Chapter 7
** Sookie's POV**
"What is taking her so long?" I watch silently as Eric paces the very large suite. We had arrived back at the Hotel Camilla to await Nan Flanagan, spokeswoman for the VRA and general pain in our collective asses, for a debriefing on all of the events that have occurred over the last three days.
"She will get here when she gets here Eric. Behaving like a petulant child is not going to make her come any faster. Need I remind you that you are well over a thousand years old, act your age. There is no need for you to be so… restless," Godric says lightly. I know he is just trying to put things in perspective for Eric, make him see that patience is a virtue and all that, but with Eric you have to use a more gentle touch. Otherwise you're liable to get your fingers bitten off.
I pat the couch cushion lightly and I try to give Eric my most playful and sweet smile I have. "Come sit with me Eric."
He rolls his eyes dramatically at me, flops on the couch, crosses his arms, and sulkily says, "We have been waiting for this shrew for over an hour. There is a reason for meetings to be set at a certain time, so that everyone actually shows up!" Godric and Isabelle glare at Eric. Isabelle had been asked to also join us in the debriefing and as Godric's second in command she had to be here. Eric glares right back at them and I see him open his mouth preparing to make some cutting remark. I squeeze Eric's knee lightly and kiss his cheek, hoping he would calm down. His entire body relaxes slightly and I can't help but smile at the fact that I can put him at ease so quickly. He reaches out and strokes my cheek softly, giving me a nod of appreciation.
"Game face Viking, the wicked witch approaches." I wink at him lightly, and he nods at me solemnly. I watch astounded by his instant change in demeanor. Suddenly, Eric goes from petulant child vampire throwing a hissy fit over being kept waiting, to cool, confident, aloof vampire who could hardly give a flying fuck about anyone's presence.
The large, black lacquered double doors burst open dramatically, and two men in monkey suites and sunglasses fill up the entryway. I bite my tongue as the theme song from Men in Black plays through my head. 'We are the men in black, galaxy defenders.' That's what these two thugs are too, men in black, for goodness sakes they even wore those little plastic earpieces
They glare around the room, scoping it out for any threats or supposed issues that may occur. Well I can only assume they are glaring due to the very black sunglasses. Really, who wears sunglasses indoors at night? Oh yeah vampires who don't need to worry about the little trivial things like perfect eyesight hindered by dark glasses; their eyesight is beyond perfect.
I once heard on Public Television that a vampire's eyesight is ten times better than a hawk, which is pretty damn good considering the fact that a hawk's eyesight is eight times more powerful than a human's. The monkey boys look at each other and nod once, having one of those manly men silent conversations, and take a step into the room and then each one took a step to the outside of the door frame.
There, framed by the black lacquer doorframe and two vamps that look closer to apes than men, stood Nan Flannigan. She is dressed all in white, a very smart looking pant suit that suited her tiny frame perfectly; I could never pull something like that off. My hips are too wide for the darn pants to lay correctly, not that curvy hips are a bad thing, but if you have child bearing hips, as my Gran used to call them, you are not meant to wear a pant suit. Nan's ice blue eyes glance over the room coldly, her lip turning up in a snarl of disgust when they land on Godric. She was clearly not happy.
Nan struts, like a damn roster, across the room, her stiletto heels sinking deep into the plush white carpet. Something about them seems off to me. I tilt my head slightly and watch, as this woman who is going to be grilling us for God knows how long, glides towards the fireplace at the center of the room. Without any cue what so ever from her, one of her body guards slides behind her placing one of the large overstuffed chairs in front of the fireplace. She sits down gracefully, a queen in her throne and us her subjects, awaiting judgment.
She crosses her legs, her ankle over her knee like a man, and not the proper way for a lady, one ankle in front of the other, and I finally figure out what is wrong with the heels of her shoes. They are made of silver! I almost gasp aloud with the realization. What kind of woman, no scratch that, vampire would run around wearing silver on their shoes? 'The kind of woman who is often killing vampires with the heel of her boot,' my mind supplies.
