Chapter 35

With Sookie waiting in the car, Bill approached the entrance to Fangtasia, bypassing the line and going directly to Pam who was, as usual, checking IDs at the door. He greeted her and asked for Eric.

"Good evening, Pam. Is Eric available?"

Pam glared at him. "You have a lot of balls coming here, Bill."

Bill feigned ignorance. "Excuse me?"

"Don't pretend to be innocent, Bill. You don't pull it off very well."

"I did nothing but try to protect my human." Bill leaned close and whispered in her ear. "Are you sure this is something you want to discuss here, in public?" Bill straightened up and eyed her directly, reminding her that her maker's retreat from the Compton residence probably was not something that he would like known to the community at large.

Frustrated and scowling, Pam allowed him in. "He's inside."

"Thank you, Pam."

Bill walked into the crowded bar and spied Eric in his chair on the dais. For the first time, Bill was sure of himself around Eric and no longer felt threatened by his presence. With confidence evident in his gait, Bill approached Eric's ersatz throne.

"Bill Compton." Eric glowered at him, though his voice was mild. "What brings you here?"

"Hello, Eric." He gestured toward the wide, black leather bracelets Eric now wore on his wrists. "New fashion statement?" Eric's expression hardened, but he didn't respond. "I would like to speak with you in private."

Eric paused. "Yes, I believe there are things that we need to discuss." He rose from his chair and led the way to his office, Bill following him.

On entering the office, Bill sat in the armchair opposite Eric's desk without awaiting either invitation or permission, a fact not missed by Eric. Eric looked at Bill intently for some moments before speaking. Casually he began unbuckling one of the bracelets, speaking as he did so. "I'm surprised to see you here, Bill." Removing the heavy leather band, he held up his wrist to Bill, exposing an angry red wound, still not fully healed. "You attacked your sheriff. Explain to me why I shouldn't stake you, or bring you before the magister."

To Eric's irritation, Bill lifted the corner of his lip in a small smile and pointed to the wound. "That's why."

Eric sat silently, waiting, and Bill continued.

"You won't stake me because you're no longer certain you can. And you won't bring me to the magister because, should it become known that you were bested by a vampire less than a fifth your age, your reputation, your position as sheriff, and even your survival would be in question. Not to mention that the magister would want you to explain why you forced a blood bond on a human belonging to another vampire. Besides, Eric, you're still not sure what happened, which means that you don't yet know if you can use it to your advantage. No, you won't do anything. At least not yet."

Amused, Eric smiled. "You seem to have a good grasp of the situation." He rubbed his thumb across the wound absently. "How did you do it, Bill?"

"Honestly, Eric, I have no idea."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"Believe what you wish. It's the truth. I was desperate. I had no expectation of surviving a fight with you."

"If you didn't expect to survive, then why? Why attack me in the first place?"

"Sookie."

"Sookie. You say her name like it explains everything."

"For me, it does."

Eric waited, and Bill knew he would wait as long as it took to get a satisfactory explanation.

"I was trying to protect her, Eric. She's not well."

"So you've said."

"It's not just physical pain. She's in emotional turmoil because of the blood bond you forced on her. Sookie jealously guards her independence. It's an intensely fundamental part of her nature; much stronger in her than most humans. Tricking her into taking your blood was a tactical mistake on your part. You violated her sense of self. She expects to be treated with respect, and you ignored that expectation. I have no doubt she would have been willing to help you had you simply done her the courtesy of asking."

"Hmm. That's what she said."

Bill lifted an eyebrow in query. "When was this?"

"While you were away. I paid her a little visit." Eric watched as Bill's expression hardened. "You shouldn't worry about her too much, Bill. She essentially told me the same thing you just did, but not as politely. She actually threatened me."

Bill's smile returned. "Be careful, Eric. Sookie doesn't make empty threats. I guess someone should have warned you about her temper."

"More to the point, it was legitimate; she actually could pull it off. She's more cunning that I expected for a human. She'd make a good vampire. You should consider turning her."

"Not likely."

"You didn't answer my question. Why did you attack me?"

"I told you. Sookie's ill, and we don't know why. You tricked her into a blood bond she didn't want, tantamount to rape, and undoing the bond could kill her. You endangered her. She's mine, Eric, and I had had enough. Dr. Ludwig was inside examining Sookie, trying to find a way to help her, and I wasn't about to let you interfere."

"So you found a way to break the blood bond I have with her."

"Yes."

