Author Note: This is the last chapter of Dead and Taken, but it's also the beginning of the chapter of my next story. I hope y'all will read the second part of the trilogy that I am planning to write in the next days.
My gratitude to Maria from Denmark (no, not that Mary ;)) who translated the conversation into Swedish at the end of this chapter. Tack så mycket, min vän.
And a huge kiss and hug for Net, for her support and encouragement. Ich liebe Dich!
Fifty-Two
Fifteen Years Later
"I think, I am looking at my first vampire," Grace Stones whispered. She stood beside the window, peeping through the Venetian blinds. "He's been standing under the street lamp since the sun down and he is very pale."
Grace Stones was one of the secretaries who worked for Leclreq's Law Firm Office. She had been working for Sookie for three years and she knew very well not to talk about vampires in front of her boss. She could consider herself lucky today because her boss didn't pay attention to her chattering so much. Sookie had a headache for the last three days and had difficulties to think, sleep or hear any loud noises. Every time she tried to close her eyes, she felt like somebody was hitting her head with a hammer. The worst was two days ago when she felt as if her head had became twice as big and twice as heavy. She had taken the painkillers that the doctor had given her, but they still didn't work.
Yesterday, the pain was gone. Like how it came, it went without reason. Instead, she started hearing noises inside her head. Not just noises, but it's like somebody moved around the tuning dial to find the right radio station.
She wondered if her telepathic abilities were returning.
For fifteen years, she had lived without her telepathic abilities, and she felt fine with it. At last, she didn't have to listen to all the nonsense that people had inside their heads. Of course she had to guess what the people thought, but at least she didn't have to hear the things, which should be kept secret or things she didn't want to hear.
This morning as she entered her office, she heard people talking so loud – all in once, that she almost screamed at them and asked them to be quiet, but changed her mind when she realized that none of them had actually opened their mouth.
Her telepathic power had returned, but strangely she didn't exactly welcome it. After fifteen years of living in silence, and certain that she had heard voice only when people opened their mouth, the return of her power was really not something that she could call a blessing.
"Don't talk nonsense, Grace," Sookie put the paper inside the folder. "You can find them in Bon Temps, but not here in Baton Rouge."
"See for yourself if you don't believe me," Grace said.
Of course, Sookie knew there were in fact some vampires in Baton Rouge. Not just ordinary vampires, but her majesty, Queen Sophie-Anne Leclreq, the Queen of Louisiana area; Bill Compton who worked for her majesty and from time to time worked as a singer in Fangtasia, the most visited vampire bar, which was run by Pam, who was also a vampire; and Godric, if he came from Dallas to visit Dušana-Aurora.
It had been a new world since the vampires came out from the Coffins. What Francesco Allevi had mentioned in the Bon Temps woods had come true. The vampires had finally revealed themselves to the world five years ago. It had not been easy for them since. Many countries refused to acknowledge their existence and hunted them down, but some western countries, like USA, accepted them.
The reason the vampires revealed their existence to the world was that they had perfected 'True Blood', a kind of chemical beverage that could replace human blood. Sookie didn't know what was inside 'True Blood', but people said, or at least the vampires in the advertisement said that it contained everything that the blood had: iron, protein, and electrolytes. It had the same colour, look and consistency of blood, but it didn't taste like blood. It was safe to be consumed by non-vampires. At least that was what they said.
Sookie herself chose to ignore them. She didn't want to have anything to do with vampires anymore, not after what happened to her and Eric in the Bon Temps woods.
Fifteen years had gone by, and not a single day she could forget Eric. How he had died in her arms, how Godric had coldly taken him away from her. He didn't allow her to see him for the last time, he hadn't even allowed her to bury him. Godric put Eric in his coffin, and then left Bon Temps with the coffin without a single word where he was headed
As Eric had promised, Sookie received half of Eric's assets: The house in the woods, the ground around it and money, a lot of it. Fangtasia and his house in New York were given to Pam. Sookie didn't know what Godric received, but it must have been the rest of the assets.
Sookie left Bon Temps soon after Godric. She wanted to leave Bon Temps for whatever reason. She simply could not stand to see things that reminded her of her days with Eric. Unfortunately, every part of Bon Temps reminded her of Eric: The woods, Statue Bill, the hospital, every single part of it. So when Queen Sophie-Anne asked her to work for her in Baton Rouge in one of her law offices, she agreed. The Queen asked her to choose any kind of job she wanted, she would grant it. Sookie chose to start working as in "Property Law" cases. She didn't want to take care of any divorce cases anymore. The Northman case was definitely enough for her.