I gulp, in what I am sure is audible to every vampire in the room, and my heart begins to thump harshly in my chest. This is not a woman to be taken lightly. She leans forward, placing her elbows on her knees and says, "Do you have any idea of the fucking PR mess you've made? And who had to clean that shit up? Me, not you, me. I should drain every one of you bastards." Her shrill voice washes over the room, and sends chills down my spine. I know her threat isn't just an idle one; if it suits her desires, she really will drain every one of us. Fuck.
Eric stiffens slightly beside me. If his leg wasn't pressed up against mine I doubt I would have even noticed, let alone anyone else in the room. "Stan went to the church on his own. None of us knew anything about it!" He practically shouts.
"Oh really? Because everyone who has met Stan in the last three hundred years knew he had a kink about slaughtering humans. But you, his nest mates, his sheriff had no clue?" She says arrogantly and waves her hand slightly to indicate Godric and Isabelle were clearly the ones at fault in this situation.
"And how were we supposed to know that this time he meant it?" Isabelle says mockingly. It was a good question. How is it that they are to be held responsible for another vampire's action?
"Not my problem, yours." Nan sneers at Godric and points to him in a flippant manner.
"Don't talk to him that way," Eric growls at her, leaning forward in a threatening pose. Oh this is so not good, and all I can do is look back and forth between them as the volley is tossed back and forth. I feel like I am watching a ping-pong match; the tension is moving too quickly for me to say or do anything, to avert the oncoming disaster.
"Don't talk to me that way," Nan replies coolly, mimicking Eric's pose. I place my hand on Eric's knee praying that he will back off just a little. I really don't want to die tonight after everything I have already survived.
"Let's get to the point. How'd they manage to abduct you?" She asks Godric, raising an eyebrow quizzically. Actually, now that I thought about it, that was a darn good question. How did they manage to abduct a two thousand plus year old vampire? It shouldn't have happened.
"They would've taken one of us sooner or later, I offered myself." The whole room fell silent. I may be the only one staring at him open mouthed in shock, but I know I am not the only one who is blown away by this revelation.
"Why?" Nan asks, clearly puzzled. 'Yeah why?' I scream at him in my head. 'Why would you do such a stupid, STUPID thing?'
"Why not?" Godric says in a cool level voice and shrugs his shoulders. It took every ounce of inner-strength, and Eric flipping the script by placing his hand on my knee, to keep me from leaping into Godric's lap and slapping the hell out of him.
I nod my head once at Eric slightly, letting him know that I will be fine. 'I am not going to ruin this meeting by slapping the shit out of Godric. I am not going to ruin this meeting by slapping the shit out of Godric.' I repeat my new mantra over and over again in my head. 'But the second we are alone he is gonna get a piece of my mind.'
Then Nan drops another bomb on us and I almost do leap over and beat the hell out of Godric for his stupidity. "They wanted you to meet the sun and you were willing?" I must have moved because Eric grabbed my hip and squeezed tightly, not enough to hurt me, but enough to let me know now was not the time. The three of us would deal with this later.
Godric simply shrugs his broad shoulders and says coolly, "What do you think?" After everything we went through! Eric was worried sick; I was almost raped and beaten horribly by Gabe. Not to mention the fact that Bill then did rape me and beat me even worse. All because Godric had some kind of… death wish… WHAT THE FUCK!!
"I think you're out of your mind." I couldn't contain my snort of incredulity 'that's putting it mildly' I thought. Both Godric and Nan look at me raising an eyebrow questioningly. I feel a blush overtake my cheeks, I shake my head slightly and avert my gaze to the floor. "And then I hear about a traitor?" Nan continues.
I watch Isabelle stiffen and relax so quickly when Nan mentions the traitor, I would have missed it if I had blinked. "Irrelevant, only a rumor. I'll take full responsibility," Godric says, waving off any indication that Hugo had anything to do with the little "incident" at the Fellowship of the Sun church. If I ever get my hands on that bastard I am going to scratch his eyes out, regardless of how fond of him Isabelle is.
"You bet you will," Nan says smugly.
"You cold bitch," Eric says and I bite my tongue to keep from myself from either laughing at Eric's cocky response, or gape incredulously at him for talking to someone who could have us all killed in an instant if it suited her.
Nan continues, clearly unaffected by Eric's little outburst and name-calling. "Listen, this is a national vampire disaster and nobody at the top has any sympathy for any of you. I should fire your sorry ass right now!"
