Author Note: Thank you very much to:
1. Aurora and qtgirl, for your brilliant ideas!
2. Aurora and Vic Vega, for your feed backs, correction, and most of all, your patience.
3. Elle, Ruth & Gundi
4. Steve & Vic
5. Pat & Stasha
6. All of you, who read the story and kindly gave me reviews.
Once again, thank you.
Fifty-One
The Last Confrontation
"What are you doing with him?!"
Both Sookie and Lafayette asked the same question, at the same time.
"He is not Wilson," answered Sookie.
"He changed his mind," answered Lafayette.
Again, at the same time.
"Ladies," said Terry. "Don't yell and calm down, please!"
Sookie looked at Terry. He was completely different from the Terry she had known for the last five years that she didn't know how to react to him anymore. "This is Francesco Allevi," she said. "Wilson's father."
"And he is Joseph Newlin," Lafayette pointed at Joseph. "Not Jose-Maria whatever-the-fuck-his-name-was."
"I know," Sookie said.
"You knew?!" Lafayette and Joseph asked her.
"Yes, I did." Sookie said. Wilson had told her, but she didn't want to repeat the same sentence again. It was more important to find out how they knew how to get there.
Lafayette told her the story how Joseph had led them through the woods, taken a big curve around the meadow; crossed a small swamp; almost been eaten alive by mosquitoes (not mentioning how that journey had completely ruined his Jimmy Choo shoes), jumped every now and then because of the frogs, been afraid of the possibility of meeting crocodiles, before they finally reached the back part of the house. "How did you get here?"
"Wilson took me here." Sookie looked at them one by one. Most of them were dirty and smelly – about the smell, she was not sure anymore if it was from the tunnel or from them. Then she realized, she didn't know who the fifth person was. Lafayette, Joseph, Terry, Andy and…"Who is he?"
"One of the Wilson people," Andy said. "We snapped him while we were looking for you."
"Guys, you found her, right." That man said. "Now, let me go. Please? No hard feeling, right?"
"Then you don't need him anymore," Francesco said. Before anybody could do or say anything, he was already behind that man and bore his fangs into that man's neck.
Terry and Andy turned around and aimed their guns at him.
"No!" Sookie screamed.
Francesco threw that man to the ground. His body was white. Francesco must have drained that man dried. He sniffed and blood dropped from his mouth.
The Bellefleurs, Lafayette and Joseph moved backward. They surrounded Francesco and tried to pull Sookie to their side.
Francesco looked deadly. His fangs were bared and he had a smile, which looked so sinister that Sookie's blood turned cold. Then he looked at his own wrists. Suddenly he let out a cry, so loud that all of them cringe. The wounds on his wrist were just like before. Nothing had changed. Francesco fell on his knees. "How could he do this to me?"
"He must have fed on people who are infected with Hepatitis D virus," said Joseph.
"What?" Sookie asked.
"The Fellowship's doctors have been doing some research for the last ten years and they found out that if vampires, werewolves and other bloodsuckers consume blood which contains Hepatitis D Virus or AIDs, they will get infected too and eventually die. You know, vampires and other bloodsuckers have a different metabolism than us, human. Their cells regenerate themselves when they are wounded – you can call it 'healing power' or any other name, but it's just like lizards or other animals which are able to regenerate themselves after they loose their tails or legs. Autotomy - as the doctors call it, somehow it's not functional when the bloodsuckers feed on people with Hepatitis D or HIV. There must be something in these diseases that cause their autotomy system to fail…"
"Did he always talk like this?" Sookie asked Lafayette. "I thought we had to hit his head with a hammer to make him beep a tune."
Lafayette lifted both his hand. "I have no fucking idea."
Francesco came closer to Joseph. The Bellefleurs raised their guns. "Are you telling me," Francesco said. "…that I will not be able to recover?"
"Yes."
Francesco turned around to Sookie and said, "We have to go. He drank my blood; I can sense him wherever he is."
"I am sorry, Francesco," Sookie said and she meant it. "I don't want to find Wilson. I want to find Eric."
Francesco was quiet for a moment, and then he said. "I will go with you."
"Good," Andy said. "The faster we are out of here, the better it is. If I have to be here a little longer, damn, I think I will be a vegetarian!"
They were walking away, when Francesco said. "There are other human somewhere back there. You all can go; I will go back there and look."
