Sorry to leave you guys hanging there, especially for so long… I had really bad writers block about certain things I wanted to do… Think I've got them figured out. Please read and review. Reviews = love and my appreciation.
Shout outs to everyone who's stayed with me this far, and to those who are new, glad to have you on board! Enjoy!
…
"Jessica, as your maker, I command you to unhand that man!" Bill shouted, while huffing furiously and fangs blazing, to a surprised Jessica. 'How did he know I was here?' She thought as confusion, disappointment and anger all crossed her face. She had no choice but to let go of her shaken father and back away. Jordan Hamby didn't move a muscle though. In fact, he remained splayed against the wall like a bug stuck on fly paper, shock and fear still written all over his face. He couldn't get over how strong and fearless his daughter had become. He was used to being the one in control; to be the one dominating, not the one being dominated. He didn't care for this reversal of fortune, not for one minute. However, he didn't know if Jessica would come at him again or if the vampire at the door would attack. He, like most humans, didn't know about the fact that vampires could not enter a house without an invitation, or that the invitation could be rescinded.
Turning his attention and anger towards his beloved, Bill yelled, "Sookie, get back into the car… NOW!" As much as he wanted to control himself, he could not cover the murderous look in his eyes or venom in his voice; both of which she had never seen before, at least not directed at her. It shocked and terrified her as it shamed and mortified him. They both recognized this was not the man she knew and loved, or the man he was striving to be. However, this was exactly the kind of situation that he was trying to avoid with his progeny, and it was Sookie who brought her right into it. Cleaning this up could be an absolute bitch. Plus, the AVL had been cracking down extra hard on vampires who created human/vampire debacles, as this could easily turn into.
Setting aside her distress, Sookie quickly replaced it with her own anger as she yelled back, "No Bill! I will not get back into the car! We all have to deal with this situation here. You don't understand what's gone on here." Knowing the Hamby's were probably even more terrified at the scene unfolding before them, she thought they could use someone with some vampire experience. And besides, she wasn't about to get out of the safety of that house just yet. She may love and trust Bill, even though he was livid as all get-out, but still, she was no fool.
Sookie disobeying his order just fueled Bill's rage, "You will get back into that car NOW! Haven't you done enough damage for one night? Just look at the mess I'm going to have to clean up because of your arrogance and stupidity."
Sookie quickly sat down in the pretty floral chair that was positioned behind her, crossed her arms and legs and thanked her lucky stars that he could not enter the house just yet. Gran had taught her many things, one of which was never let anyone, and especially not a man, think they can walk all over you and talk down to you. "Now just who the hell do you think you are talking to me like that? You think you're such an Einstein; an authority on stupidity… you don't even know what's going on here you big jerk! Why don't you figure that out before you jump to the wrong conclusions you egotistical ass!"
Shockingly though, it was Mrs. Hamby who spoke next. No one had noticed as she had walked slowly and unobtrusively towards the furious vampire at the door, with a quiet resolve.
"You are my daughter's 'maker'? Does that mean you are the one who did this to her?" Mrs. Hamby asked nervously.
Bill's attention quickly shifted to the gentle looking woman with red hair and blue eyes… just like Jessica's; her mother. He didn't know until this moment that he was at Jessica's human family's house. The softness and sadness of Mrs. Hamby's voice when she asked Bill those questions touched something within him that caused him to immediately lose the anger that had boiled inside him. His huffing and puffing ceased and he stilled, almost unnervingly so.
After the calmness washed over him, a feeling of shame quickly took its place as he had to admit the obvious truth to Jessica's family. So with dismay, Bill finally responded, without being able to look Mrs. Hamby in the eyes, "Yes, I am the one who made her vampire." Sookie looked on thinking she had never seen Bill look so human, and vulnerable, as he did in that instant. Her own anger subsided a bit in witnessing the humbling moment. She knew that her own feelings of guilt over her part in Jessica's turning could not even begin to compare to what Bill must have felt over the whole ordeal.
Mrs. Hamby nodded slightly to herself as she absorbed that information before asking her next question. "And are you taking care of her; good care of her?"
Bill was thrown off by the odd question. He finally brought his eyes to meet hers as he cleared his throat and responded, "Ummm, yes… I take care of her. I house her, make sure she feeds… True Blood of course, make sure she's clothed… I suppose that's what you mean, right?"
"Yes… and no." Mrs. Hamby replied and continued, "Do you beat her? Do you yell at her and call her horrible things? Do you make her feel like she is worth less than nothing? Do you try to take away all that makes her happy?"
"No." Bill replied repulsed, his eyes narrowed and his upper body moved slightly backwards in response to her disgusting suggestions of how he treated Jessica. "I would never do those things to her. I promise you that I will always treat her as my own daughter. It may not seem like much to you right now, but you have my word that I would never harm your daughter."
"Momma, it's true. I've been a complete bitch to him at times, and he's never been anything but patient, or at least really tried to be. And he's certainly never laid a hand or anything else to me. It may be hard to believe since he came here guns blazing, but it's the Gods-honest truth." Jessica added, giving Bill a look of thanks for putting up with her bullshit.
"Well, Mister… What is your name?" Mrs. Hamby asked.
"Compton, Bill Compton." Bill replied.
"Well, Mr. Compton, you have already far surpassed her real father by leaps and bounds then." Mrs. Hamby said to a very confused Bill.
"You bitch! How can you even attempt to compare me to this disgusting creature of the devil? I am her father and a damn good one! I'm the only one who tried to steer her onto the path of righteousness! You're nothing but an insipid little whore! You are a weak spineless servant of all that is unholy! You never understood and with your little itty bitty brain and you never will!" Jordan preached with spite to his wife.
"Jordan, you're absolutely right. I never did understand your need to hurt everyone who ever loved you all the while saying it was God's will. I would never want to understand because it's just madness. God would never 'will' the things you've done, at least not the God the rest of us know. You've been a horrible father and husband at that. Jessica was exactly right when she said that you brought evil into this house. You are the monster here; not Jessica, nor the man standing outside our door. He was able to turn off his anger. We all just witnessed it. You, on the other hand, have never been able to turn off yours, and we've all paid the price for it. "Mrs. Hamby said quietly, but with conviction. She then turned to her younger daughter and said, "Eden honey, please go back to your room and close the door sweetie, okay."
This was the first time Bill had taken a good look at the petrified skinny little girl dressed in a long pink princess nightgown with a peter pan collar, who looked so innocent, and so much like a younger version of Jessica. She had been standing perfectly quiet and still behind a blue and yellow striped wing chair in the living room. She was so still that you could almost confuse her for a statue. She was no doubt frozen in place by her fear and lack of understanding of what was going on in front of her. Now faced with the demand to leave her Momma alone with all this craziness; she ran over to her mother and said with tears falling down her face, "No Momma, I can't leave you here by yourself. " She was scared for her Momma; scared of what her father might do; scared her sister might disappear again; she was just scared… but strangely enough, she wasn't scared that her sister was a vampire nor was she scared of the vampire outside her door. She'd seen true evil before in the face of her own father. Every other type of evil paled by comparison in her eyes.
