AN: Hey guys! BOOM! Here's the new one. Let me know what you think, and enjoy!

Chapter 31

Maria screamed and hollered, shouted and bellowed her undeniable rage. She was shaking, every muscle so tight and stressed that they bulged beneath her skin. She was so enraged that she would be thrashing if she had the chance. But no, she couldn't move. Sookie had robbed her of the ability to move a single muscle.

"I'm going to fucking kill you, you fairy bitch." She growled. Maria didn't even sound human anymore, her voice twisted by both emotion and the animal within. She leveled her stare on the blonde. "When I get free of this bullshit, I'm going to bite into that pretty little face of yours and tear it off. I'm going to enjoy feeling your bones shatter between my teeth, feeling your hot blood glide down my throat." Sookie began to tremble. "The second I'm out of this, I'm going to-"

"Shut up!" Sookie squeaked.

As she had before, Maria instantly complied, and her mouth snapped shut. Her eyes began to well with tears.

Sookie looked over her, eyes taking in everything. Maria wanted to lunge, she wanted to fight. She wanted to do a thousand things, but she fucking couldn't and it made her feel helpless. Christ, it'd been a long while since Maria felt helpless. Back then, it was because of an all-powerful sorcerer. Now? Now, it was because of a hundred-pound fairy waitress.

"Okay, so…" Sookie's voice raked at Maria's nerves like red hot pokers. "I guess this means you have to protect me, doesn't it?"

Maria didn't speak.

"Well?" Sookie asked angrily.

"Does this dumb cunt think I can actually speak?" Maria thought. "She told me to shut up, so ta-dah, bitch! I can't fucking talk. Is she really this fucking stupid, too?"

Sookie scowled. "Fine, you can talk." She said. "But!" Sookie was quick to reply. "No more talkin' 'bout how you plan to kill me."

"Fine," Maria growled through her teeth.

"Fine," Sookie nodded softly. She shifted her weight on her feet before she spoke again. "So, like I said, I guess this means you have to protect me now?"

"How the fuck should I know?!" Maria bellowed. "From the looks of it, whatever you say, I have to fucking do, you selfish, manipulative, spoiled little-"

"Shh," Sookie said sharply. Maria instantly shut up again. "Okay, then. If that's how it works… I command you to protect me from Warlow and uh… from any other vampires that want to drink my blood."

Maria remained motionless. She wasn't going to bow or nod. There'd be no point, and each action would show a level of respect that she wasn't willing to give the fairy who'd enslaved her.

"And uh… I command you not to hurt me in any way, or any other human. Okay?"

Somehow, Maria managed to push a word past her lips, though it was difficult. "Fine,"

"Okay… Let's go, then."

Sookie got into her car, and regardless of will, Maria did the same.

Roughly an hour later, they made it to Bon Temps. Sookie ushered Maria inside before anyone could see her and told her to hide in the fucking wardrobe in the sewing room.

"I'll let you come out later." Sookie said. "I guess you probably eat food and stuff like a normal person."

"Of course I do." Maria couldn't move her jaw when she spoke. Instead, it remained tightly clamped shut.

Sookie nodded. She seemed slightly distracted, eying a napkin that she'd picked up on the way to the wardrobe. There was a bit of blood on it, and it wasn't human. Maria watched her wipe it down her cheek over the wounds Maria had clawed into her face and, to the thrope's anger, the cuts vanished.

"Go," Sookie said, pointing down the hole. "And don't make a sound. And don't come up 'till I come get you."

Maria hissed at her like a feral animal, but did as she was commanded.

Eric struggled to sleep. He was uncomfortable just from being underground with Willa in his arms, feeling chunks of rock and broken roots jabbing into his skin was bad enough, but not the only reason. It was Maria. She was angry, so goddamn angry that he could practically taste it. In fact, it overshadowed the flavor of Willa's blood and dirt. It was so overwhelming that he couldn't say where it ended and his own began.