"No!" Sookie screamed. Jesus! How could she forget Arlene and Jason?!
"What is it, Hon?" asked Lafayette.
"Arlene and Jason are back there," Sookie said.
"What?!"
"Arlene and Jason are back there; and Jason is wounded. Somebody has to take them out of here."
"Andy and I will go," said Terry. Andy wanted to protest but when his small eyes met Francesco's face, he nodded hastily.
"Where are they?"
"Back there. You have to find the tunnel's part, which smells sweet. I think it's coming from roots of trees."
"How can you smell something sweet in this place?" asked Joseph. "Even Lafayette's perfume can't get rid off this smell, let alone trees! And you know how much he wears perfume. Sometimes I think I am in a perfume shop all the time."
"Well, thank you fucking much!" said Lafayette. "You never complained before."
"How could he?" Sookie looked at Joseph, amused. "He never talked before."
Joseph shrugged his shoulder, smiling.
"Cedar," said Francesco. "The sweet smell is coming from cedar trees. I have to think," he put his hand on his mouth. The light from the flashlight showed clearly the wounds around his wrist. Not like any normal wounds, it didn't bleed. It had black colour and when Sookie looked at it longer, she swore she could see the bone. The hair on her neck suddenly stood. If Wilson was capable of doing this to his own father, what would he do to Eric?
"The cedar trees are located on the South West direction from the house." Francesco said.
"This tunnel is on the North." Terry said, grabbing his pocket and taking out a compass. Wow, he was well prepared. He looked at the compass, and then said to Andy, "Let's go."
"Take care, guys." Andy said and followed Terry.
The fresh air welcomed Sookie as soon as they were out from the tunnel. The wetness and the coldness in the air told Sookie that they were approaching morning. Francesco felt the same too, but like a child who could walk for the first time in his life, he opened his arm and run, singing something in Italian.
Lafayette told Sookie from the beginning how they managed to find her and the reason why he trusted Joseph again. He also told her what had been going on at the front yard of the House of Marguerite Volant. All those screams, the screeching and clapping sound, and the last part, when an extremely bright light filled the sky above the Bon Temps Woods; all of them would be an experience he would never be able to forget.
"Did you see Tara?" Sookie asked.
Lafayette shook his head. "I don't know what's going on anymore. After that bright light, Joseph led us away from the battlefield. Honestly, Doll. I am kinda glad to be away from there."
Sookie looked at the house. It looked so menacing under the moonlight. She didn't know what had been happening on the front yard, she just hoped, whatever it was, it ended now. Wilson had run away from the tunnel, there must have been something going on that was more important than toying with her and her family. What could it be? Did Eric manage to escape? Or was had something happened to Tara? Hah, did that man still have something like feelings? Tara would be just another puppet of his, and she didn't believe for a single second that Wilson had any feeling for Tara.
"You know, when Godric and that Niall faced each other, I was so terrified that I almost pissed in my trousers." Lafayette said. "Can you imagine what would happen if vampires fought against faeries?"
Godric and Niall faced each other?! Was Godric not allowed to enter the woods? Had he sacrificed everything for Eric?
Francesco stopped running. "Godric? You said Godric was here?"
"Yes. Godric is here, Francesco."
Less than a blink of an eye, Francesco stood in front of Sookie, causing Lafayette to shriek. Joseph jumped because of it.
"Has it happened?" he asked. "Without me?!"
"What?"
"The Great Revelation."
"What?"
"The Kings and Queens agreed that we revealed ourselves to the world, something like come out of the coffins."
Lafayette snorted. "Come out? You, vampires? Want to come out? Baby, I can tell you, it took more than a century for us, gays, to come out and become parts of societies, and still some parts of the world do not accept us. And you, bloodsuckers want to come out of the coffins?!"
"As soon as they perfected the ingredients of the True Blood, we will come out. You can mark my words."
Sookie half expected that Francesco would say it with joy and excitement in his voice. On the contrary, he looked sad.
"True Blood?" Lafayette looked at him and then to Sookie. "True Blood? What the fuck is True Blood?"
Joseph came closer. "Do you think they already perfected it?"
"I don't know. You work for Eric, Sookie. Did he say anything about it?"