Mrs. Hamby knew she needed to keep herself pulled together or her younger daughter would not go. She didn't want Eden to witness any more of this scene, especially not knowing how it would play out. She'd seen so much in her barely eleven years already; things that no child should ever see. So, Mrs. Hamby took a deep calming breath and exhaled through her mouth, which helped her immensely. Next she took her daughter's cheeks in her hands gently and placed a soft kiss on her forehead and said sweetly and with much love to her daughter, "Honey, everything's going to be okay, I promise. Now, please listen to your Momma and go to your room."
"Momma, you promise you'll be okay?" Eden asked timidly, trying to snuffle out her tears and appear more mature than her age would otherwise suggest.
"Yes, I promise. Now, please go." Mrs. Hamby said again with love, but this time with more authority.
"Okay Momma. I love you. I love you too, Jessica. I missed you so much. I didn't go through your things or nothing while you were gone neither. It's all just like you left it." Eden said as she turned to walk out of the room. It didn't go unnoticed that she said nothing to or about her father.
Jessica ran up to her sister before she left the room, gave her a hug so hard that it almost hurt, and said, "I love you and missed you too squirt. Don't forget that." And then with a little chuckle she said, "Now why couldn't you leave my stuff alone when I was here?"
"Because you always looked so pretty and grown up. I wanted to be just like you." Eden replied back with an admiring smile. Jessica seemed even more beautiful to her now that she was a vampire. She was flawless and powerful.
Jessica gave her sister a small kiss and said, "Oh Eden, don't try to grow up too quick. You've got plenty of time. And trust me, you are beautiful right now, just the way you are."
"You're still going to be here later, right?" Eden asked skeptically.
"Of course squirt. Now you should go to your room like Momma asked, okay?" Jessica responded; trying to keep from crying because she knew her reply was a lie. She'd suspected she'd probably never see her family again.
"Okay Jessica." Eden said as she turned and walked out of the room, believing her sister as only a child still filled with some innocence could.
Once Eden was safely in her room, Mrs. Hamby continued to speak to Bill. "Mr. Compton, I'd like to show you something." Mrs. Hamby said as she turned around and lifted the back of her shirt up to reveal numerous red and raised welts up and down her back, some old, some new, all hideous. "Some husbands like to take their wives out on a Friday night to dinner and a movie, or so I'm told. My husband likes to get his amusement at home, as you can see."
Bill stood frozen as he saw the markings. He was a vampire and had seen and done many horrible things, but even those markings made him wince in disgust. Bill had always prided himself that once he was able to control his baser urges after becoming a vampire, he only hurt those who truly deserved it. This woman had been beaten horribly by the man who was supposed to love, honor and cherish her. Instead, Mr. Hamby had damaged, dishonored and violated her.
With Mr. Hamby's horrifying secret exposed, he finally couldn't hold back either the anger that had been steadily rising in his blood or his own body from the wall he'd been stuck to until then.
"You stupid bitch. You know you deserved every single one of those purifying whippings. How dare you show them to these outsiders trying to make me look bad? There's no way that these followers of evil could ever understand that everything I did was done in order to cleanse you all; to bring you closer to God. There's no saving your sorry ass now. God sees the traitor that you are." Mr. Hamby said, lunging towards his now frightened wife.
"Jessica, restrain your father!" Bill yelled quickly so that Jessica would be able to intercede before Jordan did any further damage to his already broken wife.
Jessica didn't need to be told twice. She moved at vampire speed to stop her father from hurting her mother again. She hissed, fangs out at her father, "Not this time, daddy."
"Look, someone who lives here must invite me in. Mrs. Hamby, will you please invite me into your house." Bill asked calmly, wanting to get this situation resolved sooner than later and knowing he couldn't do it from outside the house.
"Only if you promise to help my family out with this monster." Mrs. Hamby responded with more strength than Jessica could ever remember her mother having.
Bill agreed to her request with a simple nod. He didn't know what she was going to want, but he figured he would help the best he can. And besides, he could always glamour them all anyway.
"Mr. Compton, won't you please come in." Mrs. Hamby said taking a huge leap of faith that this stranger would be able to do what she could not all these years; stay the hand of the beast.
Bill quickly came into the house and asked respectfully, "Mrs. Hamby, what do you suggest we do here?"
"I want you to get my husband to agree to a divorce; to give me Eden, the house and a good portion of our money; to agree to never contact us again; to agree to get help so that no one else will ever have to go through what we've been through." Mrs. Hamby said, but then added, "And if you can't get him to agree to those things, then I want him dead. I can't live the rest of my life looking over my shoulder worrying that he could be there to finish what he started."
"Momma, where is this coming from?" Jessica finally asked, dumbfounded. She couldn't believe she was hearing the words that just came out of her mother's mouth, not that she didn't agree with anything her mother said, but that the words were said at all. She had always seen her mother as weak for putting up with all the beatings and not protecting herself or her.
"Honey, you have no idea how ashamed I am that I couldn't do more for you. I'm so sorry that I wasn't strong enough to protect you all those times your father berated you and beat you. For a while, I thought he could change like he always said he would. He always sounded so convincing; that each time was going to be the last time. But, it never happened. You know, when I got married, I never thought that the man I fell in love with and chose to spend the rest of my life with would turn my life and my children's lives into a living nightmare. But it got so bad so fast and after too much time and too many beatings came and went, I didn't know how to leave. I have no family here. I have lots of acquaintances, but no real friends, especially none that I could have asked for help from. I have no money of my own. Your father controls the finances. He controls everything. But now, I see a chance here to get out, and protect Eden before she becomes the next victim to his inner demons. I have to take it. I can't let my fears get in the way again of having some peace and happiness in our lives. We may never get this chance again." Mrs. Hamby said shaking slightly while tears softly fell from her sorrowful eyes made up of fear and, for the first time in a long time, hope.
"Oh Momma, I'm so proud of you. Bill, we have to help my Momma and Eden. Please." Jessica choked on her words, overcome with emotion, as she pleaded with Bill.
"You are all crazy if you think I'm just going to let you all take away what is mine. My family is not going to walk away from me dammit!" Jordan said screaming as he tried futilely to get out of Jessica's iron grasp.
"Mr. Hamby, I believe that the alternative your wife gave to your not agreeing to her terms was death. Are you saying that's what you'd prefer?" Bill said menacingly to Mr. Hamby, eager to make Mr. Hamby fear the way he had made his family fear for so long.
"No. No. That's not what I'm saying. You can't possibly ask me to give up everything." Mr. Hamby said flabbergasted.
Sookie felt the need to interject here and said, "You know, it's amazing when you think about it. You need a license to drive a car, fish, hunt, but any asshole can be a father. No background check needed, no classes required, no psych check, just a little bit of sperm from a 'dick' is all it takes. Mister Hamby, you don't deserve your family and they are not possessions that you get to keep simply because you claim them. You should be ashamed of the way you have treated them and to be honest, you are damn lucky they didn't kill you already. You are a disgusting, pathetic excuse of a man."
