A/N I know that this chapter is fairly short. but I feel that the chapter stands better on it's own. There is reference to abuse, just to warn you. Let me know what you think. I love your reviews and they make me write more.

I knew that I was dreaming, but this was my worst nightmare that I had not had to endure for many years and I thought that I would never have to again. I was a little girl again in Gran's house, but she wasn't there and neither was Jason. I was alone with Uncle Bartlett and I was terrified. I was curled up in Gran's room and trying to hide and block out his black thoughts of what he wanted to do to me, but it was useless.

I wished that Gran was there, that Jason or Momma and Daddy were there. I wished that I was strong enough to fight back, but I wasn't. Bartlett was getting closer and my anxiety and panic were growing. I wanted to run, but I was frozen where I was.

I watched as he appeared at the door and I could see that creepy smile spread across his face. I could feel the tears streaming down my face and I couldn't stop them. "No, please Uncle Bartlett, please don't do this." He stepped closer to me and I started screaming, "No, please don't Uncle Bartlett. NOOOOOOOOO!"

"Sookie wake up. Lover you are having a nightmare and you need to wake up now." I slowly opened my eyes and looked up into the concerned eyes of the man that had pulled me from my personal hell. "Are you all right?"

"I am now." I threw my arms around his neck and nuzzled close to him. "I had a bad dream."

"You were talking in your sleep. You were talking about somebody named Bartlett. Who is this Bartlett?"

I was afraid to tell him about Uncle Bartlett until I heard Nessa's voice in my mind. You need to tell him and except the consequences. I didn't know what consequences she was talking about, but I knew that I had to tell him. "The Bartlett I was talking about is my Uncle Bartlett Hale. He's my Gran's brother." I paused and took a deep breath before I continued. "He was always really touchy feely with me when nobody was around. At first I thought it was like when Gran was hugging and touching me, but I could see in his mind that this was different, that it was wrong."

"What about your parents? Couldn't they stop him?"

"They didn't believe me when it first started happening, then they were killed in a flash flood when I was seven. My brother Jason and I went to live with Gran and Uncle Bartlett would come over every Sunday after church for supper. He would always somehow get me alone in a room and brush his hands over my body where he wasn't suppose to be touching me.

"One Sunday Jason and his friend Hoyt were down at the pond about half a mile in back of our property and Gran needed to run to the store for milk so she could finish fixing supper." The tears were streaming down my face and I couldn't stop my body from trembling at the horrible memories that I was reliving in my mind that I had never wanted to think about again. Eric was caressing my hair and holding me close in his arms and that gave me the courage to continue my story. "After Gran had left I heard what Uncle Bartlett was going to do to me now that we would be alone for awhile. He was going to rape me." The sobs took over my body in that moment and I was shaking even more. I forced myself to calm down so that I could finish my story.

"I went into Gran's room hoping that he wouldn't find me before she came back, but I couldn't stop crying then and he heard me. He came in the room and I could hear loud and clear what he was going to do to me and I was so frightened. I tried to make myself as small as possible, but it didn't hide me from him. He came over to me, pulled me up off the floor, and pushed me face down onto the bed. I wanted to fight him off, but even though he was an old man even back then, he was still stronger than my nine-year-old self was.

"I also didn't fight because that was what he wanted me to do. He also enjoyed my tears, but that wasn't something that I could stop. I was so lost in what was happening to me I didn't hear Gran come back into the house having forgotten her purse. She heard me crying and she walked in just as he had pulled my pants down, but before he could go any further." I could feel Eric tense up at my words. I could feel my tears flow even faster as I was getting to the end of my story.

"Gran screamed bloody murder asking him what he was doing to me. She came at him and hit him over and over. It was one of the few times I have ever heard her swear. She chased him out to the living room and I heard her pull out Granddaddy's shotgun and she calked it as she told him to get out and never come back again and he never did."

I watched Eric through blurry eyes as he went into the bathroom and brought me a roll of toilet paper so that I could wipe my eyes and blow my nose. I watched him as I did that waiting for him to get back into bed with me, but he didn't. I watched as he got dressed and I felt my heart sink. I didn't want him to go. "Are you going somewhere? I thought that you could stay a little while longer."

"There is something urgent that I must take care of tonight." He was tense I could see that he was almost ripping his clothes as he was putting them on.

As he headed for the door I got a very bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I pulled the sheet tighter around me and followed him. "Eric, please tell me where you are going?"

He didn't look at me as he spoke. "You do not need to know. Go back to sleep. You have had a very trying day. I will see you tomorrow night." He was out the bedroom door, but I couldn't let him leave.

"Eric, please. I have a bad feeling about what you are about to do, whatever that is. Please don't leave."

He turned towards me and I could see the anger on his face, but I knew that he wasn't angry at me. "You were the one who came to me. I'm doing what I have to do to protect you. Remember that." I watched him race downstairs at vampire speed. I followed him realizing what he was going to do.

I made it out the door just as he took to the sky. "Eric, Eric come back. Please don't do this." I looked around and he was long gone. I wanted to go after him and get him to come back here with me, but I knew that he was faster than me and I wouldn't be able to find him in time to stop him. No matter what I did, tonight my Uncle Bartlett was going to die.