PART THREE

Chapter 8

She couldn't believe she had been so foolish to do something so foolish, to hit her head like she had. And that even her body hadn't healed itself faster, that she had been out cold for as long as she had been…she had a feeling that being trapped in time was not the only thing, the only magic put on her by the mystery figure whom she doubted she would ever know his identity. Not that it mattered anymore, he had given his all, his very existence in trapping her in this one, hoping for her to remain here, for her most cherished loved one to be lost…to never exist…the possibilities of her being trapped here were many and none of them were good. There was always people in her life who had tried to eliminate her and her own and time and time again they came up short. Yet this time felt different…..was different. And something flittered in her , like a spark that was struggling to ignite. It seemed impossible as she struggled with the unknown magic she knew had been cast on her but she also felt it was ebbing, that her strength was returning, that her healing abilities were returning from their stagnant state she had been in. it was clear to her now that by keeping her from her healing abilities, to make her somewhat more normal, more human that it would make her more vulnerable to being killed. But her own magic was winning out and she was feeling reenergized as she got to her feet. It was mid day and she glances first to the remains of the pyre, to the grave nearby that housed two figured from her life that were strangers to her here. And not to be trusted. She had only known Godric from the present. The kind and benevolent one. But this incarnation was the more violent, the more animalistic one. The one she knew she had to let deal with his new progeny in the ways he knew, that she dared not meddle in events she knew had to occur for her life to end up where it was now. She hurried off, vowing to return later to ensure the safety of them both. And she stopped dead in her tracks as she felt the spark inside her roar to life. It was the bond and she knew right under her feet was the one person she hadn't expected to see…how he arrived here was a mystery and she now knew she dared not leave this spot unguarded. Managing to find some berries nearby and some water from a nearby creek, she waited impatiently, feeling relieved that he was here but distressed as she could feel that there was great pain coursing through him. Somehow, she knew he had been greatly injured. Judging by the paw prints she now noticed nearby, along with blood splatters and some carcasses, she knew how.

Chapter 9

There was no noises as night fall, save for the owls that were around. And crickets. On edge, waiting for more than one thing to happen, she shuddered to think what could happen if they two met face to face. She knew it was risky remaining where she was with a hungry and new vamp about to rise but she wanted badly to see him, that he was going to be fine. Feeling her full powers back and restored, she cast a shroud of magic around her and the grave at her side. It would mask them from being seen and thus, they would go unharmed by the two unpredictable beings emerging from the ground. But as she cast it, she felt it wavering. The magic placed on her by the unnamed figure hadn't broken and here she was, a sitting duck as the two made a beeline for her, the grave at her side remaining still.

"What have we here? It is fortunate that a meal has wandered into our midst…no better time than now to have your first taste. You will need to learn to survive….."Godric gestured for a strangely timid looking Eric to take a bite….his first as a vamp. But there was a reluctance to him as he approached, dirty from the ground and he met her horrified gaze with one of his own. Bu his new impulses were too much to control and he was soon on her neck, her light flickering ever so slightly from her fingers. Something was holding her powers in, somehow she knew, deep down, that only by reconnecting with her Eric, would she be whole again. Her own strength was simply not enough and her instincts had yet to let her down. But she was quickly being drained and she met the eyes of the Viking, who seemed to want to stop but he couldn't help himself. But then something happened, she felt it and she knew well he felt it.

"There's….something between us…something there before but now…..I can feel something distant and yet familiar…he took note of her own fangs that she had desperately needed to call upon, since her faerie magic was on the fritz. And with a taste of him, the bond came roaring into existence, and it was enough to draw him away from her.

"I wanted to prove to you that there was something but only by this happening I though I could prove it to you, to save my life…I don't belong here but you do….I did what I had to do to save my neck and I…..someday we will meet again but not today and now I have to figure out how to right this….I can; have you two remembering me…I have to let the past remain the past." she cursed at the hooded figure who had set all of this into motion. He must have planned on her doing this, to reveal what she was. And that he knew her now in this time, she feared what it meant for the future. She had to, somehow, make him and Godric forget they had seen her, met her. Knowing her magic was what it was, she wondered if even she was strong enough, had the juice to unleash bit of memory altering magic of her own. But before she could try, she felt something rushing behind her as Godric attacked a figure familiar to them all.

Chapter 10

Speaking in his native language, Godric demanded to ask the strangely dressed, cleaner cut version of the vamp he had just created. Tension hung heavily in the air as Sookie cured herself, feeling like things couldn't get worse, more convoluted. She hadn't had a choice to do the things she had done, not if she wanted to live and certainly she wasn't going to let things turn violent. But as she felt a hand take hers and shove her roughly behind him, she felt it return, a wave of heat coming over her as her body emitted a ethereal glow for but a moment. But she knew it was back, her faerie magic was no longer being hindered. Her powers were linked to nature and she felt a shift, a change in things. And it was something she knew couldn't be good. The sky was starting to light up with lightning, a unnatural lighting and she saw that her companions, they were starting to fade in and out. It reminded her of the under the sea dance scene in Back to the Future when Marty started vanishing. Because of the paradox. Because her two vamps had met face to face.

