Wow! Arabella's really got some heavy stuff going on right now, right? Well, it's True Blood, so we know that it can be a roller coaster of emotions for our favorite characters. But, at least she finally knows where she comes from now right? But where will that take her? Hmmmmm? We shall see. And of course, Eric and Sookie's HUGE mistake still needs to be dealt with as well. All in good time my pretties (insert evil laugh while rubbing hands together maniacally).
Thank you all once again for sticking around for what's turning out to be a whale of a story. I knew it'd be big, but never this long. But, it's so fun to write and I love my Arabella so, what the hell, right?
Thank you to my reviewers. I can't tell you how happy I am when I see that someone has reviewed!
Emzy2k11: I hope this is soon enough and you like it!
Chibichibi98: Yeah, her genetics play a large part in how she's been able to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds, but so does her innate will to live and her street smarts. She will definitely use her gifts from Hermes, hopefully sometimes in a fun way. I'm still working on those details. As for Eric, well, a shake up in the vampire infrastructure was a necessary evil to move the story along.
SwedishFanFictionLover: I'm so glad you liked the update. Yeah, for Arabella finding out that Hermes was her father after twenty years of being in the dark on what was already not the best night of her life… yeah… that wasn't going to go well for him… at all. As for Felipe, he is in the books, but I'm sorta just using the idea of him and Victor and will ultimately mold those characters as I need them in the story. I like to use ideas from True Blood and twist them around or use them in completely different ways. I think it helps to make the story fresh, or at least I hope so.
Guest: Arabella will find out about Eric and Sookie. It will be a very low point for her. But you know what they say, what doesn't kill you…
KristyMarie91: Thank you! Here it is.
AdrienneG25: Thank you for your kind words. I hope that I can continue to impress.
Swcky: Hope you stay for the ride!
Emily: Here it is… finally… I know, I'm so bad…
Guest: Hope you love this chapter too.
Also, I think I've had the poll open long enough now on whether or not to keep Nora in the story. The voters have spoken and it seems that Nora will not make an appearance. Sorry Nora. But, I have so many other characters and plotline that hopefully her presence won't be missed too badly.
…
Eric finally stopped running once he reached the secret meeting spot that all the sheriffs used to discuss things outside the Queen's ever-watchful eye that lay on a secluded spot along the Red River. He knew that Blackburn would follow shortly, as they usually did after being summoned by the Queen. Because of his age, he also knew he'd arrive well ahead of his friend. This gave him ample time to text Arabella and Godric, not knowing which one would be able to text back first. He needed to find out what was happening on their end so he could focus better on this royal mess of a situation. He couldn't be distracted by his worry over them. The Queen and therefore all of the vampires in the state of Louisiana were in grave danger. If the usurper Felipe wanted to right now, he could vanquish every last vampire in the state, either by banishing them or outright killing them. Eric had seen it happen at least three times over his lifespan when a new monarch takes over. Normally he would just grab Pam and Godric and leave on his own accord, before the shit really hit the fan. Lord knows they had plenty of places they could go. But now… now he had ties here that bound him to stay. He had his very profitable business, he had the vampires in his area who depended on him for their safety and his guidance, but most of all he had Arabella, whom he could never leave to her own devices given the current political turmoil. If word got out of her… uniqueness; about her beauty; her… just anything about her, she'd be in grave danger. And given her perchance for danger these days… No. He'd stay. He'd make sure she was safe. He had to.
'Odin's mercy, how did things get so fucked up?' Eric thought to himself as he sat jadedly on a stump next to the rivers' edge, his eyes focused on the moonlight reflected in the water. His original intention was to try to get back to Arabella as fast as he could to help with the efforts to get rid of the Maenad after dealing with what he thought would be the Queen's next whim. Who would've guessed what was to actually follow suit? Looking at his watch, he knew that the plan Arabella and her company of merry men had come up with was already in motion or finished by now. He didn't want to throw a wrench in their schemes by showing up unexpectedly. But not only that, now he had his own serious situation on his hands with the Queen being literally and figuratively incapacitated what with her basically being usurped by the King of Nevada, Felipe. So much had happened in such a short time and without so much as a whisper of it said anywhere. That's what jarred Eric the most. This Felipe guy just came from seemingly nowhere. Seeds of this overthrow had to have been planted somewhere, but he didn't see it coming at all. He felt blindsided and worried. Worry was not an emotion that Eric dealt with very well. He was always the one to make others worry. But yet, there it was… worry. Shit… if he didn't see this coming, what else is he not seeing? Eric needed answers; he needed his own plan… NOW.
Eric received a message back from Godric soon after saying that everything had been taken care of and that everyone was fine. Godric also wrote that if he could, he should meet up with them at the Stackhouse residence. Eric felt immediate relief that at least one part of the night went well, or at least seemed to have succeeded. Eric texted back that Godric should not let his presence be known to any others in the area and to tell those that do know he's there that they need to keep it a secret. Godric replied that he would do so, which relieved Eric immensely.
Blackburn arrived shortly after Eric and Godric's text session looking a little worse for wear. Eric knew that whatever went down earlier tonight shook Blackburn to his core, which really unsettled Eric because Blackburn, though young, usually could hold his shit together.
"What happened back there Logan?" Eric asked his friend from his position on the tree stump before rubbing his face with his hand in frustration. He didn't like being out of the loop. Being out of the loop meant you were at a disadvantage. And being at a disadvantage like this could lead you to the true death. Eric had no intention of succumbing to the true death just yet, not when he finally found something so precious to live for, someone precious to live for.
"The shit just hit the fan in there Eric. It just hit the fan." Logan Blackburn said while shaking his head with closed eyes as he relived the horrid scene in his mind. Eric, sensing his friend needed a moment, gave it to him, begrudgingly though. Eric was not a sentimental guy. There was no use for it in their world. In their world people died all the time; human, vampire, werewolf; it made no difference. And it was because of that reason Eric did not let more than a select few into his inner circle, into his realm of care. He did not mourn many because he did not let many get close. It was a safeguard for his emotions and his sanity. However, he would allow Blackburn this moment because he knew that Blackburn was not as old, not as jaded and not as guarded with his emotions. Eric knew that Blackburn would be now though and for some strange reason it made Eric just a little bit sad. But, it was a rite of passage that any vampire needed to go through if they were to exist for a long time.