"Listen, I will not be talked to like that by some white trash fangbanging whore in my own damn house. You don't know shit about me or my family." Jordan said foolishly, unable to control his anger.
Bill whooshed at vampire speed in front of Mr. Hamby, who was still being restrained by Jessica, bared his fangs, growled and said gruffly, "Mr. Hamby, I strongly suggest you NEVER talk that way to my girlfriend ever again, because I can guarantee you will highly regret it."
Mr. Hamby finally shut up, but still glared at Bill, angry. That look slowly morphed into a look of enchantment as Bill started to glamour Mr. Hamby.
"Mr. Hamby, you want to file for divorce from your wife."
"I want to divorce my wife."
"You want to leave everything to her."
"I want to leave everything to her."
"You never want to see your wife or daughters again. In fact, seeing them again will cause you great physical pain."
"I never want to see them again. It would be painful."
"You did not see Jessica tonight. You do not know that she is a vampire."
"I haven't seen my human daughter."
"You want to move to Alaska."
"I want to live in Alaska."
"You will never hit anyone else again as long as you live."
"I will never hit anyone else again, ever."
"You will let go of your hate and focus on the positive."
"Positive. No more hate."
"Good Mr. Hamby. Now you will go and pack your bags now and leave this house, forever."
"I will get my stuff and go."
"Jessica, you may release your father now.
Jessica let go of her dazed father and watched as he walked to her parents' bedroom, knowing that her family's nightmare was now over.
Jessica said in a voice barely audible to the humans in the room, but more than loud enough for Bill to hear and with much gratitude in her heart, "Thank you Bill." He returned her look with a sad smile. While this certainly was a major victory, there were still losses to be dealt.
"Yes, thank you Mr. Compton. While I can't deny part of me would have liked to see him suffer a little more, no make that a lot more, for all he put us through, just knowing that he will be out of our lives from now on is more than enough. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you. But what exactly did you do? I thought that you'd just intimidate him into leaving, but there was more going on, wasn't there?" Mrs. Hamby said with relief and curiosity evident in her voice.
"Don't thank me just yet Mrs. Hamby. Unfortunately, I can't let you remember what's gone on here tonight. It wouldn't be prudent; as I'm sure you can understand. People will ask about where your husband is, why he left and so forth. It would be more believable if you had no knowledge of the actual truth. And of course, I can't have you or your daughter remember seeing Jessica tonight either. Now that she has been made vampire, it is in everyone's best interest that your relationship remain severed. I cannot even begin to express the sorrow and remorse I feel in having to tell you that and enforce that. While I can't get into the details of why I turned your daughter into a vampire, please know that I don't take my responsibility for her lightly. I will always take care of her to the best of my ability. You do not need to worry about me doing to her what your husband had done. As for your memory though, I unfortunately will have to do to you what I just did to your husband. It is called glamouring. It is painless, but permanent unless reversed by myself, which in this case is extremely unlikely." Bill said sadly. Truth be told, when Jessica had mentioned needing to see her family one last time, this was what he wanted to avoid; a messy reunion that would need to be cleaned up. He had no idea of her family situation because he didn't want to know. He wanted to forget she was ever human because of the tremendous guilt he still felt over her turning. Having to face her family and admitting his part in her becoming vampire would force him to deal with the overwhelming remorse he had been battling to bury. Now he would have to deal with the guilt of tearing apart this family for a second time, even if he was saving them from their monster of a father.
Shakily Mrs. Hamby responded, "I understand Mr. Compton. May I say a few words to my daughter before you do your… glamouring?"
"Oh course." Bill said kindly.
Mrs. Hamby walked over to her daughter, took her hands into her own, clasping them tightly, looked into her eyes with pride and love and said, "Jessica. I love you so much honey. You have always been such a joy and I couldn't have asked for a better daughter. I hope that you find true happiness with someone, someday. I hope that whoever brings you that happiness treats you like a queen. You deserve that and so much more. Don't settle for someone because it isn't worth it and your worth so much more than that. Please don't live by my example, exceed it. I want you to do whatever you want: get an education, and I don't mean just through books, see the world, experience all that life has to offer you. I so wish that I could see you grow as a person, into the person I know you can be, even if you don't grow older, but I understand that won't be possible. I want you to always know that there will never be a day when I don't think about you or miss you. You ARE loved and always will be."
Now unable to hold back her sobs, Mrs. Hamby let go of Jessica's hands, knowing that this would be the last time she saw her daughter, but also knowing there was no alternative, turned her head towards Bill and pleaded, "Please Mr. Compton, do what you have to now, before I beg you to not do it."
Being overwrought with emotion, Jessica could barely get out the words that she so desperately needed to tell her mother as she grabbed her in a tight embrace, "I love you too Momma. I always have and I always will."
Bill nodded to Mrs. Hamby and began to glamour her. Jessica let go of her entranced mother and turned away crying. Sookie, who was now crying her own tears, got up from the chair she was sitting in and hugged her friend tightly.
Once Bill was done with Mrs. Hamby, he went to Eden's room to do the same to her. On his way, he passed Mr. Hamby in the hall. He was still in a dazed state as he walked by carrying his packed suitcase, heading for the door to the garage to finally leave his family in peace.
….
After everyone in the Hamby household were sufficiently glamoured, Bill, Sookie and Jessica walked quietly back to Sookie's little yellow car. All three were emotionally exhausted from the revelations and consequences of Jessica's coming home. Jessica just stared out the back seat window, crying silent tears of relief and grief. Bill stared straight ahead as he drove, not wanting to deal with either of the women in the car with him or his own strained emotions. Sookie sat in the front seat, balled up, with her arms wrapped around her legs, as if giving herself a supportive hug. This whole situation was not what she had envisioned when she signed up to bond with Jessica tonight. Manicures, chick flick and girl talk was more the plan.
They were a good ten minutes into their drive back to Bon Temps before anyone spoke. Of course it had to be Sookie who cut the quiet as she couldn't take the silence anymore.
"Bill, I know that you didn't want me to take Jessica out and about, and especially not to her home, but after she explained to me why she needed to go back, to see how her mother and sister were, to say goodbye, I couldn't say no. I just couldn't. You know what I would give to see my Gran one more time; to tell her all the things I never got to before she was killed." Sookie started before being interrupted by Bill.
"Sookie, not now." Bill said quietly through gritted teeth while gripping the steering wheel tightly in frustration. He just wanted to get back home and forget the night.
"No Bill, I think we need to talk about this, and not sweep it under the rug. I realize that I went against your wishes, but I think you can agree now that it needed to be done, on so many levels." Sookie pushed on.
"Sookie, you are right… and wrong. This situation could have gone so horribly wrong. People could have died tonight Sookie. What would you have done then? As far as I know you aren't up on your crime scene clean-up and Jessica doesn't know how to glamour yet." Bill said with more anger.