Vampires can feel the emotions of the people they fed their blood to, but because it would be too inconvenient to feel absolutely everything, they could only glean the most extreme. Fear was usually that emotion, but not with Maria. In fact, the only time he felt anything from her, it was either rage or that brief time of abject terror from Rasputin. To be honest, the anger she currently felt was equal to that terror. It was unnatural and fueled by something. He had no idea what could possibly make a person feel something so completely and so thoroughly.

It couldn't have been good, and for the briefest of moments it made him want to join her side. Eric wanted to be with her, to try and sooth the tempest of rage that was swirling within her, but he couldn't. It was the middle of the day. He'd burn to a crisp before he could even reach her.

Eric did his best to get as comfortable as he could while his mind drifted to thoughts of Maria. He'd been so consumed in dealing with the AVL, and now the Louisiana government that he hadn't given her much consideration beyond the phone call some time back.

He wondered how she was, and what she was doing. He wondered if he'd see her again, and if she'd come when he called. He doubted that. Not even his pride would allow him to believe she'd willingly join his side if he called her and told her to. He saw the look in her eye when he told her their bargain was done. Any affection she'd shown him while he was a mindless shell and before had vanished. It was gone, literally blinked out of existence in mere seconds. She went back to looking at him like she had when she was locked in that box.

On one level, he did understand it. On the other, he thought she was just being childish. Maria couldn't have genuinely thought they'd be together forever. Hell, they weren't even dating. They had sex with each other, nothing more. Pretending there were actual layers to their relationship was something humans did to delude themselves. He was a vampire. Vampires didn't have a loving bond with anyone. They didn't need anyone, so if Maria was going to act hurt because he didn't fall to her feet and kiss the ground she walked on, she was an idiot.

…

…

Not even Eric really believed that.

Maria paced inside her cell. Although, honestly, it wasn't even a cell. At least those had bathrooms and a way for fresh air to enter the space. What Maria found herself in was a box, and one that was hermetically sealed.

The air was stale and used. She could taste the carbon dioxide. Whoever the chamber was meant to house, they clearly weren't supposed to breathe, or use the bathroom. Given it was light-tight too, she assumed it was for a vampire.

Maria was hungry, she had to pee, she wanted something to drink, and a new wave of air might have been a nice touch. But what could she do? Sookie told her to stay in the cell, to not make a sound. She was powerless.

There was a click that made Maria stop. She went still when the door above opened. When it had, a beautiful gust of fresh air glided down the stairs and to her nose. Maria's eyes drifted shut as she breathed as deeply as possible. The air itself was utterly amazing, but in the distance there was a hint of food that made her stomach curl. It was then Maria realized that she was so hungry that the smell of food actually made her ill.

Sookie descended the stairs, but kept her eye on Maria until she could safely turn around to face her. There wasn't a point. Even as badly as Maria wanted to lash out, she couldn't. Sookie commanded her not to harm the fairy.

Neither spoke, although Maria technically couldn't. Sookie was shifting on her feet, either unable or unwilling to stand still. Given how strong the smell of anxiety was, Maria assumed it was the former.

"Christ, what does she want now?" Maria thought to herself. "She here to give me more commands? Maybe now she'll tell me to stop breathing? Shit. If she kept that door closed much longer, I would've just suffocated. I'm not a fucking vampire. Doesn't she realize that locking me inside a fucking cell four hours on end with no food, no water, no bathroom break, and no fucking air will kill me. Dumbass. Is she really that self-"

"I got you some food." Sookie said in a stern sort of voice, as though she could hear everything running through Maria's head, or at least caught onto the thrope's agitation. "And you can do whatever you need to do, bathroom or whatever." Maria cocked a brow, but didn't move. Sookie stepped aside and motioned to the stairs. "You can go."

Maria didn't hesitate. She launched herself up the ladder faster than Sookie could register. She burst out of the armor and was through the front door in seconds, barely able to hear Sookie yelling at her.

She ran, ran as fast as she could just to get the hell away from Sookie Stackhouse. She needed to put space between them, get far enough away that she never had to hear another word leave that fairy's mouth again.

Maria leapt off the front porch and the instant her toes touched the ground, she was off, propelling herself forward with all her strength. She ran and ran, until she hit something. Without warning, Maria slammed into a barrier that she hadn't seen because there was nothing to see. It was invisible, but strong.

