Disclaimer: I am not the owner of these characters. The original story and the characters belong to Charlaine Harris. I am only borrowing them for a little while.

Chapter 22

An internal battle woke me up; my brain said I had to get up and get ready to work, but my body wanted to sleep a little bit longer. It was just after noon when I dragged my body out of bed, but not without difficulty. My body was sore, pleasantly sore, but still sore.

I hit a wall of rotten eggs smell mixed with who knew what else the moment I entered my bathroom, and my eyes went straight to the floor where Eric's wet clothes laid. I would've taken them straight to the washer machine, but I really had to use the restroom. As soon as I was done, I grabbed the clothes with the tip of my fingers and rushed to wash them.

I really wanted to take the day off and go back to sleep, but I couldn't. I didn't want Sam to think that now that I was part owner of Merlottes I was going to take advantage of him. After what Jannalynn did, it wouldn't surprise me if Sam had developed trust issues.

I set up the coffee maker and then went to take a shower. The smell was horrible, so I opened the small window to air the bathroom. I took a quick shower and by the time I got dressed, the bathroom smell was much better. So, I closed the small window, but now my room was unusually cold. I changed into long pants, and by the time I finished fixing my pony tail, I noticed that something was on my pillow. I turned my head slowly, looking for the delivery source, but I was alone in my bedroom.

My heart pounded so hard that I thought it was going to come out of my chest. My legs shook as I slowly approached my bed. It was a white envelop which had been delivered while I was in the shower. It couldn't be a vampire because it was daytime. It had to be a shifter or a fairy. I grabbed the envelope with shaking hands and opened it.

The message was written with a fancy handwriting on a paper material that I'd never seen before. The texture was so soft that I was scared it would disintegrate on my hands.

Dear Great Granddaughter,

Danger is coming your way. Please be careful.

Love,

Niall

How did he deliver this letter? Was he just here or did he send somebody to deliver it? What danger was he talking about? I wished his message was more specific than this.

"Eric!" I said out loud as I put the letter on my bed and rushed to his hiding spot in the other room.

Luckily, the room looked untouched. The items from the closet were placed by the door and the comforters that I used to cover Eric yesterday were carelessly thrown on the floor.

And they reeked too.

I replaced all the items back inside the closet to give the impression that nothing was underneath the floor and took the comforters to the washer machine. The load that I had previously set up was done, so I put the comforters on the floor and got the now clean clothes into the dryer. A distinctive metal, almost musical sound broke the silence of my house. I looked around, but didn't see anything until I spotted it on the far end corner: it was the Cluvier dor.

"Oh no!" I whispered as I rushed to get it. I had left it I the pockets of my pants that I had just washed with Eric's clothes.

"Did I damage it?" I talked to myself as I inspected it. It looked as if nothing happened, but what about inside? I thought.

I will have to ask Great Grandfather about this. He would know. I fixed a cup of coffee and was enjoying it on my way upstairs, when there was a knock on the front door. I stopped, frozen in place. My blood pressure went down fast as I remembered Great Grandfather's message. Would danger knock at my door?

Another knock followed.

I put the Cluvier dor in my pants pocket and went to the door as quiet as I could. I closed my eyes and lowered the walls in my brain.

My visitor was human, a man who was too happy to be here. He was too excited for the big payout that he was going to receive after this delivery. He wanted to replace the stove in his house and get a new set of tires for his SUV. He wondered if he was going to have some money left to take his coworker out whom he had a crush on.

And there was a name that I was very familiar with: Eric Northman.

I opened the door, and sure enough, the man in front of me smiled from ear to ear.

"Good afternoon, how may I help you?" I asked prompting him to talk while I kept track of his thoughts.

"Are you Miss Stackhouse?" he asked.

"I sure am," I said smiling.

"I was instructed to deliver this to you. Mr. Northman was very specific that I had to be here at this time to give you this in person," the man held a set of keys on the air, showing it to me.

"What's that for?" I asked.

"You are the new owner of this brand new SUV. Mr. Northman specifically requested to be white. It's fully loaded. I'm here to show you all the features that it has and to make sure that it fulfills your expectations. If there's something that you don't like, we can change it or add it."

This was too much for me. I really wanted to return it because first, I couldn't afford the car payments which I could only guess the astronomical amount, and second, this SUV was way out of my league. However, the man's thoughts told me that he would lose the payout if I wasn't fully satisfied. Leave it to Eric Northman to set up such stipulations… or was this Pam's idea? I just couldn't destroy this man's plans.

"Thank you! I wished I'd the time to learn all the features that it has, but to be honest, I'm about to be late to work. How about you give me your business card and if I have a question, then I'll call you."

"Of course," he said as he produced his business card out of his wallet. "Please, feel free to call with any question you may have. I'm here to make sure that you're satisfied with our product," he said.

After the normal pleasantries, he left in a second car that had been waiting for him. I really didn't have time to check the SUV, or to even verify the car payments. I had to hurry up and go to Merlottes.

"Eric Northman, we'll talk about this tonight," I said to the empty house. Eric was dead to the world at the moment, but it felt good to threaten him even if he couldn't hear me.

I went upstairs drinking my coffee, which was no longer hot, to get Niall's letter. I looked on my bed and it was gone. The only thing left in its place was a little pile of dust. Maybe that was my only chance to get in touch with my Great Grandfather, and now I'll have to wait until I saw him again.

I went on to dust away the remnants off my bed when I noticed the dust glowing. The magic in it looked so pretty. Then, something occurred to me and I grabbed some dust and slightly rubbed it between both hands. A sweet smell came from it, followed by a glowing light. The light began to subdue and an empty piece of paper rested on my hands. This was fascinating.

"I need a pen!" I told myself out loud as I opened my night stand drawer looking for one; I found it really fast. I laid the paper on the night stand to write the message to my Great Grandfather when I noticed that something was written on it.

I need a pen! It said. The exact same words I had just said out loud.

I grabbed the piece of paper again and said "delete that" and the words disappeared right in front of my eyes. Amazing!

I thought for a full minute what to say to Niall, but every thought included the word Cluvier dor which wasn't good. I finally settled for something simple,

Dear Great Grandfather,

I need to speak to you. It's not urgent, but it's important.

Love,

Sookie

I put the letter on my bed and went to open the small window in the bathroom. I didn't know if it had anything to do with it, but I wanted to be safe than sorry. When I went back to my bedroom, the letter was gone. Now, I just hoped that it was going to work out.

I closed the window again and rushed out of the house. I was seriously running late to work.

I had no other choice than to drive the new car to Merlottes, but I had to admit it, it was so smooth that it felt as if I was driving over clouds.

Note: Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! This weekend we'll celebrate New Year's, so please be safe. And whatever you do, make sure that you start the New Year doing something that you love!

Note 2: I have been debating about different ideas that I have for this story. I have reached a point where I have two choices: 1) Plan A: Find a way to finish this story with the HEA that you guys are waiting for. It might take me almost 10 more chapters to be done. 2) Plan B: I have several ideas to continue this story which could add another 25 chapters (or more) which would include adding between 4 - 5 new characters (3 vampires and 2 humans). These new characters would join the adventures of our beloved characters. Here, Sookie would continue exploring her future next to Eric and our Viking will face new threats and dangers. Never a dull moment!

Which one would you like to see happening: Plan A or Plan B? Would adding new conflicts discourage you from continuing reading the story? (Hint: this plan is way beyond the book series).