"They were our friends Eric and there was nothing I could do to save them." Blackburn cried out, obviously letting grief and guilt take him over. Eric had to stop it though, for Blackburn's sake as well as his. They needed to stay focused if they were to survive.
"Why don't you start from the beginning?" Eric said with a firm yet kind voice. He needed the information as he also needed Blackburn back in the right frame of mind. If Blackburn were to further survive, he'd have to push his true feelings and emotions aside. Eric had taken this vampire under his wing many years ago and he would not leave him flapping in the wind now. Eric vowed he would help guide Blackburn through this fiasco as best he could. There was no one else left who could. Plus, Eric would need all the help he could get if he were to try to help Sophie-Anne get back her queendom. Eric may not have liked all the things the Queen had made him do or some of her decisions; however she was young and he knew that explained many of her more questionable decisions. But, for the most part, she was a fair, kind queen who did not deserve what happened to her. Louisiana was thriving under her rule, at least until recently, but not only that, she usually respected her sheriff's autonomy, something Eric required immensely in choosing a place to live. Being as old as he was, he knew he would not deal with someone in his business all the time too well, if at all.
Blackburn took a deep steadying breath before he began his tale. "Yeah, okay… I'm good. I'm good. So… I got to the Queen's about the same time as most of the other sheriffs. We were quickly ushered into the main living area where Felipe greeted us. He was all pleasantries and bullshit then, but already acting like he owned the joint, which made all of us suspicious."
"As it should have. Continue." Eric interjected.
"Yeah, well, Duprez asked where the Queen was, seeing as she was who called us to come and it was her house. Felipe laughed and said she would be out shortly; that they had a surprise to share with everyone." Blackburn recounted, shuddering at the remembrance of the next sight that he beheld. "He then told his second in command, Victor Madden I think his name was, to bring out the surprise."
"And what was the surprise?" Eric asked even though he had a sneaking suspicion of what it could be.
"So Madden yells out for the guards to escort the Queen to receive her visitors. They dragged her out in a wedding dress and silver shackles. SILVER SHACKLES! Can you believe it? Her skin was burning so badly I thought that her hands would fall right off. You could see the vapors coming off of her bloodstained porcelain skin. And the stench! Shit, I've never smelled something so awful. She must've had those shackles on for a long while. The Queen though, I don't know how, she hadn't shed one tear. She still looked so… regal… even through all that… head held high, walking in those unbelievably high heels she always wore. Anyway, next Felipe called for Victor to get the Magister, that they had a wedding ceremony to begin."
"I can't believe that the Magister would willingly perform the ceremony, the right of alignment, with a shackled queen." Eric interjected. The Magister was above all the politics of the kings and queens. His position was to maintain order and uphold the sacred laws of the Authority, not pick sides in a power grab.
"No, you'd be right, he didn't. He was dragged into the room by some of Felipe's goons, silvered as well. He wasn't as composed about it as the Queen though. He was screaming and carrying on something fierce. Felipe got tired quickly of the Magister's ranting and screamed at him to do the fucking ceremony or there'd be more silver. The Magister gave in and said the words. Right after that is when all hell broke loose." Blackburn replied gravely. The memories were still so fresh.
"What happened next?" Eric asked.
"Felipe flashed to one of the ceremonial swords that Sophie-Anne had on the wall and cut off the Magister's head, followed by the Queen's arms and legs. It was absolute fucking madness. Who just comes in and does… that?" Blackburn said still flabbergasted by the whole ordeal. It was surreal and scary as shit and never in a million years should have happened, and yet it did.
"I suppose that this is the point where the sheriffs got involved." Eric said with an eye roll, surmising what happened next. He knew the other sheriffs long enough to know that they would not easily sit back and allow an attack on their queen. To be honest, Eric breathed a small sigh of relief that he wasn't there himself because he truly couldn't say that he wouldn't have gotten involved in the scuffle himself. Fate was definitely on his side tonight.
"Yeah. Duprez and Patino flashed toward Felipe while Kirsch and Anders flashed towards Victor. Felipe's other guards were quick to react to their movements, probably was anticipating them to be honest, and in doing so I got knocked across the room into a chair and was impaled in the leg with pieces of the broken chair before I could even do anything. If that hadn't happened, I'm sure I wouldn't be here to telling you this story. It gave me a few seconds though, ones I needed to think and not react like the others. This Felipe guy was pretty fucking old, strong, organized and obviously was going to win. The Magister was dead and our Queen was incapacitated and in no position to do anything. While I could understand the other sheriff's actions, I knew that it would only get them killed. I'm not ready to meet the true death, not like this. So I stayed where I landed and watched as my fellow sheriffs, my friends, foolishly fell to their true deaths. It took no more than a few seconds for the fight to be over. Felipe had outmaneuvered us all. I knew that; hell, he knew that judging by the shit-eating grin he had on his face through the whole ordeal. I just wish the others had too. I know there was nothing I could do, nothing any of us could do, but it doesn't make it any easier to know that I sat and watched and did nothing as my friends died at that jackass's hand." Blackburn said with anger and he picked up a rock and threw it so hard it went straight through a tree trunk.
"You did the only thing you could do; you survived. You would've accomplished nothing by perishing needlessly there with them." Eric said as he got up off of the trunk and placed his hand on Blackburn's shoulder and squeezed it lightly in support. "Felipe is very old. He could have taken the whole room on by himself if he wanted. The other sheriffs were indeed foolish to take on such an enemy without thought. You did the right thing. Now we must continue to do the right thing."
"And what is that exactly? The Queen… Are we going to help her… Are we talking about… oh fuck… are we talking about trying to overthrow an old as fuck king?" Blackburn asked, fumbling for the words. He'd never been in a situation like this before and it was nerve-wracking to say the least.
"Honestly, it's too early to say what we'll end up doing. Saving the Queen may not even be an option if he decides to kill her. So for now we go home and do what Felipe says. We don't know who all the players are and we don't know what his end game is either. It's quite a jump from Nevada to Louisiana don't you think? What's his game here? Sure Sophie-Anne is a young queen, but so is Queen Elsa in Wyoming, which is considerably closer to Nevada than Louisiana. He's got to be here for more than expanding his territory and influence. We just need to figure out what before we make any movements of our own. So for now we play the game and do whatever the bastard wants." Eric said as the wheels were turning in his mind. He'd need to talk to Godric about this.
