Chapter 24: Her

Eric had to give up everything. It was all or nothing. There were no other plans, no half measures, no changing minds. Eric was all in, come hell or high water.

Turns out, it was hell that waited for him behind the prison gates. They handcuffed Eric and put him in a tiny standing silver cage. It wasn't much bigger than 2 feet by two feet. His wrists dangled in the cuffs by his shoulders. He was alone in a small room with metal walls and no windows. This was after Burrell played a sick game of gladiator, and Eric lost count how many vampires he killed in the short hours he had been here after he surrendered to the LAVTF. The last person they made him fight was Pamela. They tried pitting them against each other because the Governor wanted Eric to feel the pain he felt for losing his own child.

"You made another progeny?" She asked him in a tone he never heard from her before. "That's what you wanted?!"

They must have told her what Eric did. He killed Willa Burrell and buried her in a shallow grave. To vampires, that could only mean one thing: he tried to turn her. But Eric was starting to suspect they tried to brainwash her hatred and anger further with this information. Eric had to remind Pam of who he was: he was her Maker. She was his only childe - and Lilith made sure of that, for better or for worse.

"No." He said. "The only progeny I've ever wanted was you."

They both stared at each other with large wooden stakes in their hands. The room was already half painted in red from his previous kills. Over the speakers, they encourage Pamela to take the first shot against him. He stood his ground, looking deeply into his child's eyes. I'm right here Pam. I'm here for you. The fact that he surrendered to the Governor and went after her was all Pam needed to understand the lengths he was willing to go for her. She was the only reason he had left to live for. Without her, Eric Northman was nothing. They didn't need a blood bond, he didn't need to command her to do anything. He chose her to be her progeny. Even if Willa were a vampire right now, it would never compare to what Pam meant to him. Pam was his childe and nothing could ever destroy that. Burrell wanted a show? Fine. So they gave him one. They killed three guards who hid behind fake wall panels instead.

The Governor was also a fucking fool who somehow got in bed with Steve fucking Newlin. How in the world was that prick still alive, he had no idea, but man it was getting old. Newlin was like a cockroach, he just wouldn't die. He just moved from one hidey-hole to another.

Eric lost track of how long he stood in that small cage. He knew the sun had already been up for at least a couple of hours. His body felt like lead. But they made him uncomfortable enough so he would not sleep. He had gone days without sleeping before, but not without feeding. He had to find a way out of this place once the sunsets. Finally, the door unlocked and a man wearing a long white lab coat came into the room, pushing a cart. The doctor laid out a syringe with a long needle and filled it with a dark amber liquid. Before Eric could ask where the man had planned to inject him with whatever that was, Burrell walked into the room skipping and hopping as if he had won the lottery.

"Mr. Northman!" Burrell laughed like a little kid in a candy store.

"I detect a tone," Eric commented sarcastically.

Burrell banged on the cage all around him, as if Eric were a zoo animal. It sure was starting to feel like it. "Oh, you are dead Mr. Northman,"

"For a millennium now, yeah."

He laughed louder. "Oh no! I'm talking about the true death you smart ass. But I'm not gonna give you the courtesy of a quick one, oh no! You are going to suffer a lot."

Eric laughed too, putting his face closer to the cage's wall. "Did you know that your daughter liked calling me daddy too?"

The smile quickly left his face and he almost threw himself at the cage, but the man caught himself before getting too close. Eric was going to break him down, sooner or later and it was going to be so worth it.

"You are the confident type of guy, aren't you Mr. Northman?" The man in the lab coat finally spoke. "Won't admit defeat. I suppose we're just gonna have to show it to you."

The man opened the door and two panels on wheels were brought in: One held Nora and the other…

"No!" Eric yelled, tugging his wrists off the handcuffs unsuccessfully.

The other prisoner was Lilith. She looked unphased and unimpressed at all this. Nora looked scared.

Burrell started to laugh again. "Vamp Steve Newlin has come in handy with all the intel! He knows everything. About your little sister Nora, and your little girlfriend Raven."

"That is not Raven you dumbfucks! That is not even a vampire! What kind of fucking MORONS ARE YOU?"