Sookie didn't know what True Blood was, and had not a single clue about what Francesco was talking about; but it seemed to her, Joseph knew a lot about it. When she wanted to ask about it, Joseph moved away from them and became quite afterwards.
Slowly they were farther away from the house and the battlefield. Sookie couldn't call it battlefield because it was too quite to be called as one. She heard from time to time some wolves howling, but that was just about it. She hoped that Godric ended it in a question of second so that there wouldn't be too many victims.
Francesco came to her and said that they had to walk a little bit faster if they wanted to be at wherever Sookie wanted to go, otherwise the sun would come out and it would be too late for everybody. Sookie decided to go to the place where Eric had been trapped in the summer 1950 and prayed that she didn't make a wrong decision.
Bill crawled on his knees. His body ached, his eyes were burnt and for a long long time, he could feel his bones again. Whatever had just happened, it must have been a very strong power that was able to summon the sun to rise in the middle of the night. It might not be the real sun, which just sent its light, but the result was deadly the same.
Slowly the blood was disappeared from his skin. He turned around and saw Pam was more and less in the same situation like him. Chow was worse. He was still lying on the ground, bleeding. Chow had to feed otherwise he would die. It looked like Pam thought the same thing because as soon as she could stand on her feet she left to catch a human companion and gave him to Chow, who grabbed him and bored his fangs into his neck.
Bill looked around to find Godric. Godric was sitting on the ground, holding Dušana-Aurora. He seemed not to be effected by the lights, but as he came closer, he could see that his skin was reddish, like what happened to human when they were under the sun too long. Dušana-Aurora, on the other hand, was unconscious. From her mouth, blood was running.
"I have to go," Godric said. His voice was growling. "She can't be here." Then he looked at Bill. "Sookie is your responsibility. Find her."
"Yes, Godric."
Godric got up; carrying Dušana-Aurora like carrying a piece of paper.
All of sudden, the werewolves surrounded Godric and Bill.
"Godric, what's happening?!" Alcide's voice was heard. "I can't stop myself from changing!"
From the distant, a man's voice was heard, spoken in a language that Bill vaguely was familiar with. The memory of his time as human flashed in front of him. That language was the daily language that was spoken by people of Bon Temps during the Civil War. The faces of his wife and children danced in front of him and without being able to stop himself, he felt disgusted about himself, being a vampire. He was made a vampire via trickery. He didn't want to be a vampire and never wanted to be. If only he could end his life now, he would do it. Yes, he would find a piece of wood and staked his heart through.
"My child," Godric's voice filled his ears and as easy as it came, all the images were disappeared. Bill stood there, shocked. In his hand was a piece of wood, aimed to his own heart. He looked around and saw Pam and Chow did the same.
"What happened?" Bill asked, feeling ashamed.
"You were all under a spell." Godric said. "And so are the werewolves."
The werewolves now surrounded them – Godric, Pam, Chow and he himself. By 'werewolves' it meant all of them: The Rogue and Alcide and his men. Their red and yellow eyes were flickering in the dark.
It was a showdown, either them or the werewolves.
Bill, Pam and Chow stood in front of Godric. Each of them was in high alert. Any small movement from any of werewolf would end up badly. Godric would not have any mercy to them, and Bill could only feel pity on them.
Suddenly, from the woods many lamps were coming towards them. It was much more lamps than when Niall had come to the rand of the woods. For a moment the woods was bright, and filled with soft voices. The faeries had decided to interfere and for a good reason because Godric had put down Dušana-Aurora on the ground and made himself ready for the fight.
The werewolves howled, but only for a while. Soon, they were also quiet.
The faeries stopped some paces away, and then they broke into two groups. Through the middle of the groups, two gleaming figures walked towards the circle of the werewolves. Like being touched by fire, the werewolves moved away to give space to the figures.
The figures were one woman and the other was a man. They were walking hand in hand. They were neither old nor young, but on their faces; years of experiences and knowledge clearly could be seen.
"Godric…"
Godric bowed a little, showing his acknowledgement of their presence.
The two figures and Godric looked at each other. No words were spoken, but Bill could see that they were actually talking to each other. Their eyes were staring at each other and nobody was blinking.
The field became very quiet. No other sound filled the meadow but the wind that blew among the trees. The wolves sat on their behind feet like children sitting at the schoolyard listening to their teachers. Nobody moved; nobody even shook his tail. Bill could see somebody was standing in the distant. Whoever he was, he must have been the one who cast the spell. That figure was slowly moving away and soon he was gone swallowed by the darkness.