"And whose fault is it that Jessica doesn't know how to glamour? I know it's not mine. And as for cleaning up a crime scene; I've had to clean up Merlotte's after the football crowd came in after we won state. Let me tell you, if I can clean that shit up, I can clean up anything. But Bill you're just avoiding the real issue here. Jessica tried to talk to you about her family; tried to get you to see why she needed to go, but you wouldn't listen. I know that you're trying to do what you think is best for her, but you aren't infallible; even you can make mistakes and bad decisions. Think about it Bill. How are you even supposed to know what's best for her if you won't listen to her?" Sookie said, trying to get Bill to see that he needed to actually interact with and instruct his child, even if he didn't want to, whatever the reason.
Bill was silent for a moment. As much as he wanted her to be wrong, she wasn't. She was absolutely right. He should have listened to Jessica. He didn't because of his own feelings of guilt and remorse over her turning. At that tribunal he was forced to alter her future, take her away from her family, and steal her humanity. Having his own issues about his own turning; being ripped from his family; he had vowed he would never turn anyone himself. Unfortunately events forced his hand. He saw now that what's done is done and he needed to guide his progeny, embrace her fully into his life and show her how to live this new life to its fullest. He needed to give her a better life than the one he took her from. In all honesty, it shouldn't be that hard. Her life seemed pretty shitty before.
Finally, Bill acknowledged, "Sookie, you are right. I should have listened. Jessica, I am sorry that I did not allow you to explain yourself to me. We have a lot to discuss when we get back."
With those words from Bill, Jessica finally turned her head to face the two in the front seat. "Thank you Bill. I guess I could've tried to talk to you again, but…"
"No, let's not rehash this Jessica. When we get back we'll talk about moving forward. We don't want to have another situation like this again. If something comes up in the future, we'll work on it together. Agreed?" Bill said after interrupting her.
"Yes. And Bill, thank you again for helping my family out." Jessica said with gratitude audible in every syllable.
"You're welcome. But I hope that you will think of me as your family from now on." Bill said with a smile, finally getting used to the idea of a daughter, of having a family again.
"I could get used to that. Do I get an allowance?" Jessica said with a slight smile.
"We'll talk about that later too." Bill said in a fatherly way.
Sookie was glad that these two finally had their breakthrough in their relationship; she only wished that she didn't have to be a part of the emotional rollercoaster it took to get there. And while things were seemingly getting back to normal, she knew she still needed to talk to Bill about how he treated her when he arrived at the Hamby house of horrors. That was a conversation for another time though, without Jessica in tow. Jessica had been through enough tonight without having to see Sookie and Bill go at it.
After a moment of blissful silence, Bill noticed something in the middle of the road. Once he could discern what it was he asked, "Was there a storm here recently? It looks like there's a few trees lying on the road up ahead."
"No, not any that I can think of. Oh my, you're right. That first tree there looks mighty big too. Do you think you and Jessica can move it?" Sookie asked seeing the big pine tree lying wretchedly on its side.
Bill gave Sookie a look that seemed to say, 'Really?'
"Okay, I know; stupid question." Sookie said rolling her eyes as the car came to a stop in front of the tree.
"Jessica, I'll need you to grab the other end of the tree so we can move it off to the side." Bill said to his child. Sookie made a mental note of how natural their relationship was coming together now.
"Okay." Jessica said as she and Sookie both exited the vehicle. Bill had already gotten out of the car.
Sookie was standing off to the side, letting the vampires do what they needed to do when she got an eerie feeling that they were being watched. She looked around, but didn't see anything unusual. But in the next instant there were two razorback boars up ahead in the distance breaking out into a scuffle. Bill and Jessica had already noticed the pair.
"Sookie, I'm going to take Jessica up ahead to show her how to deal with wild animals, since the occasion has struck and they may pose a road hazard anyway. Stay by the car and don't go anywhere, okay. Jessica, follow me." Bill said quickly before he and Jessica bolted off after the boars.
Sookie felt more unease creep into her senses as she stood there watching Bill and Jessica disappear in the woods, following the feral animals, who now seemed to multiply in numbers if her vision was correct. 'That's really weird.' She thought to herself, 'There shouldn't be feral boars around here.'
She was brought out of her internal musings when she heard a crack of wood behind her. Quickly turning to see what made the sound, she saw the shadowy figure of what appeared to be a human with clawed hands and a bull's head.
"What the fuck?" She mouthed to herself, confusion and fear hitting her in full force at the same time.
Before she knew it, the bull-human was running towards her. She didn't know what to do. If she went into the car, that thing would have her trapped there and with those claws, it could no doubt break her windows and get her, besides, Bill drove and had her keys right now. She thought she may have a better shot of getting away right now if she ran. So she started running as fast as she could while screaming for Bill.
Unfortunately, the bull-human was able to increase its speed exponentially, eventually moving as fast as a vampire, if not faster and quickly overtook her by slashing at her back with one of its clawed hands. Sookie fell over immediately in pain and paralysis. Whatever that thing had done to her back, she couldn't move. The pain being unlike any she had ever felt before.
Bill had sensed Sookie's fear and eventual pain while he and Jessica were fighting off what seemed to be a colossal amount of boars. Theses boars were not normal and were actually a challenge to him and Jessica. If he had to make an educated guess, these boars were possessed by something magical. He knew Sookie was in trouble, but he also knew that Jessica, being new to fighting as a vampire, would have a difficult time fighting off the ambush on her own. Thankfully, the two of them made quick haste of the boars and then quickly made their way back to Sookie.
Once the pair arrived to where Sookie was attacked, they too saw the bull-thing as it was about to attack Sookie again. Bill rushed at the bull-human and bit into its neck, sucking on its blood. Unfortunately, it was Bill that was affected, not the monster. He choked back on the black vile liquid that he had sucked from the monster as he backed away from the beast and fell to the ground. Jessica stood frozen as the creature then turned its attention to her. She didn't know what to do. If the monster could so easily debilitate her maker, what chance did she have? But, luckily for her, the monster only grunted in amusement and then bolted off into the night. Not knowing what to do, with Sookie now foaming at the mouth and Bill similarly incapacitated, she grabbed Bill's cell phone and dialed the number of the only one she knew might be able to help.
…
"Hello. This better be good." Responded the cool voice on the other end of the urgent call.
"Eric! Thank God you answered! We're in some serious shit here. Sookie and Bill were just attacked. I don't know what to do." Jessica stammered, hoping that the older vampire would be able to help.
"What do you mean 'just attacked'? By who?" Eric asked calmly, curious. What kind of attack could happen that leaves the newbie vampire as the only one unharmed?
"It's not really a who question as it is a what. And don't bother asking what attacked them, I don't know. I've never seen anything like it before. Look, I can't play twenty questions here Eric. I think they're dying." Jessica shouted at the phone, trying to get Eric to appreciate the seriousness of the situation.
Eric knew that this baby vampire was prone to theatrics, but this was a bit much, even for her. As sheriff though, he had a sworn duty to pursue this. "Put Bill on the phone." He said, trying to gauge if she was actually telling the truth.
Jessica handed the phone over to Bill and said, "Bill, please try to say something to Eric. We need his help."
The only thing that Bill was able to get out was,"Eeeerrrriiiiccc, pppppuuuulllleassse."
"See, I told you. Please Eric. Please help them." Jessica cried into the phone.