But the short bald man just kept on laughing at Eric's desperation. Burrell stuck his index in her mouth, raising her upper lip a tad, taking a peek at her fangs. Lilith snapped with a bite but Burrell pulled away just in time and he laughed. "She looks like a fanger to me!"

"What do you want?!"

"I want my daughter back!" Burrell yelled.

"Trust me, if she were still alive, she wouldn't be with you. She begged me to take her-"

"Fuck you!" He grabbed on the cell with his short little fingers. "I want you to feel the same immeasurable loss that I feel. I want you to know what it's like to lose a part of who you are!"

"I already know that pain, Governor," He said, as he glanced at Lilith who looked at him curiously and slightly frowned.

"Well, you are about to all over again. I was going to use the tall blonde, but the shrink seems to have a thing for her. So a sister and a lover will have to do it. Proceed, doctor."

The man in the lab coat took a jab at Nora's neck who hissed and screamed.

"No!" Eric yelled again. "What are you doing to her?!"

"A fatal dose of what we call Hepatitis V, or Hep V as we call it," the man then approached Lilith. "Our team is certain it can be acquired quite easily too. Ingestion, blood exchange, and the good ol' injection."

The man then shot the yellow liquid into Lilith's neck and she didn't even flinch.

"They are our first hosts! Congrats on being a part of history!"

The Governor pushed both of their platforms closer to Eric's cage. Nora was now standing right in front of him, and Lilith to his right.

"Enjoy the show," he told him with an evil smile.

Both humans left the room, locking the door behind them. It was just the three of them now. Nora cried, red blood dripping down her face and onto her grey prison jumpsuit. What had they done?!

"I love you, brother." She whispered.

"I love you too, sister." He told her.

"I'm so sorry," she wept, looking at Lilith and then back at him. "I couldn't find a way to kill her, the best I could do was to lure her into a fight where I knew LAVTF would find us. I figured since humans built a vampire fortress, maybe it would at least hold her."

That was why Nora never came back? How long had she been here?! And something told him that if Lilith wanted to escape this hellhole, she would have with a snap of a finger. God wouldn't just be tied down with some seatbelt material and just… Do nothing? He could not even imagine the torture his sister had to endure this entire time, just to try to keep a promise. Especially after Newlin exposed their relationship to the Governor. This was way more than he asked for her to do.

"I forgive you Nora," he told her. And he meant it.

Nora started to groan in pain. Eric saw dark veins creep up her neck. Whatever the doctor gave her was actually killing her. He looked at Lilith - she was unchanged.

"Help her," he asked her. "Please!" But the creature did not move. "Lilith! She is your child, do something!"

"I feel hot," Nora cried. "I can't breathe-"

"You are going to be okay," he told her. "Lilith, help her! Give her some of your blood."

"No!" Nora yelled. "I won't have her blood again! You know what it does to me!"

"You are going to die if you don't! Lilith, I know you have the power to blow this place up with a blink of an eye, now please fucking DO SOMETHING!"

But she didn't. She just looked at the two as if she were watching a movie and none of this was happening in real life. Nora was starting to lose consciousness.

"You really need me to say the words?" He asked the red-eyed lady. "I believe you are God, I believe you came back! But I am begging you! Please! At least free me so I can-"

"Eric, she can't," Nora whispered. She was on the verge of passing out. The dark veins covered her face. "Our restraints are made of silver and iron. Lilith's powers are cut off because she's in the body of a witch. Trust me, she isn't so nice when she's not ironbound." Nora raised her head so she could look at her brother one last time. It took her all the energy she had. "I'm glad that you are here at my true death. You will be alright, Eric."

"No, I won't. I lost too much, I can't- I can't lose anymore."

"I know, Eric. But not all is lost, you still have Pam. Let Pam be yours again, I know she wants to."

Sure Pam didn't try to kill him in the white room, and he proved to her he still cared about her. But the two still had a long way to go to fix their relationship. Eric couldn't help but feel like he let Nora down. She had gone to great lengths to protect him and he fell short. He didn't save his little sister after all, as Godric told him to.