Then Bill sensed Sookie. Her sweet smell was like carried by the wind, reached his fine nose and aroused him. This is not right, he thought. She belongs to Eric. He forced himself to concentrate. He must find her. She had to be somewhere around here. He felt her fear of losing Eric so strong that he could almost touch it.
Suddenly the werewolves were moving away from each other. It looked like that the spell that bond them together was broken. But before they were able to do anything at all, the male fae moved his hand, and as if they were put in cages, the werewolves couldn't move.
"Godric," the male fae said, "It's about the time to go, Friend of Faeries. Let the faith of your son and the son of Marguerite be decided by their own paths in the past, present and the future!"
Godric nodded. He walked backward, lifted Dušana-Aurora and ordered Pam and Chow to leave the place, leaving Bill alone.
Once again, the male fae moved his hand. The werewolves were freed from the invisible cages. They gathered to their original pack. Alcide transformed himself back to human form, and so the others.
"I do not mingle in any other business," said the male fae. "I know that between you there are matters that shall be solved. You are all welcome to the Bon Temps Woods, if you come in peace. Otherwise, leave and settle your matters somewhere else."
The werewolves and the rogues looked at each other, and then one by one left the spot until there was only Bill and Alcide. The Faeries moved slowly back to their world. Before they were completely gone, the male fae said to Alcide, "Son of Herveaux, be keen of those who you call friends. You can not always put your feet on two worlds."
Alcide looked at him and nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."
That male Fae nodded and then moved away, joining the rest of the faeries.
The field became dark and still. The moon was deep on the East. Soon, its pale light would be replaced by the bright yellow light of the sun. Bill knew, he had to go now, or he would never find Sookie.
"I come with you." Alcide said.
"For Sookie?"
"No. For Eric. He is my responsibility. I gave him my word, and I intend to keep it."
Bill nodded to acknowledge his respect towards Alcide. "Who was that fae, by the way?"
"I believe, Mr. Compton. We have just met the King of Faeries."
The sweet smell of over ripe apples was brought by the wind until to the distant far. Some bats, seduced by it, flew from their hiding places and had the apples tight under their claws.
Sookie stood under one of the trees and looked around. She didn't see any sign of steps or any other traces that somebody had ever been there.
"Where did you take him when you kidnapped him, Joseph?"
"I brought him to the house, and that's all I did. I swear!"
Eric was not here. Not in the hole where he had met Aude for the first time. Then it had to be in the caves. Eric had taken her there once, but how should they go down? The caves were under the cliff! For Eric it would be easy. He could fly!
Then Sookie realized something. Tara had told her about the strange organization, in which Joseph's grandfather was one of the founders. Eric had told her that in 1950, he had been taken out from his cave whilst he was sleeping. If Wilson and Joseph had met in 1950, Joseph's grandfather could be the one, who took Eric from the cave out. He must have known the way to go there! "Joseph, did your grandfather ever tell you about caves in the woods?"
"Caves?" Joseph scratched his head. "I am not sure…moment…"
"I know where the cave is," said Francesco. "I'll show you. Eric used to take me there, on my early days as a vampire."
"But he said that he had never taken any woman there…"
Francesco turned around. He looked amused. "Am I a woman to you? And who are you?" then he laughed. "Oh, Eric…"
"What?!" Sookie blushed.
"Oh, nothing." Francesco said and walked away. "Nothing," But he continued laughing.
"Weirdo," Lafayette whispered. "He's so fucking loud. The whole Bon Temps could hear him!"
Sookie ran after Francesco, ignoring Lafayette. It seemed Francesco knew a lot about Eric. If Eric showed him his hiding place, they must have been very closed with each other, in life and in death – or in undeath.
"I heard that you didn't want to be a vampire," Sookie said.
"Si," he said. His voice was low when he said. "Somebody made me. I was dying when he did that. He admired my works, he said. He still does. He promised to let me go if I came to him whenever he wanted me to build a house for him."
"Did he?"
"Yes, he did. I was free to go whenever I wanted. I still am. People thought I was his lover; yes I am, in question of buildings. He has somebody else in his bed and he is loyal to his lover. I heard they have been together for more than 600 years! Mamma mia! Six hundreds years! If my building lasted that long, I would be the happiest man in the world!"