Maria let out a yelp of pain when she hit the wall and bounced off of it like a racket ball thrown at full force. Her back hit the ground and all of the air was taken from her. Dazed, Maria did everything she could to get to her feet before Sookie could call out to her again.

On all fours, Maria clamored to get away. Within a few steps, she was on her feet again, but just as before, she hit the barrier. Confusion took her. With her brows furrowed, Maria pushed and eventually began to bang on the invisible thing that kept her where she was.

She beat and beat and at some point she was able to take another step. Encouraged, she continued on, banging against the wall like it could give at any second.

"Hey!" She heard Sookie shout.

Maria turned around, her eyes set sternly on the fairy. She pressed her back to the wall that wouldn't let her leave. Sookie was scowling, clearly angry, but slightly confused. Maria hummed to herself to hopefully drown out whatever the bitch might say because, unfortunately, Maria's hearing was good enough to cross the distance.

Sookie stepped forward and the wall behind her gave a little more. Maria continued to shove against it and each time Sookie approached, she gained a bit of headway, until the fairy stopped. The wall stopped, too.

And then she understood.

Maria's mind connected the dots faster than she expected it to, but it connected them all the same.

"Where you think yer-"

"Take two steps forward!" Maria yelled back at her.

"What?" She snapped.

"Just walk forward, goddammit." Maria shouted.

Still scowling, Sookie did –two wide steps. Maria, with her eyes still on the blonde, took two equal steps in reverse and then hit the wall again. It was all the proof she needed.

"FUCK!" She screamed, the single word lasting for seconds longer than it normally should have.

She couldn't leave. Maria couldn't leave, couldn't run away, and couldn't flee. There was a leash that connected her to Sookie, an invisible tether that looked like it was probably fifty feet at the most. Whatever Sookie had done had bound Maria to her.

Maria looked up at the blonde, vibrating with rage and eyes filled with angry tears, and she noticed understanding wash across the fairy's face. Again, it looked as though Sookie had read her mind, as though she came to the same conclusion when Maria had.

Breathing heavily and so angry she would burst, Maria just stared at her.

"There's food on the table." Sookie told her, shouting the distance so the thrope could hear her. "Either come eat it, or I'll throw it away."

Sookie turned and headed back inside. Maria was instantly pulled in the same direction, drawn to her whether she wanted to be or not.

What the hell was she supposed to do now?

Inside, Sookie sat at the kitchen table with a bag of hamburgers she'd picked up from the local fast food place. They were nothing special, but she figured she might as well get something to feed Maria. Everything needed to eat and if she was going to keep the thrope as a bodyguard, Sookie knew she had to keep her strength up.

Through the kitchen window, she noticed Maria reluctantly heading toward the house. Sookie had to admit that the smile that touched her lips was a bit arrogant, but well-deserved as far as she was concerned. She felt like she'd won. Niall never told her that the thrope couldn't move more than a few dozen feet away from the fairy who branded them. That was helpful knowledge. At least now Sookie didn't have to worry about Maria running off, something she hadn't even thought about until the thrope actually tried.

Maria entered the kitchen and took a seat at the table, all the while keeping her cold, murderous eyes on Sookie. The blonde could feel the hatred. It radiated off of Maria like smoke. It was almost palpable.

Sookie believed her when Maria said she'd kill the fairy the first chance she got.

Maria remained silent as she dipped into the bag and pulled out the two burgers from inside. She unwrapped one and proceeded to eat it, all the while Sookie watched her. She was curious.

"What kinda thrope are you?" Sookie finally asked.

Maria's gaze drifted to her and locked with Sookie's. Her eyes practically glowed green, but she remained silent while she chewed. When she'd finished, Maria took another bite. It was clear she had no intentions of answering.

"Are you really one of those Romanovs, like that Anastasia girl?" Sookie asked.

Maria remained silent, yet again. She finished her first burger and began on the second, still staring, and still quiet.

Sookie clenched her jaw. She was getting annoyed and decided to just ask a random question.

"How old are you?" She asked in an almost exasperated voice.