Eric died, and so did Aude. Her first clients died in process. Legally speaking, it was not a good record for her career. Socially speaking, she missed them both deeply. She missed Aude's spirit and sparkling eyes and she missed Eric, every part of him, the good or the bad parts of him.
In the morning after Eric had broken the dagger, far in one of the luxurious rooms of Leclreq Wellness Centre, Aude passed away. Like two lovers who didn't want to go on living when the other died, Aude died as soon as the dagger broke. The doctor told Sookie on the next day that heart failure was the reason of her death; but somehow, Sookie believed, Aude knew that Eric had died and she had no more reason to go on living.
Eric should have been able to go on living if only he hadn't eaten the poisonous mushroom. No faery's blood or whatever blood could support his body, as soon as his intestine was damaged – that was if the information that Sookie got about boletus mushroom was correct. Since Godric hadn't allowed any doctor to perform any autopsy, Sookie had to accept that the information might be true.
God, what is he doing there? He looks at us again. Will he come in and suck us dry?
Grace's thoughts interrupted Sookie's own thoughts. She got up and went to her.
"There, under the lamp!" Grace's voice choked.
Sookie peeped through the Venetian blinds. She saw a man standing under the lamp, but it was not a vampire. It was Jason. Yes, he looked pale, but it was because last night was a full moon night. Since Jason had been bitten by one of Wilson's guards, he had became a werepanther. Every full moon, he changed into a panther and joined other weres roaming the Bon Temps woods. On the following day he always looked tired and pale.
"That's my brother," Sookie said. She left Grace, who was mumbling "How am I supposed to know?", and opened the door. She was relieved to know that there were not so many people on the street otherwise she wouldn't know how to pretend that everything was okay. Since he had become a werepanther, Jason's nose and sense were so sharp that he could tell if something was not right.
"Hi, Sis!" he said, hugging her.
"Everything's alright, Jason?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said. "Everything's fine." Don't know how to tell her…he thought. Have to…have to…
"Want to go in and have some coffee?" Sookie tried to block out Jason's thought. If Jason knew that she could listen to people's thoughts again – included his, he would be very angry to know that she was eaves dropping.
Jason touched his wavy hair. "Nah, thanks." He rubbed his mouth. "Listen, Sis. It's about Dušana-Aurora. She wants to see you. There's something that she wants to talk about."
"Now?"
"Yes, now. She said it's urgent."
Jason had befriended with Dušana-Aurora since she had settled down in States. In return, Dušana-Aurora helped Jason going through his transformation phase. It wasn't easy for Jason to understand what was happening to him. It took him more than one year to accept that he wasn't the way he used to be. He became quieter and seemed to forget or had no lust to chase skirt anymore. There were no "Sunday-morning-telephone calls" anymore; Sookie hadn't even seen him with a girl for quite awhile. Sookie even though Jason would have settled down when one of his girls got pregnant, but their relationship was over as soon as it began. His woman and child moved out from Bon Temps, and he seemed not to have any interests in following them.
Yes, Dušana-Aurora finally had her green card. The money that she had got from Eric, she used to open a restaurant, a Croatian-Russian restaurant in Baton Rouge. She had been married, had two children, and then got divorced after five years of marriage. Sookie didn't know what happened, but she believed it had something to do with Godric. She knew that Dušana-Aurora had to get married with a human because she had to have children to continue her family bloodline, but she also knew that Dušana-Aurora loved Godric, as Godric seemed to love her too. Maybe, her husband caught her and Godric in one of their sexy times. It must have hit her husband's pride heavily to see his wife in bed with such a young lover because the next thing Sookie knew, their divorce paper landed on her desk. The husband demanded that she represented him. His reason was Sookie was the only family friend he trusted for the moment, whom he believed would be able to tell the truth or face Dušana-Aurora. The husband demanded sole custody of their children. Then, something changed. The husband agreed to share the custody and they got their divorcement peacefully. Somehow, Sookie believed, Godric was behind the husband's sudden change of mind.
Jason drove Sookie's car without saying a word. In his head, as Sookie tried to read it, was also not clear. She saw images of trees, wolves, tigers, foxes, moon and blur faces. They moved their mouth but she couldn't understand what they were saying. Jason was trying to push away the memory of what he had done last night. From what Sookie could read, he had difficulties doing it.
Dušana-Aurora's house was behind her restaurant. Her restaurant itself was not that big, but always full. This evening was no different from any other evening. The chairs outside the restaurant were filled and there wasn't a spare seat inside.