"Where are you?" Eric asked.
As soon as Jessica gave him their coordinates, Eric was out the door of Fangtasia and at their sides in an instant.
Once he saw the scene, he knew he needed to act quickly. Jessica watched and listed as he pulled out his cell phone and called someone. "I need your assistance immediately. Yes, I understand it will cost a pretty penny. You know I'm good for it. How long? Unacceptable; they could be dead by then. I will come and get you and bring you here myself." After those last words, he bolted away and was back just as quick with an older woman strapped on his back.
"Okay, where the hell is the fire?" Said the very old, very grumpy and very short in stature woman to the group as she pushed the twice in size Eric out of her way in order to get a better view of the situation.
"How about the two lying on the ground, foaming at the mouth?" Eric responded rolling his eyes as it was very apparent who the victims were.
Hobbling over to Sookie and Bill, the doctor said, "Ah yes, smartass. Let me take a look at them."
"Jessica, is this where the attacks occurred?" Eric asked the unusually quiet Jessica.
"Yes." She said, being uncharacteristically short worded and cooperative.
"Then we should move them before you start Doctor. It may not be safe here." Eric said searching the area with his eyes and sniffing.
"Do you smell the creature that attacked here Mr. Northman, or see it for that matter?" The doctor asked sarcastically as she turned to look at Eric.
"No." Eric said thoughtfully.
"Good to know your eyes and nose are still working. I don't see or smell it either. Look, it's not likely to come back and to be honest, these two don't have a lot of time for us to fuck around. So, let me get started, Viking." The Doctor said as she turned back to the two lying on the ground.
She decided to work on Bill first, as he seemed the easier of the two to fix first and they may need his blood for the other.
"Okay fanger, I'm Dr. Ludvig. And if you even think about trying to fucking bite me, you'll lose an organ; probably one you would least like to lose." Said the doctor as she opened Bill's mouth and looked inside with her odoscope. She then scooped some of the black thick liquid out of his mouth, sliding it between her fingers and giving it a smell test. "Interesting. I haven't seen anything like this, but I have a few ideas of what it could be."
"Can you help him?" Jessica asked with bright red blood tears striking her porcelain features
"Yes, he will be fine cupcake. He just needs some fresh blood, the sooner the better." The doctor said as she moved onto the other patient.
Eric, upon hearing this rushed off and came back with Ginger from Fangtasia.
"What the fuck?" It was all Ginger could muster out as she arrived at the scene with her boss. Just a minute ago she was in the middle of serving a drink to a very attractive man at Fangtasia; the next she was pulled out of the bar and brought… here; wherever here was. In fact, she still had her round black serving platter in her hands, which she was now clutching like a security blanket.
"This vampire is in dire need of blood. Your blood would be of great service to our kind. Do you agree to assist him Ginger?" Eric said in a smooth, sultry voice.
"Of course boss, anything for you and the cause." Ginger said falling for his schmooze. She could never deny any request of Eric's, and that was without glamouring. His requests, no matter what they involved, always made her feel special.
So, Ginger then bent down towards Bill and offered her neck to him. He took the offering and began feeding, knowing that he needed to be well to help Sookie.
Soon Bill was back to normal and Ginger was passed out on the country lane. "Doctor, do you know how to help her?" Bill asked worriedly about his love.
"Let me do my job fanger. Don't bother me now." Dr. Ludvig said as she shooed the worried vampire away.
Upon seeing that Bill was about to angrily retort, Eric pulled Bill aside and quietly said, "Look, do you want her healed or not. This doctor is her only option right now. I strongly suggest that you let her do her thing… in peace."
Bill shook Eric's hand off of his arm angrily, but relented.
"Good boy Bill. Now, Dr. Ludvig here may not have the kind of bedside manor you're used to, but she is very good at what she does." Eric said, trying to placate Bill. Having Bill's emotions run wild was not going to help the situation, a situation Eric still needed to assess.
"Damn straight I am Northman, now, if you two don't mind, shut the fuck up. You're distracting me." Dr. Ludvig said huffily as she dug her fingers into one of the gashes on Sookie's back and pulled out a claw. "Well, what do ya know?" She said, intrigued.
"Holy Shit! What is that?" Jessica exclaimed, startled by what she just saw.
Bill's eyes widened too as he witnessed the gruesome scene. He could feel the pain Sookie was experiencing and had hoped it would be eased shortly. It was so much to bear. "Is she going to be okay, Doctor?" Bill finally said in a voice akin to a whisper.
"Well, she's dying right about now, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. You see here, this claw. My guess is that it was a method to dispense the toxin that working its way through her body as we speak. You noticed that she is unable to move, right? Well, the toxin has paralyzed most of her muscles and soon she won't be able to breathe, which will kill her." The doctor said matter-of-factly as she turned the claw around in her hand, studying it with fascination.
"You said you could help her!" Bill screamed at the doctor.
Being brought out of her examination of the claw, Dr. Ludvig said, "Technically I didn't… I said I would do my work. But, don't get your panties in a bunch asshole. I'm not finished." She then pulled out a few glass vials and distributed the contents of each into the deep cuts on Sookie's back, causing her to tear in pain. Her body was so immobilized now that she could not cry out or move to get any form of relief from the pain. She was in her own personal hell.
"You're hurting her!" Bill screamed at the doctor again.
"I'm saving her you nitwit. Now, these potions will cleanse and heal the wound, but she will need a lot of vamper blood to get the rest of the toxins out of her system and escape death." The doctor retorted.
"I will give her all she needs." Bill responded already pulling his wrist up to his mouth to bite.
"We'll start with yours, and then continue until she is fine." The doctor said to a stunned looking Bill.
"Now! Give her the blood now!" The doctor said to Bill who was still processing that Sookie may have to take another vampire's blood.
"Yes, yes of course." Bill replied as he bit into his wrist and quickly shoved it into Sookie's mouth.
Seeing that she couldn't properly suck, he took her petrified form into his lap gingerly and held his bleeding wrist to her mouth as he propped her head at an angle where she could swallow easily, well as easily as she could given her situation.
After taking in quite a bit of Bill's blood, she was able to finally start sucking, albeit weakly, on his wrist. However, seeing how much of Bill's blood she had taken, Dr. Ludvig stepped in.
"Okay champ, you're done. Who's next in the blood donor pool?" The doctor asked gruffly.
"I am." Eric responded, not believing his good fortune in the odd turn of events of the night.
"No! Absolutely not! Jessica can give her blood." Bill exclaimed bitterly.
"Bill, Jessica isn't even a year old. I am over a thousand years old. Whose blood do you honestly think will work better?" Eric responded with a smirk on his face, knowing the answer.
"The Viking has a point nitwit. Do you want your… friend… here to survive or not? Not that I care. I get paid either way." Dr. Ludvig said.
Bill knew he was between a rock and a hard place. He had to save Sookie. A world without her in it was not worth living in, but did it have to be Eric to help save her? Bill finally responded with, "Shit. Eric, go ahead."