"Look, things are going to go from bad to non existent if I don't…..if I don't try wiping your memories." she spoke to the agitated and clearly very hungry past versions of her kin. "Long story short, he and I here-" she gestured to her Eric. "Are from he future…I was sent here in the hopes that someone would either off me or that someone would keep you-him-" she nodded at the past version of Eric "from being turned and thus change our lives….for the worse. And unless I set things right, none of us will have long to exist because there can't be two of you around nor can you know anything of the future."

"But…..I am with you in this…future?" asked the newly turned version of her love.

"Not that you'll remember after I am done but….yeah…we've had some adventures together, that's for sure and no matter what, you do turn out okay. Both of you do." she said looking at Godric, who seemed uninterested and instead lunged at her, wanting to taste what smelled so good. It was hard for her to know him as anything but kind but she was quickly reminded of his past, knowing he had been as savage as any other and that it was him who had taught Eric what he knew, made him what he knew. Thanks to her efforts, he had of course changed and Godric had come to regain his humanity and then some. For now, she had to end this before the fabric of existence destroyed them all. The earth itself was starting to tear and crack. There was not much time and she was relieved as her Eric attacked, throwing his maker off her and she took that moment to summon her light to the best of her ability, focusing it on what she wanted it to do. She blasted the both of them with her memory magic and quickly reattempted a cloaking spell around herself and her Eric. And relieved, they watched the two get up off the ground as if nothing had happened. They watched as an unfortunate traveler crossed their path and with he encouragement of his maker, Eric wasted no time making his first kill, to he slight cringing of Sookie as she watched with her Eric. It was surreal, she thought as they vanished into the night but looking up at his face, it was unreadable.

"I remember that man…..I remember him coming our way and Godric telling me to do what instinct dictated. Not to be at the mercy of my emotions…that was my first one that night. Which means hopefully, things should be on track….looks like the ground is fixed and that lightning is gone….." he said gesturing at the ground and sky. "I never thought anyone would try using time to destroy us…..and I still don't know who it was, do you?"

She shook her head and looked at him. "How in the world did you get here anyway?" after hearing him explain, she was more thankful than ever to have Holly on their side. "Maybe she can…maybe she has….figured out who it was or maybe the two of us can figure it out."

Epilogue

They returned safe and sound with the magic of the bracelet and with their combined magic, Holly and Sookie, surrounded by a relieved Jason, Lafayette and Arlene among others destroyed it. "Time travel magic is a dangerous business." Holly said as she examined the scorched grass where the bracelet had been obliterated. "You said, for peace of mind, you wanted to know who it was under the hood….well, I think with bit of our magics we can answer that, what with your power to channel nature's memory, right?"

Nodding, she clasped hands with Holly, standing in the spot that this had all began in. images flashed in their minds and a face appeared in both of their minds, memories of that figure revealed to them. As fast as the magic had begun, it disappeared and Sookie looked at the others with a stunned expression. "It was Claus….brother of Claudine, my late faerie godmother. He wanted revenge for you draining her to death." she looked at Eric, not blaming him as at the time not only was he an amnesiac but….well, she knew how hard it was for a vamp ton control themselves around faeries and control had somewhat gone out the window with him during that stretch of several days. Not that Sookie had had any real affection for Claudine anyway. Still…..it was nice to have a answer as to who had orchestrated the hornet's nest they had escaped from. There was a silence as everyone once more thanked Holly for her help and gave their best to Sookie, relieved she and Eric had returned safely. Now alone in the parking lot of Bellefleur's the two stared at the stars. "You ever wish maybe you hadn't been turned? That those wolves never came to your village? I always wondered about your past, I mean you told me a lot but now that I saw the night that changed everything forever for you…" she didn't know how to finish her thought.

He remained silent for a moment. "I regret that happened to my family…and even if I had been turned before they were killed, even I wouldn't; have stood a chance against those wolves and Edgington. And if I hadn't met the fate I had, if I had chosen to die on the pyre, to not accept the offer that was before me….my life would have been hollow, in retrospect. A throne to a decimated populace….my family slaughtered….no one at my side…..I think-I know-I am far better off being what I am than if I had burned up in the fire."

"You tend to get on fire quite a bi." mused Sookie. "On the mountain, out in your parking lot when you tried to kill Edgington in the sun…..out in the pond by my house was a close one too…you are quite hot I suppose."

"You suppose?" he arched a eyebrow. "It takes a little more than fire to get me down….I took a good beating from wolves back in the past…..which was part of the reason I was in that grave…I had to heal up. But I am not quite fully recovered yet." he said with a playful smirk on his face and she rolled his eyes, knowing that it took a lot to eliminate his libido and she shook her head with feigned reluctance.

"Race you home….." she said and smirked herself, knowing that as fast as he was, there was no change against her and her teleportation abilities. That being said, he reappeared at her side mere moments after she appeared at their front door, whisking her away into the depths of their sprawling manor. For the next several hours there were no worries nor pain in their lives, nothing to do but live. And love

THE END