"Okay." Blackburn replied with a small breath. He would hate every minute of every day that he'd have to comply with that asshole's command, but if that was what was needed to survive then that's what he'd do.
"And Blackburn," Eric added, "We will need to keep our communications regarding this completely on the down low. No voice mails, no texts, no e-mails… we can leave no trace of anything that could give cause to Felipe to call our loyalty to his new regime into question. He will no doubt have us under surveillance. We will meet here once a week. Trust no one. If we need to get information to each other in between meetings, glamour a human and have them deliver the message in person, but not at any of our places, but rather at a public venue. I trust you with the details on carrying that out on your end."
"Yeah, I got it Eric." Blackburn replied before adding, "Thanks Eric."
"For what?" Eric asked curious.
"For guiding me through this god-awful mess." Blackburn replied, gratitude evident in his eyes.
"Don't thank me yet. We haven't gotten through anything. This is only just the beginning." Eric replied before adding, "Go home Blackburn. Get some blood and fuck someone. We'll meet next week, same time; same place. And remember, make sure you're not followed."
Blackburn nodded as Eric jolted up into the sky and flew towards Arabella and Godric, anxious to put this night behind him.
…
"Just like the lovely lady said, my name is Dion. Now why don't we all have a look-see at the damage that was done here tonight shall we?" Dion said in a tone much more upbeat than anyone should feel after the events of the night as he waved his arm out and nodded his head indicating he wanted them to get a move on. Three very confused souls cast their eyes at him, but other than that, nobody moved. Even though Arabella had spent some time with Dion in Cloud Cukoo Land, she didn't know why Dion was here now and Sam and Godric didn't know what was going on in general. "Come on, come on, we don't have all night and I promise; I don't bite. At least not that hard and definitely not without prior consent." He added with a wink before walking off in the direction of Arabella's house, figuring the others would soon follow suit.
The expression on Sam's face could only be described as 'what the fuck' as he looked to Arabella for a clue about what the hell was happening, while Godric, standing with a more regal nonchalant look upon his face, searched her eyes silently for answers as well. Not having spent any time in Cloud Cukoo Land, the two were like fish out of water and as such needed Arabella's guidance and confirmation that it was okay to follow the seemingly friendly god whose Maenad they had all just worked together to kill. Arabella, not sensing any danger, just shrugged her shoulders and followed Dion. Warily, Sam and Godric took it as a sign to follow as well. Even though Arabella didn't seem to worry about the god's wrath or whatnot, it didn't mean that she couldn't be under his spell, like the town was under Maryann's. This guy was a god after all and not just one of his lackeys, like Maryann. Although they had a million questions right now, they both independently decided to wait until they knew more about what was going on to ask. There was no need to rock the boat needlessly.
"Tsk tsk tsk." Dion said shaking his head while looking around at the current state of the Stackhouse family residence. "Maryann always did go all out in everything she did, there's no denying that. I have to say it's what drew me to her in the first place. She was so enthusiastic in all her efforts and her imagination definitely knew no bounds. But, this… this nonsense with destruction and chaos, that wasn't my wish at all. I mean, look at your house Arabella, it looks like Frankenstein's abode, how gauche. And ewwww, what is that smell. You know what, don't tell me; I don't want to know." He said while taking in the damage that Maryann had done to his niece's home. The group chose to stay silent as they continued to walk with him while he moved things around with a stick he had picked up along the way; things like an empty beer can here, a pair of oversized lacy thong underwear there, a set of dirty dentures, you know, typical Friday night get together stuff. The only saving grace for Arabella right now was that all the people who were trashing her house seemed to have scattered off after Maryann was killed. She was desperately trying not to lose her shit over the nasty scene and how the hell she was going to clean it all up when Dion blurted out, "Now, don't get me wrong, I love a good orgy now and then just like the next person. You know, variety being the spice of life and all that. Even getting dirty doesn't bother me in the least; you've all seen naked mud wrestling right? Mud can be glorious on a perky set of…" This admission brought her out of her internal melancholy and made her eyes go wide. Who just blurts that kind of information out to people you barely know, just met, or I don't know, are related to?
"La la la la la… I can't hear you." I blurted out while putting my fingers in my ears. I knew it was a childish thing to do, but honestly no one wants to hear that kind of thing from their relative, even if he is the god of those kinds of things and it's kinda his job… maybe, sorta; I didn't really want to ask. Even so, TMI people, TMI.
Sam and Godric just looked on at the pair wondering what was going on. It was obvious they knew each other on some level, but how? Arabella wasn't gone that long, was she? Had they met before and she didn't say anything or couldn't say anything?
Dion rolled his eyes. Of course mortals tended to be more prudish than gods, or vampires, or werewolves, or heck, who was he kidding? Mortals were the most prudish of all. "I keep forgetting… mortals and their sensibilities, but you get it, don't you shape shifter? Your kind needs to get naked to change into whatever animal you want. Can't exactly be prudish then, now can you. And you, cold one, you get it too." He said to Godric, who looked on at the god with a mixture of apathy and indifference. "Wow, you're rather stoic, even for a cold one. But, being as old as you are, you've probably already gotten the whole orgy, bdsm, sex-toy phase out of your system. Shame, but I'm sure it'll come back at some point. You know, run full circle."
"Oh my God. Shoot me." I said while closing my eyes and shaking my head. Godric just claimed me in Dallas, the last thing I needed right now was for him to find his inner 50 Shades of Grey and thinking I was up for that Pepsi Challenge.
Dion, noticing how uncomfortable Arabella was sighed before saying, "Fine, let me rephrase, I like a good party just like the next person. But Maryann completely twisted the whole concept of communal festive revelry into something you'd see in a porn movie if it was directed by Freddie Kruger. This party she threw here would be more up Hades' alley, not mine. He's the real pervert in the family, well him and that wife of his, Persephone, sexy little minx that she is. A right tawdry harlot that one; no matter how innocent and pure she tries to look. You want to talk about disturbing... I have stories about them that could as you say make a two-dollar hooker blush. In fact there was this one time, oh the images, but anyway, Hades equipped with a sno-cone machine, a riding crop, the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders and Persephone in all her nipple clamp, crotchless thong glory…"
"Oooookkkayyyy, so why are you here exactly Dion? I mean, you said you couldn't help out, so..." I quickly stammered out, not only because I really wanted to know, but also so I wouldn't have to hear about Hades and his Penthouse Letters stories. Dear Lord, what if I have to meet those two someday, like at a family reunion? Do gods have family reunions? Do they make you wear matching tee shirts that say something like, 'Greek reunion 2014'?