"I agree," Godric says and shrugs his shoulders. What the hell? This is not the Godric I have come to know. Why is he acting this way?
"Godric fight back," Isabelle says, grabbing his elbow in her little hands and shaking him a bit.
"What are you saying? She's a bureaucrat you don't have to take shit from her!" Eric screams at Godric. Clearly he is just as upset by Godric's flippant attitude as Isabelle and I are. I cannot wrap my mind around why he is just rolling over and taking this shit.
"You wanna loose your area Viking?" Nan says snarkily, attempting to check Eric on his behavior.
"Well you don't have that kind of power," Eric says in almost a sing song voice. He is almost like a child, sticking out his tongue and singing 'nanny nanny boo boo' at her.
"Hey I'm on TV. Try me. It helps that the council has given me full power to make whatever decision I see as necessary, to ensure that our transition into society goes smoothly," she says in that same sing song voice Eric had just used, and I hear in my head the appropriate child responseof 'I'm rubber you're glue, whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you.' These vampires are worse than kindergarteners.
"I'm to blame. I should've contained Stan the second Godric went missing!" Isabelle shouts dramatically at Nan, standing abruptly and crossing her arms over her chest. I can tell she really wanted to stomp her foot in a fit, but somehow manages to reel herself in.
"Isabelle," Godric raises his voice slightly in warning. He turns to Nan and says, "I remove myself from all positions of authority."
"Works for me," Nan says, a smirk sliding across her face.
There is no way I am letting this go down. I stand and walk towards Nan suddenly before Eric or Godric even have time to react to my moving. I want to badly slap that smile off of her face but I know that would be very stupid, to say the least. Isabelle isn't quite as slow on the uptake though because she grabs my arm, shakes her head and says, "Sookie, Sookie don't."
"I owe him," I hiss at her, my teeth clenched tightly, my jaw in pain from my teeth pressing together so firmly. There is no way that I am going to let Godric just resign and there is definitely no way that I am going to allow this woman to continue to blame this whole mess on Godric. "Miss Flanagan, Godric rescued me from a really large rapist, who probably would've killed me too. Not to mention the whole mess with Bill."
"That's nice," Nan mocks.
"No Listen," I plead.
"Moving on," Nan says, trying to talk over me. Well you don't grow up in a house with Jason Stackhouse and not learn how to get your point across loudly.
I interrupt her, raising my voice several octaves so that she has to pay attention to me, so that she HAS to listen. "And then he rescued humans in that church plus a whole lot of vampires. You think it's a PR mess now it could've been a hundred, a million times worse. You should thank him."
"For getting kidnapped? For attracting a suicide bomber? For piss poor judgment? I think not," she says, mocking me again. It is clear that she is perfectly fine with Godric being the fall guy in this whole mess. I may not be very happy with him for his actions, but that doesn't mean he should lose his position.
I must have been leaning into Isabelle's firm grip because I stumble slightly when she suddenly lets me go, blurring across the room to stop Eric. I have been so focused on Nan and her bitchy, retarded attitude that I didn't realize that Eric was losing his cool. Isabelle places herself between Eric and Nan, putting one hand on his chest and says softly, "Don't."
"Eric. It doesn't matter," Godric says firmly, letting Eric know clearly that he needs to back the hell off of his current collision course with disaster.
"Tell me about the bombing, I want every single detail," Nan snaps coldly, arching an inquisitive eyebrow at Godric. Isabelle, Eric, and I all settle back in to our various positions and turn towards Godric, who is going to relate this awful tale for us.
"Eric and I were speaking with Sookie when a boy walked in the lair. I thought he was someone's human companion. I noticed that the boy was having words with Sookie's brother, which immediately caused me to become suspicious. Before I had an opportunity to inquire about his presence the boy announced that he was from the Fellowship of the Sun and that he had a message for us from Reverend Newlin. He unzipped his jacket revealing the bomb." Godric's words are hallow and emotionless, but I can see the pain of this tragedy weighing heavily upon his mind. He is haunted by the travesty that occurred in his nest and his words hang heavily in the air causing a chill to run down my spine, from reliving that horrendous scene.
"And why didn't you stop him from blowing up your nest?" Nan asks.