Sookie smiled. Francesco was an architect, through and through!
"Are you angry with Eric, for not turning you into vampire?"
For a while, he didn't answer, and then he said, with face looking at the darkness. "No. I enjoy debating and arguing with him. If I was his child, I would not be able to do that." He smiled. "He would not like either, having somebody beside him who agrees to whatever he says."
"So you do love him."
"Yes. How can you not love him? Ah, don't answer that question." He smiled again. "Don't answer that question, Signorina. I could see the answer in your eyes already and what a beautiful one!" He took her hand and kissed it. Then, he continued walking.
Sookie felt her cheek hot. Are Italian men as romantic as this one?
"Typical hetero!" said Lafayette.
"And a slimy one," Joseph continued.
"What about an Italian one?" Sookie grinned.
"Oh, for fuck's sake! Women!" Joseph walked in front of them.
"Yeah, as if you knew one!" Sookie followed him.
"Hey!" Lafayette stopped her. "Glad to see you smiling again, Hon," he said.
Sookie looked at him. Lafayette looked worried. "But?"
"We know how Wilson is. I just think, you maybe should prepare yourself for the worst possibility," he said. "You know, just in case…"
Automatically, Sookie touched the dagger. She still had it. Eric and Aude were still bonded, and Eric had her blood in him. It was strong enough to keep him alive. It had to be!
"Girls, you have to be a little bit faster, otherwise Francesco is gone!" Joseph's voice was far in the front.
Sookie and Lafayette ran to catch him. Sookie wished Lafayette had never said about Wilson. Now, she could only think about him and what he might have done to Eric.
Sookie couldn't count how many times she had stumbled upon the trees' roots that crawled on the road. Her feet were painful, her back was felt like it had been broken and she was soaking wet from the sweat. Where was Francesco taking them?! She knew or thought she knew where the caves were. Eric had taken her there. Then again, he had taken her there with his car, or was it the fact that she had been with him that made everything to seem lighter?
Francesco had stopped, so had Joseph.
"Damn shoes!" Lafayette leaned on a tree. "Damn shoes!"
Sookie looked at his shoes. They were covered with mud, but she had to admit that they had excellent quality. They were still intact. Even the flower, which was on them, was still there. But they were definitely on the wrong place.
"Jose-Maria, I mean Joseph, wanted to take me to dinner and I wanted to make it up with him, so I chose my best shoes and best clothes." Lafayette tried to catch his breath. "I never thought that we would join a cross-country running competition instead!"
"You stay here," Sookie said.
"No need to ask, Hon. No need to ask."
Sookie walked toward them, but some paces before she got near them, Joseph turned around and walked toward her. "You'd better stay here and let Francesco deal with it."
"What?"
Joseph didn't answer.
"What?!" Sookie became worried and tried to free herself from Joseph. "What?! Joseph…"
"Trust me, Sookie. You don't want to see."
"What?!" Sookie pushed him aside, but Joseph didn't budge. "If it's Eric, I have to see, Joseph. Please..."
Joseph looked as if he was considering. Sookie took that chance to push him again, this time she did it with all the power she had. It worked. Joseph moved backward; and Sookie ran away from him. "Sookie!" she heard him calling out her name, but Sookie ignored him.
Francesco caught her hand as Sookie was near him. Sookie felt her heart stop beating. Her mouth was open and her eyes were hot, but no tears ran down on her cheek.
Under the branch of a tree, some feet away from her was Eric, hanged upside down, like a pig in a butcher's shop. His body was red from blood that ran down like rain; his long blond hair touched the soil under him, which was wet and red from the blood. Around that tree were torches, burning and dancing in the wind. Their black smoke rose up to the sky, touching the leaves and leaving their colour before finally disappeared in the darkness.
Beside that hanging body was Wilson, holding a silver spear. It could be a covered silver wooden spear, or a silver spear, but whatever it was, it looked dangerous. He pointed that spear at Eric, aiming it at his heart.
"Sooner or later, he will be a vampire again, Sookie." He said. "If you move one step, this spear will end up in his heart."
Maybe it was hearing her name, or maybe it was the recognition of danger that forced Eric to move, but he moved. He managed to turn his head around and faced Sookie. His blue eyes shone through his blood covered face. His mouth moved, but Sookie couldn't hear what he was saying.