"I promised you forever, Nora. I'm so sorry I failed you."

"No, I only wanted to live fully, not forever. And what an incredible life I've lived because of you, big brother-"

Nora closed her eyes and he watched her skin turn grey. Eric hung his head low, not bearing to look. But he still heard the noise her body made as it turned into goop, sliding down the metal frame she was tied to. He could see the red puddle on the floor creeping towards his feet. His sister was dead.

"Are you fucking happy?" He asked Lilith. "They are slaughtering us in this place and you don't even care. I guess you too took genocide as a hobby lately."

"Death is a small price to pay for greatness."

"Don't think Warlow would agree on that one," he told her, and she frowned at the mention of his name. "May he rest in pieces."

But she took a jab right back at him. "Same can be said for little Willa."

She knew.

"It was you, wasn't it?"

She smiled big, showing her fangs. "No more progenies for you, Eric Northman."

"You really fucked me, did you know that? She was our only shot at stopping this."

"You really think her daddy would have cared if she were one of you? He would have thrown her in here and thrown away the key."

"You don't know that,"

"Oh but I do," she insisted.

"So how could you not give a shit? You literally created us. We are your children too… Or whatever."

"Vampires? That was more of a… What do you people call it again? An oopsie? I saw Warlow… And I just needed to have him. He was the first creature I've met who was not created by my God… Or my ex. He was pure."

Eric couldn't help but burst in laughter. All of this: the Book of Vampyr, the sanguinistas, the whole purpose of the Authority… It was all based on a God who didn't give two shits about them at all. They were a byproduct of her own corruption. All of Nora's life was devoted to actual nothing. The irony of it… It was so painful it was actually hysterical.

"Ah, fuck…" he laughed, feeling his tears drip down his face. "If you only knew how many have died in your name…"

"In my name? No. They died because someone wrote a book and everyone decided to make it the unquestionable truth and absolute law. Just like humans do for their Gods. Even my witches do the same for Lucifer. I hope to rectify that someday. I want all my children, old and new to know their true Maker."

She rested her head back on the metal panel behind her. He could tell she was frustrated by the limitations of her new body. Which again, gave him the hope he needed. This was still Raven's body. She was still somewhere in there, he didn't know how he knew, but he did, just as he did when Sookie was missing. Eric felt a fire ignite within him. He was going to see her again. He was going to get her back.

The door unlocked again, and the guards came in. With multiple high tech guns pointed at him, they unlocked his cage and took him out, keeping his wrists cuffed together. Another human walked behind Lilith's panel, tilted it, and pushed it forward like a hand truck, wheeling her out of the room. Two guards poked Eric in the ribs, motioning him to follow Lilith down a long narrow hallway. They didn't cover his head with a hood this time. No, Burrell wanted him to watch. They passed a hallway with multiple windows that looked into research rooms. Willa was not exaggerating: vampires were being studied like lab rats. From fucking to fang extraction, to getting body parts cut off, to giant hamster wheels. In one room they zapped vampires with UV, silver, and acids and scientists just watched their flesh melt and heal again, completely ignoring their tears, pleas and agony. He moved as fast as he could, trying not to watch the torture but his body felt slow and heavy. The day time was affecting him. God, did they do any of this to Pam? To Nora?

Eric noticed security cameras everywhere. They were filming this insanity? Clearly the Governor didn't care if any of this got leaked. Maybe he didn't care because he knew there would be no real consequences. Humans would watch vampires get tortured and not lift a single finger. To them, vampires had no humanity, no rights, they weren't even living beings. He could still hear the screams from the research rooms from multiple rooms away. Humans didn't even treat animals this way. Did they really deserve this? Was Godric right all along?

Finally, they took them to a place he had been before: the white circular room. Eric walked in first, with his hands up and the guard uncuffed him. The other human wheeled in Lilith right behind him and parked her in the middle of the room. They then turned around and left the room, locking the heavy door behind them.

