I was commanded.
I took Hunter to Sookie's home as I had been instructed to do. Remy's eyes filled with tears as Hunter ran to him with all his strength. It made me think of, and miss, my Thomas for the first time in a long time. I continued to hold Sarah in my arms since she gave me no signals of waking. I waited for the Royal Fae guard to arrive with Sophie-Anne and Hadley before I felt comfortable enough to go home and for reasons I cannot explain, I took Sarah with me. As I turned to go Hunter called out to me,
"He used to hurt her Uncle Bill…she's really scared." I nodded and assured him I would see to her and for the same unexplained reason I really wanted to do just that.
When I arrived at my home I took her up to the bedroom I had considered to be Sookie's for the longest time. I had just recently removed her personal items that she had left behind. Just a change of clothes, a nightgown and a pair of shoes, but it was all I had left of her and it was hard to box up. I was never able to take it across the graveyard and leave it on her front porch; it still sat in my empty kitchen. I laid Sarah down on the bed and she made a slight noise but I shushed her back to sleep. I pulled a chair up beside the bed and watched her sleep, but I had no idea why…none.
Sometime in the night she woke with a scream,
"Steve NO please… I won't do it again…please…" she was panting and terrified as I tried to calm her.
"Mrs. Newlin, you are safe… please calm down… no one is going to hurt you." She looked at me with hollow eyes and as she scrambled back from me she asked,
"Are you a vampire?"
"Yes, but I won't harm you. My name is William Compton, you may call me Bill if you like and I assure you that you are safe."
"Is Steve dead?"
"No"
"Then I am not safe; he will come for me. He will know I'm the one responsible for how you all got in the house. He'll kill me this time. Maybe it's for the best. I'm too tired to fight anymore…" and with that the tears that broke my heart started… "I'm so tired…so damn tired…scared…please...please…" and she leaned over and curled into a ball in the middle of the bed. I could not help myself; I very gently climbed onto the bed and pulled her into my arms.
"Shush… you are alright. He cannot get to you here and he is in custody for what he did. You are safe. I will keep you safe. Rest… Just rest." and with that she slept.
When she woke again I glamoured her into telling me most of her life story, it was easier on her that way. She would not remember having to tell me all the sordid details of her abuse or how her sister had disappeared after moving to New Orleans and taking a vampire lover. When she told me about her sister I knew then why I felt pulled to her. I also knew I would do whatever I had to do to see that she was safe. I would not let Eric kill her for her part in anything Newlin had done. She was just an abused woman who did not have a way out, but now that she did she was willing to take it.
I made sure the Fae Guard that was assigned to my home by Sookie knew to take care of her and that she was my guest not my prisoner before I went to rest for the day. I crept back upstairs and held her again for a few moments before dawn. As I went to leave the room I heard her say,
"Thank you William."I smiled to myself and went to rest knowing I wanted to know everything about those beautiful smoky eyes and soft voice.
The next night I expected Eric and Sookie at nightfall but they were not there til much later. I watched Sarah descend the staircase and walk straight to me. I knew she wanted me to hold her and with much ease, almost too much ease, I took her into my arms and held her. At some point I realized she had fallen asleep in my arms and I wondered how long it had been since she felt safe enough to sleep like this. I felt Sookie approaching, but I could not bring my gaze from Sarah's face to meet Sookie when she came into the house, just like she had a million times before when she was mine.
SPOV
"She is fragile. He beat her and abused her in unimaginable ways, although she seems to blame herself for what he did to her." he said absently as he looked down at her sleeping form in his lap. He gently stroked her hair and I could not help but reply,
"Most abuse victims blame themselves or make excuses for their abusers." His face looked stricken and I realized my comment had stung. "I was talking about my Uncle, not you." I added and that seemed to ease his pain until Eric added,
"You used to make excuses for him too Sookie. Now what do we do with the woman?"
"Bill, what do you think?"
"She is afraid, all alone and has nowhere to go. Her sister was her only family and when she was murdered it did change her. She did hate all vampires for a long time but now she sees that is wrong." She began to wake and looked sleepily up at Bill as he smiled down at her and asked,
"How do you feel?"
"Safe." That just about said it all. I wondered how long it had been since Sarah Newlin had felt safe. She suddenly realized she wasn't alone with Bill and smiled sadly as she looked at us and then back to him. "William, can you be the one to do it? I won't be so scared if it's you, if you hold me. I know I don't deserve special treatment after all I have done, but please if you're the one to do it…" Pitiful tears of fear rolled down her face as she sobbed against him.
"Sarah, what do you mean? Do what?" he asked gently with great confusion as he stroked her hair and attempted to wipe her tears. I on the other hand had seen what she thought we were going to do. She thought we were there to kill her. The million dollar question was 'were we?'
A/N: dum dum dum… we are winding down my lovelies… my sweet baby minions how I love you and this glorious ride. Thank you for being patient as we wait for FF to let me download this to the story…ugh… so frustrated! HUGSJ