"You sure you don't want to hear about Hades, It's really quite an educational story as well." He replied while wiggling his eyebrows. It was fun to rile up his niece. She needed her feathers ruffled, especially with all that she's had on her plate recently. She needed to let off some steam and have some fun.
"No, not really; I'm good. So, you're here why?" I asked again, while thinking it might not be wise to introduce Lafayette and Tara to him. The stories the three of them would no doubt share would probably make my face permanently red from mortification. Not that I'm a prude mind you or a virgin, I'm just not that experienced. I hadn't gotten my PhD in the art of good old-fashioned regular sex yet let alone the kind that needs instruction manuals, signed waivers and a medical team waiting on stand-by, you know, just in case.
"Yes well, as you know, my hands were tied as to helping you bring Maryann's reign of wreckage to an end. Of which, I need to thank you all for by the way. I know it was not an easy task. However… while I couldn't help with ending her, I can help clean up the mess she left behind. We can't exactly have all this filth and carnage lying about for your whole town to see let alone remember, now can we? They can never know the truth behind all of this." He said matter of factly before he raised his hands to the sky. Then a loud crackle was heard as Dion channeled his magical energy all around them. The air was so thick with magic that it was giving them goose bumps and making all the hair on their bodies stand up. Soon enough, garbage was gone, the lawn looked better than ever and Arabella's home looked good as new if not better. The three non-gods looked at Dion in awe. Even Godric, in all his years, had never seen such an epic display of magical talent, and he knew more than a few witches in his day.
Once Dion was done putting everything back into its rightful state, he turned to the three with a deadly serious look upon his face and said in a low, authoritarian tone, "I expect my payment to be in the form of 50 good-looking nubile 18 year old virgins, 500 raw oysters and 100 bottles of your finest bourbon. I would get on that sooner than later. Wouldn't want to anger this god now would you?"
Arabella looked at Dion horrified. He couldn't be serious, could he? She just did everything in her power to save her town; she wasn't about to just hand over 50 girls to this god of sleaze because he power washed the town. Besides, this was Bon Temps, a little shit hole town in the middle of nowhere. There wasn't much to do but leave or fuck. She could probably count on one hand the number of virgins 18 or older that lived in town. And chances are if they were virgins it was because they probably weren't nubile or attractive.
Sam looked just as horrified as he shared the same thoughts as Arabella. Godric on the other hand looked on at the situation with veiled interest. He wondered where the god was going with this.
Dion broke out of his serious look and busted out laughing. "Oh… the look on your faces (he points to Arabella and Sam). Priceless! Did you think I was serious? Please, I'm a god. I don't need you to procure distractions for me, especially not those. Why on earth would I want a virgin let alone 50? Honestly! All that training and awkwardness. Pffft!"
Arabella glared at Dion while Sam looked mortified yet utterly relieved. Godric just chuckled softly while shaking his head slightly at the mischievous god. Dion's antics reminded Godric of a certain blonde child of his.
Now wagging his pointy finger at Godric, Dion said, "Awwww, now I knew that you weren't all that indifferent cold one. You got my humor. You and I will have to help this poor creature here find her mojo. She's in desperate need of some stress relief, if you know what I'm saying. Wink, wink."
"I do not need help finding my mojo. My mojo is just fine the way it is, thank you very much. What I do need help with is understanding why on earth you would think that telling highly inappropriate stories and making tasteless jokes would be funny after everything that's just gone on." I yelled back at Dion, waving my hands around in the air in frustration, clearly losing my shit. Obviously the events of tonight were no big deal to my whack-a-doodle uncle, but I was not exactly at the point in my life where this all would be no big deal.
Dion saw that maybe this wasn't the time to get this Stella her groove back, so he said, "You're right. This has been a very trying day for you all. My apologies. My only intent was to lighten the atmosphere. Maybe what you all need is a good nights sleep, or days sleep for you cold one."
"I can't. My bed needs to be burned." I replied while thinking back on the threesome who decided my bed would be the perfect place to explore their kinky side while under Maryann's influence.
"Oh, no worries there sweetheart. I took care of that already." Dion said with a self-satisfied smile.
"You took care of it? What did you do?" I replied curious. I saw that he had cleaned up everything on the outside, but I had yet to see the inside of my house.
"Why don't you take a look inside your house sweetheart." Dion said with smirk while he ushered us to follow him inside my house.
When we got to the front door, I opened it to find my house had been utterly and exquisitely renovated. I was at a loss at what to think about it though. On one hand, I had to admit that Dion had incredible taste. The editors of House Beautiful or HGTV would definitely want to take pictures of my house now with it's new high end classic furniture, its now perfectly painted walls, tasteful yet interesting wall art, modern lighting and beautiful Persian rugs. It was everything I would have loved to have done in the house and yet I felt a twinge of pain at seeing it. Everything that had made this house Gran's house was gone; the outdated floral wallpaper in the living room, the heirloom Irish lace curtains on the old lead windows, the faded velvet green sofa in the living room that usually had the multicolored diamond pattern afghan blanket that Gran had meticulously worked on for six straight months… It was all gone and replaced by Dion in the blink of an eye, making it seem like her presence was never even there in this house. I knew on some level I should be grateful, knew I should thank him for fixing everything that Maryann had done to my home, but I just couldn't. Maybe it was because it was his fault in the first place that everything was ruined; it was his Maenad after all. Maybe it was because even though he beautified the place, he did it without consulting me on what mine or Sookie's tastes and wants were. Maybe I wanted a Tiffany blue linen sofa instead of the light grey velvet one that was positioned facing the now white stoned fireplace. Maybe I wanted a reclaimed wood rectangular coffee table instead of the oval glass topped one that was there. Maybe I just wanted a say in something. Was that too much to ask for? Evidently yes, yes it was. Maybe I was just tired of all this supernatural bullshit and just wanted to come home to my old rundown, but entirely human made home. But, maybe it was too late for that. And maybe, just maybe I needed to come to grips with that.