Godric spreads his hands in a helpless gesture. "There was no time. I was not close enough to the boy to stop him. Some of my fellow nest mates tried and failed losing their lives in the process. I did the only thing I could do, protect Sookie from the blast. We were close enough that it would have killed her, but not close enough to have stopped it."
"You protected this girl from getting killed?" Nan asks incredulously.
"Yes," Godric says firmly, enunciating the word in a firm assertion that he would do it again if need be. I almost smile at that, even though this situation is crappy as hell, he is so sweet.
"Why?" Nan asks, narrowing her eyes at him.
Before Godric even has the opportunity to grace her royal bitchiness with an answer though, Eric butts into the conversation. "She is valuable for one, and for two she is precious to Godric and myself." He slides his arm around my waist and pulls me firmly against his side. My mouth falls open in shock at his very open display of, what some would consider weakness and affection.
"If it wasn't for her," Isabelle says drawing my attention to her, "we would have lost over three quarters of our nest, including Godric and Eric."
Nan whips her head from Isabelle's face to mine, eyeing me speculatively and I suddenly feel like a little worm on a big fucking hook, helpless and unable to prevent from being cast into the rapids that await me. I look down at my lap, clench my fingers tightly, and try desperately to get that super power I had always wanted as a child, invisibility. "How, did this girl save the nest?"
Godric slips his hand into mine, and squeezes it once to help reassure me. "Apparently, she organized the surviving humans and vampires to have all of the silver removed from our systems. She had the vampires accompany the humans so that they could contain the hurt vampires in case they got out of control while they were having the silver removed and then feeding off the human if need be. She also, from what I understand, organized shelter and transportation to said shelter, for all of the vampires to rest for the day."
"Why do you say it that way Godric? Why are you saying 'apparently' and 'as I understand?'" Nan asks. I glance up at her and see that she is truly puzzled by this.
I look over at Godric and watch a slow smile spread across his face. He clears his throat and says, "Well, I was not conscious during all of this. From what I have been told Eric and I sustained the worst injuries, besides the vampires that lost their lives of course. If the silver had not been removed both of us would have met our final deaths. Sookie took it upon herself to remove the silver from us. It had worked its way so deeply into our systems that she had to suck the bullets and shrapnel from our bodies. She also donated her own blood to both Eric and I, so that we could heal from our injuries quickly. Which is, I am reluctant to say, what set off Bill. He was outside the lair when the bombing occurred, having removed his maker after she attacked Sookie. When he returned he found Sookie helping Eric with his injuries."
"Yes, you mentioned something about that earlier Sookie. What is this incident with Compton?"
I cringe into the couch as if I had just been struck. I really didn't want to tell this woman, this cold heartless woman, about the hell that Bill had put me through. Godric pulls me into his lap and runs his fingers slowly up and down my spine. "It is all right Sookie, I understand your reluctance to speak of that cad and what he did to you, but you have to in order to help us protect you from him." He squeezes my ribcage firmly, comforting me in my obvious misery and fear.
I nod my head in acceptance and turn partially towards Nan. "Well…" I start, but am immediately interrupted by the huge double doors bursting open and there stood Bill.
I whimper slightly at the site of my tormentor, the man I had loved, and turn my face into Godric's chest. Before I even have time to realize it, Godric lifts me up and places me into Eric's awaiting lap, quickly making his way across the room and slamming Bill into the nearest wall.
"I warned you Compton. I told you to leave my area or you would be torn to shreds for the crimes you committed against Sookie. You not only choose not to listen, but also had the audacity to show your face to me. Now you will pay the price for your foolish error."
"Sookie is MINE!" Bill hisses between his teeth. His violent proclamation rips through me and my body begins to shake in terror. He turns his head to Nan and says, "I demand that you have these two fools return my property at once. They burst into my hotel room, physically assaulted me, and took that girl."
Eric growls deep in his chest and I feel my silent tears begin to slip down my face. I am so afraid that somehow I am going to be forced to return to that monster, despite Eric and Godric's reassurances that it would never happen. "You really think we would allow something like that to happen?" Godric questions him. "You are never going to touch her ever again, you are an abomination. The things you did to her were atrocities, and they make us all look like the monsters that the Fellowship paints us to be."
"It was nothing more than she deserved after her betrayal," Bill spits at him. "She is mine to do with as I please."