Jason gave Sookie the key to Dušana-Aurora's house. "I will wait for you in the car."
What?
Jason left.
Sookie looked at the key on her hand. Should she enter the house or not? Hmh, if she didn't enter, she wouldn't know what Dušana-Aurora wanted. Well, what the heck! Sookie opened the door, but it'd better be important. She hated coming home late because of unimportant matters.
"Hallo, Sookie."
Sitting on the sofa was Godric. He looked as pale and young as before. Fifteen years had gone by and he hadn't aged a single day.
"Dušana-Aurora!" Sookie ignored him and yelled out Dušana-Aurora's name.
"She's not here," he said.
Then she had nothing to lose here. Sookie turned around and wanted to leave the house, but Godric was faster. He stood right in front of her, pushing the door strongly that it shook when it was closed. "If Jason had something to do with this, I'd kill him!" Sookie said.
"Your brother is a big help," he said. "He did it because I asked him to. You don't want to be angry with him."
"What do you want?" Sookie asked.
"To give you this," he handed her a small dark purple velvet bag. "You should visit Eric's house from time to time. It's a very beautiful house," he walked away. "It's a pity if you let it rot."
Sookie had never set her foot in that house anymore since she had left Bon Temps. "What is this?"
"It's the key to Eric's coffin," he said.
"What?"
"Eric's coffin is in his vault at his house," he smiled, and turned around as if he didn't want Sookie to see his face. "I did this for you, my child."
"How? By not letting me know where his coffin is?"
"For example. I want you to go on living by not knowing that he's been closed to you all along, to give you a chance to enjoy life as Eric would be. But I can see that he is irreplaceable. No other man can take his place, I presume?"
Sookie snorted. If Eric had been living, here and now, she would have not forgiven him for choosing Aude over her. Just because she didn't have lover now, it didn't mean that she couldn't forget Eric. She had taken some lovers after Eric, even though they didn't last long.
"Another thing that I want to tell you. Boris Davydov had passed away three days ago."
"What?!"
Boris Davydov was Dušana-Aurora's father. He was the one who had performed magic that had changed Eric into human.
"He had been sick for a while. Pity, he was such a great wizard. He could have lived forever if he wanted to."
"Not everybody wants to be like you, Godric." Sookie said.
"I know, Sookie. Even I don't want to live forever." He said. "There's something else that you must know. When Boris performed his magic on Eric, he attached his own life to him. The spell that he used, would bind Eric as long as he lived. It would bind Eric's wife, you and others, who shared Eric's blood, too. I could feel his passing and you could feel it too, couldn't you?"
Did it mean that her telepathic ability had returned on the day Davydov died? Sookie looked at Godric. "Had Eric known about this?"
"Davydov hadn't told anybody about it until a week ago. I don't know if Eric knew and I suppose it's a little late to ask him that."
"He is in his vault?"
"Yes, on the place where he loved the most. He asked me, if there was something that went wrong and he couldn't make it, I should put him there." Godric turned around. Sookie could see how pale his face became. Was he sad? Was he regretting something? With vampires, you could never tell. They were not exactly creatures with emotions. "You should have gone there from time to time. It's your house too, after all. And I am sure, James will like it too."
Sookie opened the door. "I will never take him there."
"Why? He has the right to know, don't you think?"
"You stay away from us, Godric. You hear me?"
Godric looked at her. His pale grey eyes looked sad. "I have been staying away from you, Sookie. Although I am dying to have contact with you, I respect your wishes. I know that you are angry with me and I know what I did to you was unfair, but I did what a father could do for his son. I have to protect him against any danger that may come. As you would do the same to your child."
"I will never take him there!" Sookie stormed out from the house. "Never!"
"He has the right to know, Sookie!"
*****
Sookie looked at the dark purple small velvet bag in her hand. It had been quite awhile since she had looked at it, but still, she couldn't make up her mind if she should do it or not.
"Cool!" A loud voice was heard from upstairs, and then a blond head popped up. "There's a swimming pool in this house. Awesome!"
"You like it, James?"
"Like it? This is cool!" Then he laughed. "I can't wait to see the faces of my friends when I tell them about it."
Sookie smiled. "So you agree to move in and leave Baton Rouge?"
He cringed. "Could we take this house to Baton Rouge?"
It had been a long discussion between her and James about moving out from Baton Rouge to Bon Temps. A week after she had received the key from Godric, Sookie decided to return to Bon Temps. She wanted to see Eric for the last time and then bury him like any other human being. It was not an easy decision, neither was it for James. His friends and life were in Baton Rouge, he had never known any other places. If James liked it, Sookie decided to settle down in Bon Temps and lived at the Northman Mansion.