"I didn't know that was possible. You surprise me, Bill."

"Well, you needn't worry. As it was explained to me, the bond is easily broken, but keeping the human alive afterward is not. There is a very real possibility that Sookie could die or be seriously maimed by the process. She won't be attempting it any time soon, if at all."

Leaning back in his chair, Eric began to replace the leather band. "That night Dr. Ludwig said you sent her out to help me. Why?"

"You're my sheriff. Frankly, I didn't need the trouble of having to explain things to the magister. Besides, once you were down and there was no longer an immediate danger to Sookie, there was no point. Even if I had been certain I could end you, Eric, I wouldn't have."

"That was a mistake. Had the situation been reversed, I would've had no such qualms."

"I know."

"You could have usurped my position as sheriff."

Bill sighed. "I don't want your position, Eric. I'm not interested in it, or any other office of authority, for that matter. I just want to be left in peace with Sookie. I'm aware that's not a vampire attitude, but there it is."

"You love her."

"I do."

Eric face showed his disgust. "And a human, no less. You should have rooted out that emotion a long time ago. It's a weakness."

"Perhaps. But it's one I'll keep. Besides, we both know that I'm stronger than I was before."

"Which brings us back to the beginning of this conversation. Why are you here, Bill?"

Bill reached into a pocket, pulled out the plastic bag containing the vial, and placed it on the desk in front of his sheriff.

Eric picked it up and turned it in his hands, examining it. "What's this?"

"Dr. Ludwig is trying to find out what's wrong with Sookie, and she needs a blood sample from any vampire who has given blood to her. She already has mine."

"Why should I do this?"

"The reason hasn't changed, Eric. Sookie's ill, and what ever it is, it's getting worse. If you ever hope to have a chance of making use of her telepathy, we have to find a way to help her."

"She's already refused."

"She may change her mind – the prerogative of a human woman, remember? But that won't happen if she dies."

"Dies? You're being a bit dramatic, aren't you, Bill?"

"You haven't seen her lately. When I said she was getting worse, I meant it. You went to a lot of trouble to establish a blood bond with her, Eric. Can you really not feel the pain she's in right now?"

"She has a headache. Humans don't die from a simple headache."

"Then either there's something wrong with your connection to her or, in spite of your greater age, my bond with her is stronger. You're obviously not feeling what I am. Come and see for yourself."

"I'm not going to drop everything to run to Bon Temps because a human has a headache."

Bill lifted an eyebrow in mild surprise that Eric didn't know where Sookie was. "You won't have to leave your precious bar. She's here, waiting outside."

...

Sookie watched Bill as he finished talking to Pam and walked through the door of the bar. She focused on her connection to him and noted there was no fear in him at all. She could feel his confidence and power, and it made her proud, not to mention a bit aroused, and she smiled to herself.

There was quite a crowd at Fangtasia, with a long line at the door and folks milling about in the parking lot. Pam had her hands full with fangbangers and tourists wanting to get inside, but there was no pushing or shoving. Sookie could see that Pam had her fangs out, and she was amused.

It's amazing how polite rednecks get around a vampire. Eric doesn't have to worry about exceeding the occupancy limit with Pam at the door.

Small groups of people began to congregate in the lot, smoking, talking, and generally entertaining themselves while waiting for space to open up in the bar. Some impromptu partying had started among the twenty-somethings; here and there a joint was lit up, but more often it was a six-pack of beer pulled from a trunk and the cans handed around. The aural noise from those loitering outside wasn't too bad, but the mental noise had started to increase. As the general consumption of alcohol rose, thoughts began to push their way past her defenses and she could feel her head begin to throb.

Sookie's problem wasn't so much with the nastiness of most folks' thoughts; she had pretty much gotten used to that over the years. She could usually muster enough energy to shut them out, or at least mute them enough to get through the day. It was the mental loudmouths – the ones she called broadcasters. Some folks' thoughts were just so loud that she really couldn't do much but endure them, and her best efforts to block the noise didn't do much more than tone them down a bit. She never understood why some thoughts were louder than others, but working at Sam's had given her plenty of experience. It was there that she had discovered that alcohol not only freed people's inhibitions, but it made the broadcasters harder to squelch than usual. She thought about Josh – usually he was pretty quiet, but after he'd had too much to drink he turned into a broadcaster. The night of her fugue he had been particularly unbearable, and it hadn't helped that she had been so tired to begin with.