She wasn't surprised when Maria said nothing. When she finally finished her burger, Maria leaned back in her seat and proceeded to obnoxiously suck on her teeth, all the while staring unblinkingly at Sookie.

"Answer me," Sookie said in a demanding tone.

Maria flinched and to Sookie's surprise, the answers flowed from Maria's mouth.

"I'm a felithrope. Anastasia was my little sister. One-hundred and thirteen until next month."

Sookie blinked a few times as she tried to absorb the information. It wasn't that she'd been given anything incredibly complicated, just that she'd been given a lot all at once.

"You're over a hundred years old." She repeated. Forced to answer, Maria nodded. "How's that possible?"

"I haven't died yet." She replied coldly.

Sookie scowled. "So, you're immortal?"

"No."

"But you turn into an animal?"

"Yes."

"What kinda animal?"

"A lion."

Sookie's brows rose in surprise. "Really?" She couldn't keep the shock from her voice when she asked. And, again, in that same annoyed sarcasm, Maria nodded. "And everyone in your family could do that?"

"No,"

Sookie's brows pulled together slightly. "But, isn't it like werewolves, where you inherit it?"

"Yes,"

"But not everybody could?"

"No,"

"So, some of them could?"

"Yes,"

Sookie grumbled. She was going in circles because Maria was replying with vague, one-word answers. Apparently that was the best Sookie could hope for. After dealing with Bill the night before, finding out that Warlow was the cute guy Ben she'd met, dealing with Jason nearly dying, her Fairy Grandfather suddenly showing up, and a whole bunch of other shit, Sookie wasn't in the mood to deal with Maria, too.

"What is your fuckin' problem?" She finally snapped, angry enough that she was done playing the Southern Belle.

Maria's brows rose in mock surprise before, like her previous answer, everything simply flowed from her mouth.

"What's my fucking problem?" Maria repeated in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? You don't get it, do you? I hate you. In fact, hate isn't a big enough word to describe how I feel about you."

"Why?" She said tersely. "What did I ever do to you, huh? I always tried to be nice, but no, you just had to be a bitch."

"You shot me!" Maria yelled. "And fine, let's pretend that never happened. You are physically offensive to me. Do you understand that? The same thing that makes you so goddamn irresistible to fucking vampires makes me physically sick."

"Why?"

Maria leaned forward to the point she could have propped her elbows on the table, but she didn't, as though she was unwilling to get even that close to Sookie.

"Your kind made us your pets." She said hatefully. "You enslaved us for thousands of years. You kept us on chains, paraded us like prized ponies, and then bred us so that when one generation died, the next was right fucking there to take up the mantle. You treated us like shit for so damn long that it actually put a natural fear in us every time we smell fairy. Do you have any idea how fucked up that is? Hell," She fell back in her seat. "It wouldn't surprise me if you assholes actually made us afraid of you on purpose with magic or something."

"That's not fair." Sookie said with a confrontational edge of her own. "I never did any of that to you or your kind. You can't sit there and hate me 'cause of something my ancestors did. That's not fair."

"Not fair?" Maria's eyes went wide. "You're doing it now!" She yelled. "You turned me into your little guard dog at the drop of a fucking hat. You're just as bad as they were. All you fairies are the same and honestly," She leaned forward once more, "You better pray whoever you're running from kills me, because I meant it. If I get free, I will kill you. I'll kill you for what you've done to me, and what your family did to mine."

Sookie believed her. There was something undeniable about the conviction in Maria's voice. In that moment, Sookie made the resolute decision that she would never, absolutely never release Maria. She couldn't risk it.

Then again, she might have been able to make Maria come over to her side. Sookie had a knack for making people like her. Maybe if she managed that, at least Maria wouldn't be quite as hostile.

"Look," All of the edge left Sookie's voice when she spoke again. "You can take the guest bedroom, the one right by the stairs, and you can eat, drink, and go to the bathroom whenever ya want, but stay outta sight. I don't need to try and explain to people who you are, or that I have a supernatural lion protectin' me, okay?"

"Fine," she said, voicing her normal response to everything.