"You know, a thank you would be nice." Dion said while looking at his nails as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.
"Maybe tomorrow." I replied, not looking at him but rather surveying the living room for any signs of anything being salvaged of Grans.
Dion, noticing his niece looking around the room, realized what she was looking for. "If you're looking for your old photos, they are reframed in the upstairs hallway. The old lace curtains have been upcycled as decoration on some pillows in each yours and your sisters' rooms. And as for the much beloved afghan blanket, it is restored into pristine condition in the entryway armoire. Essentially you'll see that there are bits and pieces of things from your old house that were salvaged."
I turned to look towards the entryway and saw Godric standing outside the doorway. "Oh my goodness, Godric, I completely forgot, please come in." Godric nodded in appreciation and slowly walked into the house, taking in the décor with interest. I then turned my attention back to Dion. "You know Dion, I'm not sure that I can thank you for righting all the wrongs that Maryann did because honestly, you're kinda at fault with all that by not getting rid of her sooner. And, I'm not really sure I can thank you for updating my house either, because you did it without even asking what my sister or I would like done. But, I guess what I can thank you for is for cleaning up everything and for saving some of my Gran's things. This was her house. She took us into this house when no one else did. She raised us selflessly and with so much love even though she was on her own and tired. She would never deserve to be wiped out of existence in this house. That would never do."
Dion was impressed by his niece's fierce loyalty. It was a trait that he wished more people would have. He was also impressed that she held him to task. Not many people would ever have the backbone let alone the balls to hold a god accountable for something, even if they are at fault. It was as refreshing as it was humbling. Yes, he was a god, superior in ability, intellect, and knowledge, but he was also at the same time fallible and in the end still accountable for his action or in this case, inaction. Yes the gods collectively agreed that certain mistakes should remain in the mortal realm for certain 'special ones' to clean up, to see who made the cut sort to speak, to see who was worthy. But, it didn't necessarily make it completely right; even he could see that. It was unfair, it put lesser beings in danger, and it took its toll on everyone involved. But there it was nonetheless and she called him out on it. Well not only that, but the fact that he took it upon himself to redecorate her house. He thought she'd consider it a gift, but after hearing her out, he realized that perhaps he should have asked first. But, what was done was done and he did the best he could so it would stay this way unless she or her sister changed it.
"I suppose I can understand where you are coming from. How about we just move forward from here then, shall we." Dion replied wanting to swept this unfortunate situation under rug. While Dion did parties and fun like no other, he didn't necessarily do angst and drama well. Let bygones be bygones he always said.
Sam decided that this would be a good time to take the heat off of Arabella and focus on what was going on around the town now. "So how does this work now? What will the town remember? Is the whole town back to normal? Is all the damage fixed?"
"Ah, this lovely town…" Dion said sarcastically with an eyeroll. These fools didn't even lift one finger to put up any sort of fight against the allure of Maryann. In fact, they pretty much let Maryann run through it like Godzilla on crack. "For the most part the town is back to normal, yes. No one will remember the bad stuff, only that there were some out of hand parties. From what I understand, that shouldn't be too unusual during football season."
Sam seemed content with that answer, but Arabella wanted more answers. "What about Jane Bodehouse? I think I remember her cutting her finger off thinking it'd be a better gift than say flowers or chocolates. Or Arlene's kids and everyone else at the hotel who wasn't under Maryann's control or Eric and Pam? What will they remember? How am I supposed to explain my house renovation, especially to my sister who isn't here now but lives here?"
Dion sat down dramatically with a sigh on the grey and white ikat patterned wing back chair in the living room. He was already tired of this conversation but he knew he needed to plow through it. "The lovely middle-aged saggy breasted alcoholic strumpet has been restored to her original ten digit self with which she will be able to continue her journey of self-debasement by using said digits to work any guy's member who buys her a drink."
"Wow, how do you know Jane so well?" Sam couldn't help but ask. The description Dion gave of her was spot on. Godric looked on with mild interest. He didn't know or really care who this Jane was, he'd seen more than his fair share of those types of people over the centuries, however he was interested in how and why this god did.
"Yeah, how do you know her so well?" Arabella asked dumbfounded as well. She could understand Aphrodite's interest in Hoyt's hottie daddy. But Jane? Jane not only lost her looks due to her alcohol addiction, but also more than a few brain cells along the way as well. Jane was definitely more nottie than hottie.
"I'm a god." Dion simply said, as if that should explain it all, and in his mind it did. Seeing that they expected a little more response he added, "As I said before Arabella, cleaning up messes is ingrained in us gods in the womb. We try to be as thorough as possible."
"Okay. What about the others at the hotel, my house renovation and my sister then?" I asked because I didn't want to be caught off guard about how to answer a question or perhaps slip myself by saying something that the others wouldn't know about because it was erased from their minds.
"I have left it to your discretion as to how much or how little you want to let the others know about what happened here. I do think it'd be best to limit how many people know about who I actually am though. I'd rather most people think of me as Dion, your long lost uncle four times removed from Mississippi who's just visiting for a spell." Dion said while he gracefully placed his feet on the glass coffee table. He was getting comfortable and settling in.
"And your British accent? How am I supposed to explain that?" I asked.
"You'd be surprised at how many people won't blink an eye over that." Dion responded with a shrug. "Think about how many people honestly believe reality TV is real. I mean really, all those Bachelor blokes, how can anyone think those fellows are really trying to find true love on TV?"
I had to admit that he had a point, this was Bon Temps we were talking about; it wasn't necessarily a Mensa playground. But, then something he said turned the light bulb in my head on, "Wait, you're not leaving?" I asked incredulously. Him sticking around sounded about as good of an idea as driving the wrong way down a one-way road.
"Kicking me out already? That's not very polite of you. After all I've just done for you." Dion replied cheekily and then added, "And not only for you. Hey Cold One…" He called out to Godric, who had just finished texting someone.
"Godric." Godric replied, not really wanting to be called Cold One forever by this god, but not wanting to offend the obviously powerful entity either.
"Oh, I suppose I should use your proper name. Well, Godric… I've set you up quite nicely here as well. Arabella, be a dear and open up the doors to that armoire in the corner." Dion directed Arabella to do it since he was quite cozy sitting.