The room had bright fluorescent lighting that buzzed with an annoying high pitched frequency. It smelled strongly of bleach. Why did they bother mopping and cleaning the blood of vampires killed in this room, he did not know. He looked at the mirrored glass on the wall. He could hear heartbeats from the other side. He knew who was on the other side watching.

"Have you read Willa's autopsy report yet?" Eric asked calmly, approaching the window. "If you haven't, I can tell you what's on it."

"Listen here you dead fuck," his voice echoed in the speakers above. "I don't need you to me how you raped her-"

"Raped her? Oh no, Governor. Oh no, no. I would never do such a thing. Your Willa took after her mommy," he said with the biggest smirk, staring right into the mirrored glass pane on the wall. He was going to break the Governor, one mental image at a time.

After a moment of silence, Burrell spoke again. "Untie her."

Eric stiffened a bit. Trust me, she isn't so nice when she's not ironbound, Nora warned him.

"And if I don't?" He asked.

A moment later, four panels moved high above in the circular chamber. Automated tactical crossbows peaked out from each window. Eric scoffed and rolled his eyes. Millions of dollars wasted on studying vampires in a secret bunker and they haven't learned about vampire speed? "Really? You think I can't outrun your stupid little arrows?"

All four crossbows shot at once, but Eric was not the target. Faster than a reflex, Eric threw himself on top of Raven, and took three of the arrows: one on his left shoulder, one of his left thigh and the last one on his right bicep. The fourth arrow bounced off the top of the metal panel behind Raven, missing his face by an inch.

He could hear laughter and excited screams from the room behind the glass. "Like I said, untie her," Burrell repeated.

Eric pulled out the metal arrows off his body, avoiding the look Lilith was giving him. She had a dumb smile on her face.

"You know I wouldn't have died," she told him with a smirk.

"I wasn't saving you," Eric pulled the last arrow out, the one on his bicep. It had hit the bone, and bone injuries always stung like a bitch.

He looked at her metal restraints. There was no telling on what Lilith would do if he let her go. She would either nuke this entire place or disappear faster than he could say fuck. Or… He could kill her. Ripping the head off the body usually did the trick. Lilith could see him struggling to decide on what to do. He didn't know how, or why, but something told him to let her go. Raven took a vow, Lilith could do him no harm. Trying not to think how bad the worst-case scenario would be, his hands started to undo her restraints, starting at her chest. He stood uncomfortably close to her.

Lilith watched his hands work with curious eyes. "You are an enigma to me," she told him. He tried to ignore her, but she continued. "Her life got so much worse after you knocked on her door,"

"Be quiet," he ordered her, but she insisted.

"Since she's met you, Raven lost everything and everyone she's ever loved, " Lilith added.

Eric felt a pit in his throat, his fingers slightly trembled while undoing her restraints. The demon was right.

"Raven gives you your memories back, and what do you do? You betray her. She saves you again, she takes bullets for you, invites her into her house, and what do you do? Let her make a bad deal with vampires you don't trust. She saves you from them, gives you safe haven and refuge and what do you do?"

You kill her.

"Shut your fucking mouth!"

"A little faster Mr. Northman, I am a busy man, I got places to be." Burrell barked impatiently.

What the hell did the Governor have planned for now? Eric kneeled down to break her restraints around her thighs and legs. Burrell was going to make him kill her, wasn't he? Maybe this way she would shut the fuck up.

"But yet…" She added. "You are all she thinks about. You are all she wants. You are the only thing she misses,"

Eric froze in place before opening the last of her chains. Thinks? Wants? Misses? As in… Right now? He looked up at the woman he loved while still on his knees but Lilith paid him no attention. She just simply stepped out of the iron straps that held her, as if she were taking off slip shoes. Lilith turned her left index nail into a long dark claw and cut her right palm open. Red blood gushed from her small hand. Eric could smell its sweet scent from where he was. It was… Intoxicating. Lilith circled the room, walking next to the empty walls. She dragged her bloody finger lightly on the wall, leaving a trail of blood.

"Alright lovebirds, here's the deal: only one of you gets to live," Burrell spoke again. "And Mr. Northman, my money isn't on you, sorry. Newlin here tells me your little girlfriend is a bit pissed at you, and I'm afraid she's going to eat you like fucking cake."