"What do you think I am? A super woman?" Sookie laughed.
He ran down from the room upstairs and some treads before he reached the kitchen floor, he jumped. "Somebody gave us this house? Just like that?"
Sookie nodded.
"Is he your client or your boyfriend…?"
"You ask too many question, but no. He was neither." His wife was and I don't know if Eric ever considered me as his girl friend. Until his last breath, he was still in love with Aude.
"And he gave you this? You must have done something good!" he kissed Sookie's cheek. "When will we move in?"
Sookie touched his cheek. As soon as she finished the last business, saying goodbye to Eric, properly.
"Does Lafayette know about this house?"
Sookie nodded. Lafayette knew about this house, but like her, he also moved out from Bon Temps and settled down in Shreveport with Joseph. Life had not been kind to them. Especially after the Great Revelation. Joseph's grandfather had also made his organization – Fellowships of the Sun -public, and since then his family had disowned him, which he couldn't take easily. Living with Lafayette was already a sin for his family, let alone helping the vampires!
"This is so unfair! Everybody knows, except me! I bet Pam knows about this too!"
Sookie believed Pam was the one who kept this house in the same condition for the last fifteen years. As much as she didn't want to have any contact with any vampires, she couldn't stop Pam coming to her house. At first, she didn't invite her in, but when she saw how in distraught Pam was, she decided to let her into her life again. Pam loved Eric. It was not easy for her either, living without Eric.
"Aargh!" he screamed in joy. "Let see what this house has in the basement? Some secret altar for worshiping the devil?" Before Sookie could say anything, he opened the door.
Sookie followed him. "What do you know about the devil?" She had known one, once. His name was Daniel Wilson.
"Nothing like Pam, I hope. Because it would be too much fun hanging around with him!"
Sookie could imagine that. Pam could be very charming and entertaining when she wanted to. Just like Eric. God, she had to stop thinking about Eric.
"What is this?" He lifted a bottle. "Is this wine? It looks like a wine bottle."
Yes and no. Yes, it was a wine bottle. But no, the content was not wine. Sookie had a suspicion; it had been the early version of True Blood, before the doctors who worked for vampires perfected it; the only thing, which close to food that Eric ever touched, the thing that had made Eric to kiss her for the first time.
"I think it is an old version of True Blood." Sookie finally said.
"True Blood? Whose house is this?" he looked at her.
The owner of this house was lying down there in the basement, but Sookie didn't answer. Instead, she said, "You stay here. I have something to do in the basement."
"What? I want to see it too."
Sookie took two bottles of Eric's red wine. Eric always drank it, as soon as he……..this was nonsense. She put them back. Her hand was shaking. Eric would not need it anymore. He would not even wake up anymore. This was just a silly wishful thinking.
"Are you alright?" James held her hand. "I stay here, if you want to. Maybe if you finish whatever you want to finish it will make you feel good. I know I will."
Sookie smiled. You have grown up too fast, James.
"Go." He said. "Please?"
"Promise me you will stay here and not wander around?"
James nodded.
Sookie took a deep breath, and then took the bottles. Eric would not wake up again, she knew. It's just, Eric without his red wine would not be the same. "You stay here," Sookie said again and waited until James nodded before she walked to the basement.
Memories of the first time she entered the basement flashed in front of her eyes. How Eric had pressed her onto the wall and kissed her, biting her lips and sucking her blood, long before she had known that Eric was a vampire. How his fangs touched her neck, how he trembled trying to stop himself boring his fangs into her neck.
Sookie shivered. Ridiculous, this was ridiculous. How a memory could give a familiar feeling crawling on her back! A familiar feeling she felt every time Eric laid his hand on her skin.
Eric, Eric, Eric.
How could she forget him? Was he that irreplaceable?
Carefully Sookie went down to the basement. It was not much different from before, except somebody had installed a switch on the wall so that it was not dark anymore. The part, which had been the place for the coffin, was empty. The wall was kept clean from any moss or spider web, but there was nothing there.
Then Sookie saw the door in the wall, which was still the same as before. Nothing changed. The vampires treated this house as if Eric had still been here and alive.
Sookie touched the dove and turned it. Slowly the door opened. The second door showed the LSD green colour. She had to put in the numbers. The numbers, which she would not forget because they were burnt in her brain like a tattoo.
She put in the numbers. The metal slowly door opened.