I rolled my eyes, but did what he asked. Opening the armoire revealed Gran's afghan as well as some other items that Dion salvaged from the wreckage. "Gran's blanket. Thank you Dion." I said almost breathlessly as I pulled out the blanket and hugged the thankfully clean memento.
"Yes, yes. I'm not as heartless as you all seem to think. But, that wasn't exactly why I wanted you to open the armoire. Do you see the switch on the inside panel?"
"Yeah, here it is." I replied as I placed the blanket back on the shelf and flipped the switch, figuring that was what he wanted me to do. Before I knew it, the shelves and items on them receded further back into the armoire and floor opened up. The hole in the floor was dark, so I couldn't see what was down there, but I did see a ladder. "What the fuck?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, language young one." Dion said with a smirk and a wink. It wasn't like he never used such language; he just liked to portray himself as being very sophisticated and such. "Clap your hands once sweetheart."
I decided to just go with the flow at this point and clapped once. A light turned on to reveal that the ladder went down into a… room? I couldn't tell from my vantage point. "What's down there Dion? And you installed a clapper?" I asked as I clapped again and the light turned off.
"Yes! Isn't that an ingenuous invention? Clap on, clap off. Brilliant!" Dion said while clapping wildly making the lights in the room below start to go on and off like a strobe light. Godric just sighed at the sight while Sam wondered if he could sneak out to go look to make sure his restaurant was back to normal. He obviously wasn't needed here anymore.
"And you call me 'young one'…" I said shaking my head with a small smile. That little device seemed to give this almighty god whose probably seen and done it all so much joy. Go figure.
"Cause you are young and might I add very inexperienced. But enough of that for now. Godric, be a dear and go check out your temporary lodging." Dion said while he stopped clapping and took out a cell phone and started texting away.
Godric looked at Arabella with an unsure confused look.
"Don't look at me Godric. I'm just as clueless about this as you are." I responded huffily. It wasn't that I was upset with Godric. I wasn't. I was upset with Dion. How dare he build vampire lodging in my house without asking? What, was my house going to be The Stackhouse Suites for Vampires now? We'll turn the lights out for you and leave a bag of O negative on your pillow.
But it wasn't just the fact that I was uncomfortable with the idea of any vampire living in my home; it was that Godric claimed me in Dallas. Now he was moving in? Why would Dion think any of this was okay? What would Eric think? What would Sookie think? For goodness sakes, she lives here too. Oh dear Lord, Bill is going to loose his shit, for sure.
"Don't be shy Godric, go ahead and look." Dion said, never looking up from his texting.
"Godric wait." I said before turning to Dion. "Dion, put your phone down for a second." 'Who was he texting anyway?' I thought to myself. As far as I knew there was no cell phone plan that included coverage to Cloud Cukoo Land. Thankfully Dion complied, although with a roll of his eyes. "I mean no offense at all to you Godric, but Dion, have you lost your ever loving mind thinking I want a vampire living under my roof?"
Dion folded his fingers together while tapping his pointer fingers together while he thought of his answer. Finally, he responded, "Arabella, I am well aware of the… interesting situation that you two are in right now. However, there are more things afoot right now than just your immediate situation. It might behoove you to have reinforcements right here in your home. Go check out the new basement." He then went back to his texting.
I was no fool and realized that Dion was probably telling me more than he should. 'Forecast says stormy days are approaching so hunker down and take shelter folks or else you may get pelted by a shitstorm.' I couldn't help but think to myself. Maybe I should go on a vacation like Sookie and Bill and hide out in an ultra swanky hotel and get overpriced spa services and… 'Oh shit! Speaking of hiding out in a hotel. The others are probably wondering if we succeded.' I still had to deal with Dion and Godric, so I said, "Sam, maybe you should call the others at the hotel, just to let them know we're all okay. Maybe leave out some of this stuff though until we have a good story though."
"Yeah, they're probably wondering what's happening here." Sam said as he pulled out his cell phone from his pocket.
"Or they're too drunk to care, at least Lafayette and Tara that is. Hopefully not the kids. That'd be bad, like really bad." I responded, knowing that Jesus probably had to resort to getting Lala and Tara sauced to keep them from running over here to 'help'. I also had to hope that Kelsey wasn't having to deal with my brother's outrageous flirting as well. For a moment, I was glad I was here and not there.
"You know, I'm going to call them from the restaurant. I want to make sure everything is okay there." Sam said as he cautiously looked over at Dion. He didn't know if the god was going to let them leave or not and truth be told, Sam really wanted to high tail it out of there.
"It's fine shifter, but if you must check it out yourself, be my guest. And for the record, you're welcome." Dion said, not looking up from his texting.
"Uh, okay. Well, thanks?" Sam sputtered out before adding, "I'll just let the others know we're all okay but I won't say anything else until we get our stories straight."
"Thanks Sam." I said with an honest relief-filled smile as Sam left somewhat hurriedly out the door. Not that I blamed him in the least for leaving. I probably would have too if this wasn't my house.
"Oh sure, tell the shifter thanks with no problem whatsoever, but me…" Dion said huffily, but it was obvious he was just goading her.
"Well, he's not the one who put us in this pickle, now is he?" I responded just as huffily back.
"Touché." Dion said with a smirk while still texting. "Will you two just go down there and check out the new space already!"
I sighed in defeat before moving my arm to usher my new vampire houseguest and said, "After you Godric."
"Are you sure? I can stay elsewhere." Godric said, ever the gentleman. He knew that she had been through a lot recently and didn't want to add to her list of woes.
"Yeah, let's go see how tricked out your new temporary pad is. And I mean temporary." I said as Godric gave me a warm smile and walked over to the armoire and clapped. Dion had left the lights off after he stopped clapping like a two year old.
After Godric and I climbed down the ladder we were amazed at what we saw. As much as I wanted to hit Dion upside the head for taking all these liberties with my house, I had to admit, and only to myself, that the man had exquisite taste. It was getting harder to be mad at him with all he had done to redeem himself from the Maryann debacle.
The first thing we saw when we were down the ladder was a beautiful marble topped bar that flanked one wall in front of a wonderfully appointed lounge area complete with comfortable seating, a big screen TV, tasteful artwork and a mini-fridge stocked with blood bags. Walking further into the new space we discovered a full bathroom complete with a beautiful ceramic tile shower and a claw footed bathtub and a bedroom fit for a king. Seeing all this was making me excited to see my hopefully redone bedroom.