Eric smirked and shook his head while getting up. "She won't."

You are all she thinks about. You are all she wants. You are the only thing she misses.

Raven was still alive. It all could easily be a trick, a dirty lie just so Eric wouldn't harm the vessel Lilith was in. In fact, it was painfully obvious the demon was using Raven's memories against him and just telling him what he wanted to hear. But what Lilith didn't know was she had just made the biggest mistake she could have ever made.

Lilith gave him hope.

Hope that Raven was still alive, she was still his, she could still love him… Hope was all he needed. The little voice in his voice who told him to hang on to her memory. He spent months trying to silence that voice. To numb it, and everything else along with it. But he could not bear to.

"Why not?" Burrell asked angrily.

"Because she's mine," Eric answered.

Eric watched Lilith closely. She was muttering words in Latin, and she was almost back to where she'd started. She was drawing a circle. He didn't know much about magic, but he did it heavily involved circles. Lilith was going to break them out of here, and when she did… He was going to polish that man's bald head and use it as a literal bowling ball.

The instant Lilith closed the blood circle, the glass window shattered in a million pieces. In fact, everything made out of glass had shattered in the observing room behind the panel. She had unleashed a destructive pulse from her blood circle, breaking every single window pane, lightbulb, and glass surfaces in the whole facility. In a flash, Lilith crawled in the room. Blood splattered everywhere, along with screams and gunshots. She moved like an animal, taking the humans apart limb by limb. She screeched like an owl, digging inside a guard's body like she had lost something in there.

Burrell is mine, Eric thought, jumping into the room quickly. The hallway door was opened, and through the carnage, he didn't find him. The Governor had escaped. Eric had to find Pam, and quickly. Suddenly the alarms sounded.

"Security breach, wing 6. All personnel, priority one. Security breach, wing 6. All personnel, priority one."

"Hey!" Eric called out to Lilith, who was busy eating a man's liver raw.

"This isn't the human you wanted, was it?" She asked while chewing the dark flesh with her mouth open.

"No," he said, a bit disgusted. "There's a lot more of where that came from, let's go."

Eric walked behind Lilith, who destroyed everything in her way. Bullets just stopped midair and dropped to the ground like pebbles. She threw bodies against the walls as if they were ragdolls, and redirected the wrist and arms of gunmen, making them shoot their fellow guards instead - all with her mind. Lilith tore an arm off a scientist and ate it like a turkey leg in a carnival. She looked like she was having fun almost. The ground crinkled with shattered glass. All the UV lights installed in the place had blown up too, thanks to Lilith. The place was dark, only lit by some emergency lights. They entered three different wings and Eric freed all vampires from their cells.

"Go forth and kill all the humans!" He ordered them.

The guards quickly lost control of the place. Yet, there was no sign of Pam or Tara. Eric looked at the clock and realized this plan was going to be short-lived: it was only 3:54 PM - the middle of the afternoon. They could gain control of this place, but they couldn't leave until sundown. That gave humans three whole hours to nuke this place remotely or activate some form of fail-safe.

He didn't want to go like this. Alone. He had to find Pam.

A loud howling scream echoed throughout the place, louder than any siren or shout. It was full of pain, terror and anger. Eric turned around just to find Lilith standing in the middle of cell room 4, amidst the chaos. She was bent over, hands on her stomach and throwing up black tar. The black substance quickly vanished away as dust, disappearing into the darkness.

She stood small, quiet. In the storm of gunshots, screams, vampires and humans turning into red splatters against the walls, she was silent. Her head turned, searching throughout the manic crowd. Somehow he knew she was looking for him. Their eyes locked across the room and he lost all breath.

Her eyes were blue.

It was her.

A.N.:

Did I - or did I not - tell you I knew what I was doing?

Sorry it took so long, it had to be THIS moment. Thanks to all who commented, telling me you missed her and wanted her back. I love that you love her too. I just wanted you to grieve with Eric. Feel that part of him missing.

To know the hows and whys, you'll have to wait until the next chapter.

xoxo