"She is no longer your concern. She asked for our protection. She now belongs to Eric and me," Godric says harshly, raising his voice a few octaves, and his entire body shaking with his barely contained rage.
"NO!!!" Bill screams, struggling against Godric's iron grip, trying desperately to get to me. "SHE'S MINE!"
"You are insane if you think I will let you anywhere near her ever again. You BEAT her, you RAPED her, and her entire body was covered in bruises that YOU left on her. I am done with this arguing, and I am most certainly done with you."
Godric pulls his hand back preparing himself to strike a blow that would undoubtedly be fatal, when Nan stands abruptly. Her sudden movement causes the chair she was sitting in to fly backwards, crashing into the metal fireplace screen, and clattering loudly to the floor. "ENOUGH!" She bellows. "Mitch, Garret, remove Mr. Compton from Godric's grasp and hold him while I investigate this further."
I watch the two goons, now known as Mitch and Garret, remove Bill roughly from Godric's firm grip, each of them grasping one of his forearms with their enormous hands. Bill struggles against them, trying to get away, to get to me, to hurt me. His face is feral and I realize Bill had lost it. Something in him yesterday caused him to snap and now I am an obsession for him. I realize he is never going to quit, he is never going to stop, until he gets me, and either enslaves me for the rest of my natural life, or kills me accidently during one of his fits.
Bill tries to lunge at me again and screams in a fit of rage when he is unable to move forward more than a few inches. "Give her back to me Nan or I swear on all that is unholy you will rue the day you ever crossed me."
"Oh, do shut up Compton. Godric go and sit with your child. None of you are to utter another syllable unless I direct a question at you." She turns to me and I can see a look of compassion lurking on the edges of her face. "Sookie come with me child so that I can question you about what happened. I assume you will not be comfortable speaking about it in front of him."
I shake my head no and she smiles slightly at me, she walks slowly across the room and places herself between Bill and I. Crouching down slightly to look me directly in my eyes and not tower over me, she lowers her voice slightly and says, "No what child? No you don't feel comfortable speaking in front of him or no you don't want to go with me?"
"Both," I whisper softly.
She nods her head in understanding. "Would it be easier if Isabelle comes with us?" I hear Godric and Eric both start to object and Nan shoots them both a look of warning. "I wish to question her without your presence. I will give you both an opportunity to speak about what you witnessed after I am done with Sookie. She will be safe with me, I swear it," Nan says firmly looking them both in the eyes and having some form of silent communication with them. Godric nods his head, conceding to her wishes.
"Sookie come with me." Nan holds her hand out to me, patiently waiting for me to take it and go with her. I squeeze Eric tighter to me, not wanting to leave the comfort and security that his arms provide.
"Lover, it is alright. You should go with Nan, you will be safe and Isabelle will be right there with you. I promise it will all be fine." He kisses the crown of my head softly and squeezes me gently in reassurance.
I nod my head once and silently take Nan's hand. She helps me to my feet and smiles kindly at me. I am a bit shocked by her sudden compassion, after her hard as nails, tough bitch impression she had given me earlier. The last thing I expected is for her to show me any kindness in this awful situation. "Good. Come Isabelle."
Isabelle is instantly at my side, sliding her slender arm around my waist and guiding me towards a door, which I could only assume led to a bedroom area. As I walk through the doors I hear Nan say to the remaining men, "All of you are to remain silent until my return. If you do not comply I will end you myself."
Isabelle guides me to the bed and helps me sit, taking a spot right next to me. Nan walks into the room, and pulls the door firmly shut behind her. She smiles lightly at me and says, "That's better. Now we can talk without all the pomp and pretense of having to be tough ass bitches."
I can't help but let out a sudden burst of laughter at her quip. She winks at me, and turns towards the desk that is against the wall to her right. She pulls out the chair and places it a foot of the bed, in front of Isabelle and myself. "Now," she says softly, her face suddenly solemn as she takes a seat. "I need you to tell me about what happened during and after the bombing. I want to help you Sookie but I can't do that without all of the facts, alright?"
I sigh deeply and look down at the beautiful cream-colored carpeting, trying desperately to steady my nerves. "All right," I say softly. "I will tell you everything."