"Do you even need a place to stay Godric?" I asked, because I had no clue what his plans were, but I was pretty sure they didn't include living with me, or at least hoped they weren't.
"I was planning on purchasing a place somewhere in the vicinity, but this would be suitable until such time." Godric replied in earnest. His trip was rushed due to circumstance, so he would welcome staying here knowing his only other option right now would be either at Fangtasia, which he was not thrilled with. He loved his child and grandchild, but Fangtasia, that was more to Eric's tastes than his. Or, he could stay with Eric at his home. While staying with Eric would be fine, Godric took note of the not so subtle remark made by the god that things were afoot. Godric felt in the end that it would be better to stay with Arabella. He still had hope that his child would find his way back to her. Maybe he could help with that.
"Okay. Well, I guess we'll be roomies for the time being, that is if my sister is okay with it as well. She does live here too. She's on vacation with her boyfriend right now so I don't see why you can't stay here for the time being. When she returns we'll have to revisit everything. Are you okay with that?" I said, needing him to understand that this wasn't just my decision here.
"Yes. That seems reasonable." Godric said as he felt a familiar tingle in his body. "Let us return to your foyer. Eric is here."
…
Eric arrived at Arabella's house to find everything looked fine. In fact, everything looked better than fine. Everything looked amazingly fine; like the last few days of Monsoon Maryann hadn't happened at all. He knew that only one thing could have fixed everything so fast: magic. He wholeheartedly hoped that he wasn't walking into a trap of some kind and that everything was indeed as it looked…fine. His experiences with magic in the past were not the best.
As he walked up the stairs to the front porch of Arabella's house, Eric saw her through the window of her front door standing there, beautiful as ever in a white gown that accentuated all her God-given natural curves, with Godric and a tall dark haired attractive young man. Eric growled low under his breath at the sight of the unknown man. Who was he? What was his relationship with Arabella? Was he a pitiful yet viable rival for her affections? Between her being claimed by Godric and this new mystery man, jealousy was rearing its ugly head. It amazed Eric that she could draw out such emotion from him. No other in all his many years had ever been able to wrangle his emotions as she could by doing absolutely nothing at all, not even when he was human. She was just there and he was overcome.
He breathed in deeply before knocking on the door, thoughts swirling in his mind a mile a minute. He wanted some good news. He wanted to know who that fucker was and if he was after Arabella, he wanted him gone. He wanted her. He wanted her badly. He wanted his mistakes to go away so he could have her. He wanted this Felipe guy to spontaneously combust and be done with. And as he breathed out that breath he knew what he wanted was the impossible. He wanted a miracle. And unfortunately, Eric didn't believe in miracles.
Hearing a knock at the door made me turn my head to see Eric standing on my porch. I smirked as I walked over to answer. "So, who was the winner?" I asked with a chuckle.
"What?" Eric replied confused.
"The winner? Weren't you judging some teeny-weeny bikini contest? That's why you weren't here to help, right?" I asked jokingly. I didn't know where he was and didn't know if he'd tell me, but I did know that I needed to let some of the dread and weight of the day lift, even if just a little, even if it was with a lame joke. "Oh, let me guess, it was a busty brain-dead brunette named Bubbles who believed that world peace could be achieved if everyone could just hold hands and sing a U2 song, because it's just that simple."
"I would've come sooner if I could…" Eric began before I cut him off.
"Eric, I was joking, badly it seems, but really, I understand, we all have shit to deal with." I said with a sincere smile. I was glad that he was okay as well. To be honest, he had done all he could anyway, and I was grateful.
Dion watched the exchange between the tall blonde cold one and his niece with a glimmer in his eye. Between the body language and the lame flirting by his niece (he made a mental note to work on that with her) the sexual tension was so high you could cut it with a knife. Being the mischievous god that he was, he decided to have some fun with the situation, test the waters so to speak. So, he sauntered up to Arabella, put his arm around her waist, pulling her close and said, "Arabella darling, who is this fellow. Why haven't you introduced us yet? You know it's not polite." Dion caught out of the corner of his eye Godric trying to contain a smirk.
Eric's bright blue eyes turned dark with jealousy and I could tell he was ready to pounce on my uncle before I grabbed Dion's arm off of me and shrieked, "Uggghh! Seriously! Can't you not be inappropriate for one minute!" I knew exactly what Dion was doing and didn't appreciate it at all. I also was worried about what would happen if Eric tried to attack Dion. Would Dion smite him? Is that what gods do… smite? I had no clue nor did I really want to find out right now.
"Who is this man Arabella?" Eric asked hoarsely, trying to keep his fangs from descending. He didn't want this man to know how easily he could get riled up over Arabella, although he knew it was probably too late.
I sighed as I rolled my eyes before answering, "Eric, this is Dion, my uncle. Dion, this is Eric, my… friend." I grimaced as I said friend, but I didn't know what else to call him. We had grown close before everything in Dallas. Yeah, Dallas… I still had so much to process in regards to what had gone on recently. No, friend would have to do for now. I wasn't ready to write him off, but I wasn't ready to jump back on that train yet either.
"Your… friend. I see." Dion said, rather knowingly. "Well, friend, I'll have you know that I will be staying here at my niece's house for a little while with Godric over there. You know, Godric, your maker who has claimed my niece. Good times to be had by all I'm sure. Oh, by the way Godric, I know that you probably want to keep your presence here a local secret so to speak so the only ones who will know you're here for now are Arabella, Sam and of course Eric and his child. All others will conveniently forget you were ever here. Moving forward, it'll be up to you who knows of your presence. Well, I'm going to be off to my room now. Arabella, be a good girl and try not to stay up too late. I wouldn't be doing my duty as your uncle if I didn't look out for you. You are family and as such I must protect your best interests." Everyone in the room could read into the warning in Dion's words at the end, especially as Dion said the words staring hard and cold into Eric's eyes. He knew it was only his mind running wild, but Eric could swear the man knew his secrets; knew about his mistake with Sookie.
After Dion walked up the stairs, Eric asked, "Godric, is this true? Are you going to be staying… here? Where?" Eric worked himself into a tizzy as visions of his maker staying in Arabella's room, in her bed, lying with her naked raced through his mind. Between this 'uncle' and Godric living here, Eric was troubled to say the least.