Bill then had to watch as his love responded to Eric's blood. Within minutes, she was sucking at Eric's wrist, hard, swallowing the glorious tasting liquid with fervor and making Bill's heart break in the process. He knew what the effects of the blood would be and exactly how strong they would be given Eric's age and the amount Sookie had to take. He could only hope that she had enough strength to fight off the effects.
"Okay Northman; you're going to overcook her. Take your wrist away." Dr. Ludvig said as she grabbed Eric's wrist out of Sookie's mouth. "So, how do you feel now? Can you move?" Dr. Ludvig asked as her attention shifted to Sookie.
"I feel like death warmed over, but I think I can move now." Sookie responded quietly as she attempted to sit up. She got about half way to sitting position, but then fell back down. She would have slammed onto the road if Eric didn't cushion her fall.
"She's going to be fine boys. The blood is already taking full effect. She'll be down for the count for a few days though. Where's my money Northman?" Dr. Ludvig said as she quickly gathered her instruments, tools and vials back into her medicine bag.
Eric was beyond ecstatic over being able to get his blood into Sookie, but dismayed to hear that she would not be well for a few days. He didn't have a few days to wait. Godric needed his help. Well, he still had Arabella. Arabella. 'Shit!' He thought to himself. Not knowing exactly why Sookie and Bill were attacked, he wanted to make sure she was still okay with Pam.
"Let me make a quick call and then I'll settle up." Eric said to the irritated doctor.
"Okay, but make it quick fanger. I don't have all night to wait for your bootie calls. I was in the middle of a movie when you so rudely interrupted." The doctor said crossing her arms over her chest in a huff.
Eric thought to himself that the old woman was as gruff as they get, but he had to hand it to her, she demanded respect and took no shit. He respected her for it. She also was the best supernatural doctor he had seen in the last 500 years. He never saw her lose a patient yet.
Eric dialed Pam's number as he walked away from the group. At the same time, Bill delicately picked up Sookie, who had passed out, and placed her carefully back into the passenger seat of her car, wanting to get her as far away from here as possible.
"Pam." Eric said as his progeny answered her cell phone.
"Yes Eric." Pam responded.
"Are you and Arabella okay?" Eric asked.
"Yeeeeessss. Why are you calling Eric? What's going on?" Pam asked, wondering what this call was about and hoping he didn't know about the grope. He couldn't know, right? She didn't want to get in trouble with her maker. That Helena bitch better not have ratted her out.
"I'll tell you later. Listen; do not take Arabella back to her home when you are done. Take her back to Fangtasia and let her rest in my room. But, stay off the back roads and take your time." Eric ordered Pam.
"Yes Eric. Of course." Pam responded.
"And Pam… be good." Eric said slyly.
"Yes Eric. I always am for you." Pam said
"Uh-huh. Just get the two of you here in one piece." Eric said and then hung up.
After hanging up with Pam, Eric walked over to Bill and said, "I want you three to go back to Fangtasia. I need to hear about what happened tonight. I will meet you there after I take the good doctor back to her movie and Ginger home."
"Damn straight vamper. Let's roll." Dr. Ludvig said as she spryly jumped onto Eric's back. "I don't have all night, and quite frankly neither do you." She added with a wink.
"True enough. Bill, I will see you shortly." Eric said as he shot into the night sky with the old doctor on his back and Ginger in tow.
…..
Helena, the bitchy saleslady was all too happy to ring us up once we made our final selections. Because Eric had given Pam money to use towards my purchases, I only had to cough up $1,000.00 more. It felt weird to accept such an extravagant gift from Eric especially because no one had ever given me anything remotely close to this. I didn't count the hospital bill he paid as a 'gift' because technically it was his and Pam's fault I was there in the first place. Anyway, Pam insisted that this was but a drop in the bucket for him and that he'd be insulted if I didn't take it. Well, who was I to say no. I couldn't deny that I was glad I didn't have to pay the entire amount, but at the same time I couldn't believe that I was about to spend that much money on clothes. But… I owed myself something nice after all the crap that's happened lately, didn't I? Who doesn't like a little retail therapy now and then? Not that I was typically a big spender, especially not on clothes, but I did just get the money from my settlement with the hotel. 'I can do this for myself this once, right?' I thought as I handed over my debit card to Helena, who seemed surprised that I could cough up the dough… bitch. While standing there waiting for her to complete my sale, I noticed a plaque on the wall behind her that had a Better Business Bureau logo on it and named Bill Compton as the owner of the business.
"Hey Pam, did you know that Bill owns this place?" I asked Pam who was just finishing a call on her cell phone. "Oops. Sorry. I didn't know you were on the phone."
"It's okay. I was finished anyway. But to answer your question, yes it is his place and he makes a pretty penny here too. Any vampire or well-to-do human worth anything in the Shreveport area comes and spends their money here. It's one of the few decent places to shop. He's made some interesting contacts along the way who get him some of the harder to get designers' wares. But I wouldn't talk to Eric about that. It still irks him to no end that he has no choice but to shop at Bill's store occasionally. What, Sookie didn't tell you about this place?" Pam replied.
"No." I responded wondering to myself if Sookie knew about this store. I knew that I never saw her wear anything that looked like it remotely came from it.
"Hmmmm, well that's interesting." Pam mused. Judging from Sookie's usual wardrobe and Arabella's lack of knowledge of Bill's ownership of the store, she could only surmise that Bill didn't tell them about it. She wondered what else old Billy Boy was keeping secret from them.
Helena then chimed in, "Pamela, as always, it's been a pleasure. I hope to see you again real soon. Please send Eric my regards and tell him if his pet needs anything further, he need do nothing but call me and I will get it asap."
'Hello? I'm standing right here lady. And, I just spend $1,000.00 of my own money here.' I thought to myself as Helena talked to Pam as though I had already left the building.
"Thank you Helena. I will tell Eric. Also, please call me if you get a new shipment of Stella McCartney or Burburry. I do love their new collections." Pam purred to the saleslady as she started to usher me towards the door.
"Of course Pamela." Helena replied, practically salivating at the thought of those future sales.
Pam and I left Wilhelmina's Wardrobe with no less than ten bags each. I don't know how Pam got them to fit in her car, but she did.
….
"This isn't the way to my house Pam. Where are we going?" I asked as we passed another exit for Bon Temps.
"Back to Fangtasia. Eric's request." Pam responded .
"Why? Are we going to Dallas tonight, because I'll definitely need more than just these new clothes?" I asked, confused.
Pam could understand Arabella's concerns, as she was herself not the lightest traveler, but something told Pam that going to Fangtasia didn't have anything to do with the trip. "I honestly don't know why we need to head there. But he called and said to meet him at the club. So we will." Pam replied, wondering to herself if Eric just wanted to see a private fashion show with his favorite pet.
"Before we get there though, one request." Pam said somewhat hesitantly.
"And what exactly would that request be Pam?" I asked, also somewhat hesitantly.
"Well, we don't need to mention the bra measurement situation to Eric, do we?" Pam asked.
"Weeelllllllll." I started, trying to make her sweat a little, but then continued, "No. I don't think that he needs to hear about that, especially since he hasn't had to opportunity to, ahhhhhh, properly check my bra size himself." I said, not believing the conversations I've been having lately.