The alcohol was flowing pretty freely in the Fangtasia lot. Patrons coming out of the bar were rather well-oiled as well, and while she waited for her vampire, the mental volume started gradually to ramp up.

Sookie tried to concentrate on Bill, but she wasn't able to connect with him over all the activity. She forced herself to relax and slow her breathing, trying to ignore everything but the movement of air in and out of her lungs.

The noise in her head increased, Sookie's stomach began to churn, and she felt nausea start to creep up on her. The lights from the bar and the parking lot were making her hurt and she closed her eyes, unbuckling her seatbelt and turning away from the passenger-side window and toward the darkness.

This was a mistake. I should have stayed home and trusted that Bill was capable of taking care of himself. Even if something does happen, I'd be useless to him right now...

There was a sudden surge of pain as two rowdy couples walked past Bill's car and toward the line at the door, and Sookie gasped, pulling her feet up onto the seat as the noise increased.

Oh, geeze, this is sure getting old...

Sookie turned sideways in the seat, her back against the door and her arms wrapped around her knees. She clenched her teeth, rested her head on her knees, and concentrated on her breathing for several minutes trying to keep the pain from getting any worse. She kept her eyes closed tightly to keep out the glare of the lights but, even so, tears began to seep from beneath her lashes. Notwithstanding her best efforts, her barriers came crashing down and she cried out in pain.

...

Bill and Eric were crossing the parking lot when they heard Sookie. Bill rushed to the car. Pulling open the door, he caught Sookie as she fell, turning her and repositioning her in the passenger seat. "Sookie?"

Eric arrived just behind Bill and leaned over him as he squatted next to Sookie, her face in his hands. He was taken aback by her appearance. She was conscious, but just barely. Her eyes appeared sunken and had dark circles beneath them. Her skin was ashen and clammy, and there was a sickly undertone to it. Her breathing was labored; when she opened her eyes and spoke Bill's name it came out in a hoarse whisper.

"I see what you mean."

Bill glanced up at Eric, then returned his attention to Sookie, buckling her in and shutting the door. "I have to get her out of here, Eric, away from all these people."

Eric bit into a finger and squeezed the blood into the sample vial. Capping it, he dropped the bloody container into the bag and shoved it into the pocket of Bills shirt. "I still don't feel anything from her other than a headache. A damaged telepath is no good to me. You'd better get her to Dr. Ludwig."

"I plan to. Thank you, Eric."

Eric grunted. "It's just a cease-fire, Compton."

As Bill opened the driver's door, he glanced over the roof. "Works for me."

Eric mulled over his conversation with Bill and the events of the evening as he watched the BMW pull out of the lot and speed away from Fangtasia.

...

Dr. Ludwig answered the banging on her door and was nearly knocked over by the vampire pushing his way in, carrying an exhausted Sookie in his arms.

"What the hell happened?" She turned away from the door and bellowed. "Joey! Get your ass out here."

Joey came running from the back of the house where Dr. Ludwig's small lab was located. "Is this her?"

"Close the door, Joe. You. Compton. Follow me and bring her with you."

With Sookie still in his arms, Bill followed Dr. Ludwig down a hallway into a small, sparsely furnished bedroom, where she directed him to put Sookie on the low bed. Joseph tagged along behind.

"I keep this room for patients. Tell me what happened." She pulled a stethoscope from her pocket and began to examine Sookie.

Bill withdrew the plastic bag from his shirt pocket. "I went to get a blood sample from Eric." Joey reached out and took it from Bill's hand and left. "It was Sookie's day off. She was worried and wanted to come along."

"Did she have a run-in with Northman?"

"No. She waited in the car. But the bar was crowded and there were a number of people waiting in the parking lot to get in. There were just too many minds – she couldn't keep her defenses up."

"Has this happened before?"

"Just once, but it was worse last time."

"Shit. What did you do that time?"

"Nothing. I didn't know what to do. I just stayed with her and kept her away from people until she recovered."

Dr. Ludwig finished with Sookie and then pulled Bill out into the hall, speaking to him quietly. "Right now I don't have any way to help her. So tell me the details. I want to know what happened last time, what you did, and why."

Bill ran his hand through his hair. "She'd had a hard day, the bar was almost empty, and one of the customers had been drinking. I was in back with her employer, and the drunk manhandled her. She just was overwhelmed. She was in some kind of fugue. Her body was there, but her mind had just shut down."

"So what did you do?"