Godric could sense Eric's distress even though his child's face remained calm. He knew he had to assure him that he wasn't taking up with his love. "Yes my child, I will be staying here. Arabella has a secret bunker under her house where I will reside. It is fully furnished and I will be quite comfortable there."
It was then that Eric stopped to take a look around Arabella's house. Not only was everything cleaned up, but the interior was different. How did that happen? Godric again sensed his child's thoughts and said, "A lot has transpired here tonight and there is much to discuss, I believe on both your front and ours. But I feel that the night was draining for most, so I think it would be best to tackle things tomorrow. I know you wish to speak with Arabella, so I will take my leave and retire to my new abode. Thank you Arabella for hosting me in your house. I will see you both when I awake tomorrow. Good evening." And with that Godric went down the hidey-hole to make himself at home.
"Let's go sit on my porch." I said to Eric as I walked out of my house and joined him on my front porch.
"Is that man really your uncle?" Was Eric's first question after I sat on my front porch swing with him.
"Yeah. Look, it's a long story. I'd rather talk about it later." I replied honestly. It was still too fresh and I was too tired to talk about it. And, to be honest, I didn't know how much I was going to tell people yet, especially my siblings.
"Fair enough." Eric replied. He could sense she was telling the truth, so he had no reason to push further now.
We fell into a comfortable silence, just looking out into the night sky, which twinkled like Christmas with it being such a clear night. We were both tired and weary from our experiences, and yet not enough to want to leave each other's sides just yet.
"How did everything get so fucked up?" I asked after a short while.
"You know, you have a way with words there Miss Stackhouse." Eric said with a twinkle in his eyes. He couldn't help but chuckle internally as he remembered how he thought the very same words earlier at the river.
"Well, old man, how would you, given your vast years of experience and learning, describe recent events?" I asked sarcastically with a smirk.
Eric pretended to think long and hard for a few moments before finally answering, "Things are pretty fucked up." He knew from the get go there was no other way to describe everything that's happened.
"Wow. That's all ya got? Given how long it took you to answer I thought you were going to give me a thesis on the subject, maybe with flow charts and a Venn diagram and stuff." I said with a chuckle.
Eric chuckled too. "No, no thesis or charts, but what I will say is that everything has seemed to go to hell in a hand basket since I've met you." But he thought to himself that he could not be more happier that she entered his world, even with everything that had transpired. In fact, he could not imagine her not being there anymore.
"Are you blaming me for all the woes befalling us lately?" I asked incredulously. "Because all this shit was soooooo NOT my fault, at all."
"No, I'm not blaming you in the least, but I will say that my undead life was pretty boring up until you walked into my life." Eric said with a small smile.
"Boring? Huh. You know you own a vampire bar/strip club where honeys are practically tripping over themselves to get your attention. I'd say that's gotta be as boring as skydiving nude into the Rocky Mountains while skeet shooting." I replied with an eye roll. I mean, did he think he was fooling? From what I had heard, he had women throw panties at him practically every night, men too.
"While it might seem very exciting from the outside, it can actually be very mundane. Yes, there are very beautiful people who come to the club, dance suggestively, offer themselves freely, degrade themselves but what is all that really? It's superficial, exciting and stimulating maybe at first, but in the end it's meaningless and quite honestly disgraceful to me and Pam." Eric replied, speaking the words he had thought for so long yet never had spoken to anyone.
"I guess I never thought of it that way." I replied, taken aback a little at his honesty.
"No, I suppose most wouldn't because I sit on that throne and play up to the fantasy, but that's what it is really isn't it, fantasy. When people come to the club and offer themselves to us vampires it's to live out their fantasy, to be desired and wanted by one of us, but does it matter to them which one of us? Does it matter that they don't know a thing about us? No. We are just as objectified by them as they are to us. There's no romance, no intellectual stimulation, no emotional stimulation. It's just lust in it's basest form. Not to say that there's no use for that, obviously everyone has urges, but it gets old after awhile." Eric said, feeling relief for finally getting that off his chest after so long.
"You could always stop sitting on the throne." I suggested after a moment of silence.
"Perhaps." Eric said cryptically. He had been thinking about selling Fangtasia for a while, or just giving it to Pam who didn't seem to mind the superficiality of it all yet.
"Well anyway, it wasn't I who walked into your life, you walked into mine if I recall correctly." I said, remembering how he walked into Merlotte's as if he owned the place, all swagger and sex. And he was the perfect image of sex.
"Yes, I guess that would be true, but as I recall, you couldn't take your eyes off me while we chatted in that back room." Eric said with a smirk. He'd be lying if he said that he wasn't glad that she found him attractive. He wanted her to want him. He wanted her to still want him after she finds out about him and Sookie, and find out she will. It was just a question of when and how, not if.
"Where else was I supposed to look? You took up like half of the room with all your Vikingness." I replied waving my hand up and down his body in the air, somewhat lying. I did give him a good once over a few times that night. I had never seen such a gorgeous man before in my life. Great, now I felt like one of the ho's at Fangtasia, objectifying him. I could feel my face drop at the thought.
Eric noticed her face drop and knew it had to do with his earlier comments. His intention wasn't to make her feel bad as she most certainly wasn't one of the fangbangers from his club. So, he took her face delicately in his hand, stared deep into her eyes and said, "I was equally enraptured with you as well, even if I didn't want to admit it at the time."
"Why would you not want to admit it? Is it so bad to want me?" I asked confused and slightly hurt, especially after remembering him rebuffing my advances before.
"No, not at all. You have to understand, I have lived my life a certain way for a very long time. Attachments are… difficult… to say the least and dangerous in most cases." He answered.
"Dangerous?" I asked.
"Yes, for the other person. I don't want to ever put your life at risk Arabella." He replied, honesty dripping in every syllable. He never wanted her to hurt a day in her life, especially not on his account.
"Well, unfortunately trouble seems to be following me without it coming from you." I replied with a sigh.
"Yes, you do seem to attract some strange situations lately." He stated with a slight chuckle.
"That would be the understatement of the year." I retorted with my own small chuckle.
"I suppose so." He said before they fell into another comfortable silence, each reflecting on their night and what their next moves would be.