Pam smirked to herself. She got to second base with Eric's pet before he did. "I'm glad we have an understanding then. You know, if you ever need another, measurement, you know who to call."
"Yeah, Eric." I said with a smile, which Pam returned. It was nice to see a real, authentic smile on her face instead of the smirk she usually had.
….
Before long, Pam and Arabella arrived at Fangtasia to see the parking lot was empty, the only exception being that of Sookie's car.
"What the hell? Pam, shouldn't this place be packed right now? And why is the only car in the parking lot Sookie's?" I asked hurriedly as I dashed to the padded black vinyl front door of Fangtasia, not waiting for her answer as an uneasy feeling took over me.
Rushing into the club, I saw Sookie lying asleep in Bill's arms in a booth, Jessica sitting on the opposite side; all three looking like shit, with Eric standing over the trio.
"What is going on?" I asked breathlessly.
"Before you get too worried, Sookie is going to be fine. She was however attacked tonight by a creature that we are unfamiliar with." Bill replied.
"Shit. You sure she's going to be okay? Sookie? Sookie?" I asked, wanting to hear my sister respond.
"She's out of it right now, but believe me, she will be fine." Bill said with such sincerity, while stoking Sookie's hair lovingly, that I knew either he wasn't lying or he was living in la-la land. I was hoping for the not lying option.
"Okay, so what happened?" I asked the group after calming slightly.
Eric took a moment to take in the sight of his lovely pet, whose flushed cheeks and heaving chest looked incredibly enticing before he sighed and recounted the information he had gathered from Bill and Jessica and from what he and the doctor saw.
"Okay, so a clawed bull-man attacked my sister... and there were wild boars… and fallen trees." I repeated as I tried to remember something I had just read about on my computer. Thinking on it for a minute, I finally remembered.
"Oh my; I don't want to sound like I've been smoking the funny stuff here, but with all the strange things I've seen lately, who knows, it could be true…" I started to say.
"What are you thinking?" Eric said, curious about what she had to say.
"Well, Sookie and I had a strange run in with this woman at Merlotte's; Maryann's her name. Anyway, she talked about throwing a Bacchanalian party. I had never heard of that kind of party before, so I researched it on Wikipedia. It led to all sorts of info. Anyway, it said that Maenads were able to pull trees up from their roots, congregated with all sorts of animals, especially pigs, and revered the bull. They also like to tear people apart. I don't know… could a Maenad actually exist here in Louisiana? I replied, hoping that I was right and wrong at the same time. Did I really need to know about the existence of more supernatural beings? What was next? Please let it be Santa or the Tooth Fairy and not something like the boogeyman.
Eric's lips curled into a huge smirk as he took in Arabella's assessment. There was his smart pet. She could be right. A maenad had not occurred to him because honestly, they tended to congregate in Europe and the Middle East and usually if one were to appear in a vampire's area, they would demand an offering from the sheriff, to keep the peace sort to speak. Well, this maenad, if it is a maenad, either doesn't plan on staying long, or doesn't play by the rules. He needed to find out more, however the timing couldn't be worse. He had to go to Dallas.
"A maenad? Shit Eric. If she's right, they are a bitch to deal with." Bill said shaking his head. He hadn't dealt with any personally, but his maker had described a particularly gruesome encounter to him once and told him to avoid them at any cost. Of course, it would have been nice if she could have included that they can take the form of a bull-person in her story.
Eric pondered this a minute. Bill was right. If you had to take down a maenad, they didn't go down without a deadly fight. Usually vampires hoped that if a maenad entered their area that it would breeze out of their area as quickly as they breezed in and that the destruction they created could easily be cleaned up without much attention being drawn to it. He remembered an encounter he had with one in the 1400's.
"Yes, they are very serious indeed. I was part of a group many centuries ago that set out to destroy a maenad that had gone completely off the rails and was causing so much mayhem that she was on the verge of exposing many supernatural secrets that weren't ready to come out, if you get my meaning. Anyway, long story short, she took out 32 of the 40 vampires I was with before we finally administered her final death.
"So how did you finally end her?" I asked, wanting to get this threat out of our backyards.
"We ripped her apart, however, like I said, she took out 32 of the 40 before we were able to complete our task. Unfortunately, we do not have those numbers here, nor do we have the willing vampires in the area to do it. Most don't know what a maenad is and certainly don't want to meet the true death to get rid of one. I also highly doubt we would get the approval from the powers that be to such a large… spectacle… what with their new public agenda and all." Eric replied wistfully, longing for the old days for a moment.
"Was she in that 'bull' form when you attacked?" I asked.
"No. Truthfully I am unaware if maenads take that form or not. Something tells me that if they do, those that see it normally do not live to tell the tale or cannot make the connection to the maenad. This will need further investigation for sure. Pamela, you will need to research this since I'm needed in Dallas. Start with that Maryann that Arabella and Sookie met. If she's not the maenad, she probably knows who is." Eric said to Pam.
"Yes Eric. You know my greatest wish has been to be on a crazed maenad patrol someday." Pam responded unenthusiastically. 'Great, a fricking maenad to root out.' She would much rather do more shopping with his pet than this shit.
"Good. Then why don't you start now while everything is still fresh and check out the woods where the attack occurred. You may be able to find some clues. Take Chow with you. He's in back." Eric said with authority.
"Great. I'm sure Chow will be just as enthused. Ooooohhhh Choooowwww. Honey we got some work to do." Pam called out as she sauntered towards the back rooms.
"Speaking of Dallas, when do we leave?" I asked Eric.
"We will leave late tomorrow afternoon. I trust that you have all you need." Eric asked.
"I have the clothes here in Pam's car, but my toiletries are still home. I'll definitely need those. What about Sookie? Will she be okay to go?" I asked, looking at her and Bill.
"No! Absolutely not. She almost died tonight Eric. And besides, you heard the doctor; she will not be completely okay for a few days. I don't know what's going on in Dallas, but I do know she will not be up for any of it. You'll have to do without her." Bill said with spite in his voice, but then turned to me and with a softer voice said, "Arabella, I am sorry that you will have to go on your own."
"I understand Bill. I want what's best for my sister as well." I responded; glad to know that my sister had her back covered by this man.
Eric pondered this for a moment. She would be no use to him dead and with their new blood bond, he could feel how weak and damaged her body was at the moment. No, unfortunately she would have to stay behind. Thankfully he still had Arabella.
"As much as I don't appreciate your outburst, Bill, you do make a valid point. You two will stay here at Fangtasia while Sookie recuperates and Pam investigates. The basement has a bed and bathroom and food will be brought to you as needed." Eric said.
"The dungeon Eric; you're putting us in your jail!" Bill yelled at Eric.
"Technically yes, but you will not experience my wrath there unless you continue with your insubordination. Think about it Bill. Don't you think it would be better for the creature that attacked you tonight, especially if it was a maenad, to believe that you two did not survive; at least for the time being?"
Bill could not deny the logic of Eric's words, no matter how vile it would be to spend a few nights in Eric's basement. "Fine. But what about Jessica?"