Francesco was going to go him, but he stopped it immediately when Wilson said something in Italian.
"What did he say?" Sookie asked.
"If I move, he will stake Eric too."
"I always know that you love him more than you loved my mother or me," Wilson said. He looked furious. "You don't even blame him for her death. Any man would avenge the death of his beloved woman, but not you, because you love him more than any thing; even me, your own flesh and blood!"
"Because he was not the one who killed your mother!" Francesco said. "It was the stupidity, the intolerance and the ignorance of Bon Temps' people that killed your mother and other innocent people, who lived and practised their beliefs. It was some local politicians' greediness and hunger of power, your mother's pride and stubbornness and the majority's lack of knowledge, which killed your mother. Eric and his kind were merely a symbol of what they feared the most: The values and the beliefs that they held so dearly could be wrong!
But you never listen to me. You blame the wrong person!"
"Oh, no, Papa. I am right all along. You and he deserve each other." With that sentence, he stroke his spear to Eric's heart. at the same time, he moved his hand to thrust his spear, a shadow moved very fast, grabbed him and threw him on the ground. The next thing Sookie saw was Bill pinned Wilson onto the ground with his knee. However, instead of screaming or shrieking or did anything else that showed to everybody that he was terrified, Wilson laughed, mockingly. He spat on Bill's face. "You think that you will win against me? Didn't you taste my power yet? I could make you take out that stake and thrust it against your own heart if I wanted to and you wouldn't be able to refuse it."
"Why don't you try it?" Bill said. His voice was cold and threatening.
"And missed to see my father's reaction to see his lover dying?"
Shockingly, all of them looked at Eric. Sookie felt her feet weak and unable to support her weight anymore. Wilson, on the very last moment, managed to thrust the spears through Eric's body. Now Eric was hanging there and still.
"Sookie," Lafayette caught her just in time. "Honey…"
A big wolf jumped from behind and soon shifted its shape to Alcide. Swiftly he put down Eric and wanted to take out the spear, but he lifted his hands as if he touched something hot. Hissed sound came out from his mouth. His hands were burnt. It looked like; he was also unable to touch silver. Nevertheless, he did it. Carefully he took out the spear and threw it away. Blood sprayed out from the wound like water breaking through the dam.
Sookie ran to Eric; at first, Lafayette tried to stop her, but then he let her go.
"Eric, my dear…"
"Sookie…" his mouth moved. "Wait for me…"
"I'll wait, Eric." Tears ran down on her cheek. "I'll wait…"
The sky above the woods was slowly getting brighter. The moon was paler and the stars were disappeared already. Only one bright star could still be seen: planet Venus, the planet of love, people said; or a lump of boiling stone somewhere at the sky, as the astronomers would call it.
Bill looked at the sky.
"Yes, Vampire," Wilson said. "The sun is rising. Nobody can save Eric Northman anymore, especially not you." Then he laughed.
"Go to the cave!" Francesco said. "We have to go to the cave." He came to Sookie. "Let me carry him," he said. "His body is too dangerous for any vampires or weres."
Helped by Lafayette, Sookie stood up.
"Frederico," Francesco smiled at Eric. "You always manage to get yourself into troubles."
"Cecco," Eric moved his lips. "Cecco…"
"And I always have to come to save you," Francesco lifted Eric. "Even this time. What would you do if I am not around anymore?"
"I'll find myself a woman to keep me company," Eric answered weakly.
Francesco laughed. "How many would it be, by now?"
There was no answer from Eric, but somehow Sookie knew the answer already. Eric would only smirk, like always.
The road to the cave proved to be perilous; it was narrow and winding and had collapsed in places. On the left side was the ground that went sloped; on it were roots, crawled like big hands tried to grab any stones or living things that passed through it. On the right side was darkness. Sookie believed it was an abyss, went deep into the earth. Whoever fell into it would not have a chance to return.
Sookie had to press herself to the sidewall and watched where she was going. Now and then, the sound of stones fell into the abyss was heard. She must have kicked some stones along the way. Francesco on the other hand, walked as if he had no burden on his shoulder, dangled in front of her like a little boy. Behind her was Bill, dragging Wilson. Alcide, Lafayette and Joseph decided to stay above, to guard. Lafayette had kissed her forehead before she left. He didn't say anything, but his big eyes were filled with tears. He was worried about her; he just didn't want to admit it.