"I took her home – rather to my home. I just didn't want her to be alone. She looked so fragile. I'd only seen her like that once before."

"This happened before?"

"Sort of. Her grandmother was murdered, and she discovered the body. It was horrible; very violent. I felt her from my house and, when I got to her, she didn't recognize me at first. Eventually touching got through to her. So, I tried that after the episode at the bar."

"Tell me exactly."

"Well, I fixed her a place outside behind the house..."

"Why outside?"

When Adele – that's her grandmother – died, Sookie had to get out of the house. I don't know if she just got claustrophobic suddenly, or if it was because the body was still in the kitchen, or all the people going through the house... Whatever the reason, she had to get outside to get some air. So I thought she might need that again."

Dr. Ludwig nodded. She could see that the episode had disturbed him. He still wore an expression of concern as he told her the story, and he probably wasn't even aware of it.

"I got her out back, got us both disrobed, and just sat holding her, rubbing her skin. I thought the contact might get through to her. She wasn't responding to anything else. She didn't seem to see anything. I didn't know if she could even hear me. She didn't speak. It took some hours, but she gradually came back to herself."

"Anything else?"

Bill paused. "We had sex afterward."

"Who initiated it?"

"Sookie did. Does that matter?"

"At this point, I don't know what is important and what isn't. It could be very important. She did say that her pain eased with sexual activity, but we don't know exactly why. You're instincts were good ones. You probably gave her exactly what she needed last time, so I want you to do it again."

She went back into the room with Bill. The light switch was equipped with a dimmer, and she turned it down low. She whispered so as not to wake Sookie, who had fallen asleep shortly after Bill had put her on the bed.

"This room is light-tight and you can stay as long as you need to. She's obviously in pain, and we already know pain meds won't help her worth a damn. She's photophobic and phonophobic – which is a fancy way of saying that light and noise make her hurt worse. The room is soundproof, so that will help keep the noise down. That door leads to a bathroom when she needs it. It's light-tight and soundproof as well. You can lock the door to this room from the inside. That phone is an intercom that goes directly to me. It's a hard line and not connected to anything outside, so it's private. Use it if you need me."

"Where will you be?"

"I'm going back to the lab with Joe to get going on that other blood sample you brought." She started to leave, then turned to scowl at him with her hand on the doorknob. "You're damned lucky I like you, vampire. Otherwise, you'd be paying me dearly for the aggravation you're causing me." She left in a snit, pulling the door closed behind her.

Bill locked the door then turned to Sookie, removing her clothing, folding it neatly and placing it on the single chair. He lifted her easily, pulling back the covers and tucking her in. He undressed himself, adding his clothes to Sookie's on the chair, then turned off the light and slipped into bed beside her. Bill turned her so that she rested on his shoulder. Wrapping his arms around her, he began to stroke her skin until sunrise when he fell asleep with her in his arms.

...

Dr. Ludwig shuffled into the lab where Joe was busy with Eric's blood. She sat down and rubbed at a knot in her neck, cursing the tall vampire under her breath for the kink she had gotten while looking up at him.

"Any luck, Joey?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry Maggie. I didn't hear you come in." He pushed up his goggles and removed his gloves, then walked over to where she was sitting and began massaging her neck.

"Oh, thanks, Joe. I really need that."

"Hey, can't have my favorite sister-in-law all knotted up."

"Favorite, huh? I'm your only sister-in-law, you idiot."

"Ergo, my de facto favorite." After a moment, he spoke again. "I gather he's the vampire, and she's the telepath."

"Yep. She went with him to collect that sample and couldn't keep her mind buttressed. Compton say's it's happened before, but much it was much worse last time."

"That's a good thing, isn't it? It's better this time?"

Not really. The last time she'd had a full day of work, was tired, and somebody actually assaulted her. This time she was almost as bad from just sitting in a car after a full day of rest. I wouldn't say that was better."

"He's not quite what I expected for a vampire. He seems almost...mild."

Dr. Ludwig snorted. "Don't let his manner fool you, Joey. He's a vamp all the same, and he's probably been killing people for years. Now with this venom thing, he's even more dangerous."

"But still, I've never seen a vampire show the least bit of concern for a human, especially not like this one did tonight." He was silent for a few moments as he finished working the spasm from her neck. "You know, Mags, this may not be the end of the changes in these two."

"Oh hell, that wouldn't surprise me one damned bit. Anything to aggravate me. Sometimes I think God pulls this shit on me just for His own amusement."