"She will stay down there with you two as well." Eric replied as if it was a no-brainer.
"Fine." Bill replied again.
"Well, at least I'm used to being bored, I guess." Jessica said, thankful that she would be safe, but not looking forward to being stuck in the basement with her maker and his girlfriend.
Eric smirked at Jessica and said, "Yes, well you should get used to it given who your maker is. I believe if you looked up bore in the dictionary, you'd see his picture there. By the way Bill, when did you get to be so boring?"
"Two years with Emma will do that to a vampire." Bill simply said as he carefully slid out of the booth with Sookie and beckoned Jessica to follow him to the basement.
Eric stood there stunned for a moment. In all the time that they had renewed their acquaintance here in Louisiana, they never once had brought up her name; never discussed what had happened. They danced around the issue, but never spoke her name. He wondered what Bill meant by that statement.
"Who's Emma?" I asked, finally breaking Eric out of his internal thoughts.
"No one important. Let's go get your bags out of Pam's car." Eric said, clearly avoiding the question.
"Okay." I replied, curious, but knowing I wouldn't get any more information tonight, and followed him out the door.
…
Once we got all the bags into his room I said, "Eric, I'll still need my toiletries."
"Yes, I know. I will send my day-man Bobby to go fetch your bag for you. It's packed, right?" Eric asked.
"Yeah, I thought it'd be a good idea to be prepared to go at any point. I'm worried about Jason and want to be able to help as soon as I can. I'm also worried about Sookie. She's really going to be okay, right?" I replied.
"Yes, she will be fine. She just needs time to heal." Eric replied, suddenly feeling awkward in her presence, like he couldn't look at her.
"You should rest and I have work to do." Eric said as he approached the door.
Not wanting him to leave, and somehow finding the courage to throw caution to the wind, I stopped him from leaving by quickly blocking him from the door and saying, "Do you want to see some of the things I got tonight? I could model them if you'd like." I said this as suggestively to him as I could (I don't have a lot of experience in seduction at this point in my life). Running my hand up his chiseled chest and having it rest on his cool cheek, I continued, "Or, maybe we don't need any clothes at all." The situation and timing wasn't entirely perfect to be throwing myself at him, but with all that's been happening, I realized how fragile life is and I didn't want to regret never feeling his touch, his kiss, everywhere. My body burned for his and had for a long time. And after seeing how Bill cared so deeply for my sister, I wanted to feel that… wanted; desired. Besides, I didn't know how much longer I could hold out. Yeah, I needed to get laid, badly, and by that man!
He had wanted to have his way with her for the longest time, but tonight, he couldn't. Even with her being so willing; even with her inexperienced but utterly appealing attempt at seduction; even though her simple touch was burning him with a passion so intense, a passion that he had only a few times in his thousand years had felt; he couldn't. She was looking at him with such innocence, such longing and care and trust. A trust he knew he had broken, even though she didn't. Eric never cared about entertaining a human's trust before, but this situation was different. She had somehow made him different and he didn't like it, at least not at the moment because it made him feel an emotion he had long ago successfully given up; guilt. Try as he may, he couldn't shake the feeling. He knew giving his blood to her sister and creating that bond was a violation to… whatever… was going on between them, but he couldn't help himself. He had wanted his revenge on Bill for so long, and now he could taste it. The blood bond would be the beginning of the end of Bill. Eric figured he would deal with the repercussions later. He knew that he now needed to convince himself that Arabella was a distraction he didn't need, other than her powers. She was making him weak. He was Eric 'fricking' Northman for pete sake. So, with an unexplainable heavy heart and extreme discipline, he took her hand off of his cheek and said, "I have work to do. I will see you when I rise tomorrow night. You should be able to sleep well here tonight. Bobby will provide food for you until we leave. Goodnight Arabella." He then leaned over, placed a chaste kiss on her forehead, and left the room even colder than the arctic.
'What just happened?' I thought to myself. I just threw myself at him, and he didn't seem to be the least bit interested. Oh my God; I must have come across as so desperate. Maybe I look like shit right now? I ran over to the mirror to see what I looked like; if I suddenly grew three heads or had an explosion of acne on my face. No, everything looked like normal. I slowly made my way back to the bed, plopped myself onto it and stared into space as silent tears made their way down my face. A myriad of emotions began to push their way out of my body through those heavy water filled drops: embarrassment from being shot down, sadness in wondering if his interest in me was heading south, worry about what that meant, doubt about myself, envy for the love Sookie and Bill had. You name the emotion and I was probably feeling it, as long as the emotion didn't involve feeling loved, wanted, needed or safe.
After a little while of sitting there in the room with nothing but those tears to keep me company, I finally fell back onto the bed, feeling as if the weight of the world; the weight of everything going on in my life; was pushing onto my eyelids, and fell into a deep and thankfully dreamless sleep, never moving once during the night.
…
Pam returned later that night to find Eric sitting at his desk, going through paperwork.
"Feeling guilty about something?" Pam asked with a pissed off look on her face.
Eric looked up, not wanting to have this conversation with his progeny right now. "And just exactly what would I have to feel guilty about."
"How about the fact that I just ruined my best nude pumps running through the forest looking for your bull-shit creature? Those pumps were vintage Eric." Pam responded in a huff, although she didn't need to see the strained expression on Eric's face to know the guilt she sensed was about something else.
Eric thanked Odin that he had an out for this conversation. "Yes, well, I know how much you loved those shoes. Go ahead and get a new pair on me."
Pam knew that whatever was on his mind must have really been getting to him because no matter how generous he was with her, it was never this easy.
"So, why aren't you fucking your pet? I'm pretty sure she wants you to." Pam asked, curious.
"It's none of your concern, Pam." Eric said angrily, but then continued with more coolness in his voice, "So, did you find out anything useful?"
Pam's eyebrow shot up with his response about Arabella. 'Huh, trouble in paradise.' She thought to herself before replying, "Well, that creature smelled horrible, left a lot of footprints going in all sorts of directions but ultimately leading nowhere, and probably feasted on some wild boar, raw. Other than that, zilch." She wished she had more to report, but there was nothing else.
"I suspected we wouldn't find much, but had hoped we'd be lucky. Maenads can be tricky beasts." Eric said thoughtfully.
"Well, if there's nothing else, I'd like to go home and wash the forest off of me." Pam said while picking pine needles out of her hair.
"That is all Pam. And Pam, thank you." Eric said, effectively dismissing her and truthfully wanting some time alone to think on his plans.
Pam grabbed the doorknob to leave, but before doing so, stopped, turned to face Eric once more and said, "Eric, I know you'll do whatever you want to do, but I just want to let you know what I think. Arabella is the best thing that's happened to you since, well, me. And that is saying volumes. Don't fuck it up. She makes you happy. You deserve some happiness Eric. And quite frankly, I deserve you being with someone I can fucking stand." And with that, she left.
Eric couldn't help but chuckle at his progeny's bluntness. It was one of the things he liked about her the most. He knew she meant well, but in all honesty, there was no turning back now. He already fucked up.