The vault was pitch dark. The Lamp in the next room didn't help so much, since its light was not bright enough to light two rooms. Sookie had to put her hands on the wall and slowly touch every part of the wall until she could find a switch.
There were not so many things in the vault; in fact, there was only one thing in the room. Eric's coffin, which was made of dark brown wood, with some kind of engraving – Sookie didn't know what kind, but she believed it had something to do with Viking's stuff. Wrapped around the coffin was chain, seeing from its light, it must have made of silver.
Sookie put down the bottles and opened the bag. A small key made of silver gleamed under the lamp. Her hand was shaking. Should she open the chain and see Eric for the last time before she buried him in the ground? How he looked like? Would he look the same as before? Or would he look like any dead body, which was buried in the ground, no flesh on the bones anymore?
It was now or never. She had to decide.
Sookie held the key tight. God, help me.
She took a deep breath and walked forward. Trembling, she put the key in the lock. There was a clack, and it's opened. Nervously she removed the chain and threw it on the floor. She closed her eyes and opened the coffin.
Surprisingly, there was no rotten smell coming out from the coffin. It was more like a smell of pine cones.
Sookie opened her eyes. Her body was trembling as her eyes rested on the content of the coffin. Tears ran down on her cheek. Eric. Lying on his coffin…well preserved, except that his skin looked dry and dark brown, but Sookie still could see that it was Eric. He didn't lose neither flesh nor hair and. In fact, his body was still intact.
Sookie took the wine, hit the neck on the edge of the coffin, bent to Eric's face and whispered, "Goodbye, Eric." She was raising her head to leave the coffin when she heard,
"…Where are you?"
Bump! Sookie hit her head to the coffin and the bottle fell off her hand. "Aargh, James!" she said. Oh, shit. The red wine was all over Eric's face. Oh, shit…Sookie touched her head. Some blood was on her hand. Oh, great! Now, she was also injured.
Sookie moved away from the coffin. There must be a cloth or something to wipe off the red wine from Eric's face. She didn't want when she buried him in the ground that he went in with traces of wine on his face.
But before she managed to walk away, something grabbed her and pushed her to the wall. "Aaargh!" Sookie screamed. Then something very sharp bored into her neck. Sookie gasped. God, that pain…that feeling… "Eric…" Sookie tried to stop Eric from sucking her dried. "Eric…it's me…"
Then everything moved fast. Sookie heard somebody running, and the next thing she saw, James was pushing Eric onto the wall with a knife on his hand, aimed at Eric's heart. Eric was alive. Still looked dry, with his fangs bared and blood dropping from his mouth, but he was alive!
"Du skal inte röre min mamma eller jag spetsar ditt hjärta!" Sookie heard James speaking.
"Din mamma?" Eric's voice sounded hoarse, but it was his voice. Sookie would never forget it. She looked at him. Clearly he looked disappointed.
"Ja"
Eric looked at James, then again at her, then again at James. His blue eyes flickered. "Och du pratar mitt språk…"
"Jag pratar inte ditt språk, det är min fars."
"Din fars?" Eric's blue eyes met James', which were also as striking as his. "Vad är ditt namn?"
James turned around to see Sookie, as if he wanted to apologize to her, he smiled, and then he said. "Northman. James Frederic Northman." Strangely, his voice sounded very proud when he said it.
Eric sniffed. "Who taught you to speak your father's language?"
"Godric and Pamela."
A faint smile was on his lips, which like the rest of his body slowly regaining its colour. "And who told you that you are a Northman? Your mother…" there was a hint of anger in his voice. "…is a Stackhouse…" He looked at Sookie. His eyes were flashing dangerously. His fangs, which were covered with blood – her blood, looked very menacing.
James looked confused.
Sookie didn't know whether James was confused because a vampire knew a lot about him, or the question itself had made him confused.
He turned around to see her. "Mom?"
And as if the time had never passed, locked together with Eric in his coffin, Sookie opened her mouth, speaking almost the same sentence she heard long time ago, spoken by somebody else in one quiet evening.
"James, this is Eric Northman, your father."
*****
The Swedish conversation between Eric and James:
"Du skal inte röre min mamma eller jag spetsar ditt hjärta!" = "You shall not touch my mother or I will stake your heart!"
Din mamma = your mother
"Och du pratar mitt språk…" = "And you speak my language"
"Jag pratar inte ditt språk, det är min fars" = "I don't speak your language; it's my father's.
"Din fars? Vad är ditt namn?" = "Your father? What is your name?"
See y'all in the next story! Thanks for your kind supports!