The cave was wet and dark and there was a sound of water dropping somewhere inside. It was not much better than the tunnel, but at least there was no rotten smell.
Francesco led them going deeper inside. It was pitch black. Sookie couldn't see anything, not even her own nose. The ground under her feet was dry, and the sound of the dropping water was louder. How Francesco could see in this darkness was a mystery to her, but then, as a vampire, he must get used to this kind of darkness.
"You call this living, Papa?" Wilson's voice was echoing. "You can't even see the sun that you loved so much!"
"Shut the fuck up!" Sookie said. "Just shut the fuck up!"
Suddenly there was a sound of a match being lighted. Soon after, the cave was filled with light from a torch.
"I know there are some match boxes somewhere!" Francesco said. "Some habits die hard, eh Federico?"
Sookie looked at Eric, who lay on the ground, bleeding. Sookie sat down beside him.
"Sookie…"
"Yes, Eric…"
"Sookie…"
"Yes, Eric…" tears ran down on her cheek. Eric couldn't hear or see her anymore.
Francesco sat beside Sookie, looking at Eric. "I don't know how long he will hold on. If you have anything to say to him, say it now. He's not yet passing, but the longer you wait, the smaller your chance will be."
He's not yet passing…? Eric is dying…?
Suddenly Eric screamed, blood came out from his mouth. It was dark and smelt rotten. His body was shaken for a while before he was lying still.
"Eric…" Sookie shook his body. "Don't do this to me, Eric. Don't you dare doing this to me! You promised me to tell me about your dream! Which one of us you chose, Eric: Aude or me? You promised to break the dagger before it's all over. Damn it, Eric! Keep one of your promises!"
"What dagger?" Wilson asked, almost screaming. "What dagger?!"
Slowly Eric opened his eyes. "Women…they will be the death of me…"
"What dagger?!"
"Eric," she wiped off her tears. "Break the dagger, Eric." She unsheathed the dagger and put it in his hand. "Break it, my love."
"No!" Wilson pushed Bill aside and wanted to dive to take the dagger, but Francesco was faster. He caught him and twisted his hands behind his back; and dragged him away from Eric.
"No!!" Wilson screamed like a mad man. "No, Papa! No!"
Bill came to Sookie. "Forgive me, Sookie," he said. "The sun is rising; I can feel it in my body. I want to accompany you until the end, but I have to go to sleep."
Sookie touched Bill's hand. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it, Ma'am," he said. Then he went further inside the cave, looking for the darkest place and lay himself down.
Eric held the dagger on his chest. "Aude…" he said. "I…chose…Aude…"
Sookie could not help, but cry. She felt something very painful, but it had nothing to do with her feet or her back. Eric chose Aude, she knew it; but why did it still hurt when she heard Eric admitting it?
"…you.. .woke…me…up….come back...you," he turned the top of the dagger and gave it to Sookie. "come...you…" he turned the other part.
"Let me go, Papa! Let me go! No, Papa! No!"
Sookie heard Wilson screaming very loud. She didn't know what Francesco was doing, but it must have been something very painful for Wilson.
Crack! The dagger was separated into two.
The sunlight slowly reached the cave, brightened its walls and brought fresh air along with it. In front of the cave mouth, Francesco Allevi was standing. His hands were holding Daniel Wilson, who was kicking and shouting, tried to get free from him. As the sun touched his skin, slowly it fell off.
"No, Papa!! No!!"
That was the last words Sookie ever heard being spoken by Daniel Wilson because as Francesco's body was dissolving, Daniel Wilson's body suffered from the burning also. His long years of drinking Francesco's blood had made his body sensitive against direct sunlight and in some points reacted the way the vampires reacted to the sun. When the sun gave its full light, in front of the cavemouth, two mounds of red lump could be seen.
"It's over, Eric," Sookie said, looking at Eric. "Everything will be fine."
But Eric didn't move anymore. His hands had fallen on each side of his body, each of them holding the part of the vampire's dagger of marriage.
"Eric?" Sookie shook his body. "Eric?"
But there was no answer from Eric, neither would there be. In the cave, deep inside Bon Temps Wood, he had left her. Alone and broken hearted.
***********
