She says she's no good with words but I'm worse

Barely stuttered out "A joke of a romantic", or just stuck to my tongue

Weighed down with words too over-dramatic

Tonight it's "It can't get much worse"

Vs. "No one should ever feel like..."

I'm two quarters and a heart down

And I don't want to forget how your voice sounds

These words are all I have so I'll write them

So you need them just to get by

Dance, dance

We're falling apart to half time

Dance, dance

And these are the lives you'd love to lead

Dance, this is the way they'd love

If they knew how misery loved me – Fall Out Boy

Eric POV

I made the mistake of asking myself how much worse could it get. That is a mistake that I will never be making again. Even the good news has been marred with difficulties and more bad news. That trip Pam keeps saying Sookie and I need to take when she is back where she belongs is sounding really good right about now.

We had the news that Tray has woken up, which had me breathing a big sigh of relief; a much bigger one than what I expected to actually. I am glad my friend is awake and I am happy my child has her…well, whatever she calls Tray back. But even I am surprised by happy I am that he is awake. But of course the happiness could not last. We found out that he has limited movement in his left side. That felt like a heavy blow and certainly lowered everyone's mood as we all continued to try and stay light hearted for Tray's sake. And Amelia's sake. And my child's sake.

Pretty much for all of our sakes.

Ludwig seems optimistic it is temporary and Pam is donating more blood so it can continue to be slowly be given to Tray. Hopefully it will help get him back to full strength. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it works.

The other big news is that we have a location for Sookie. Of course, with that came the news that Claudine was badly hurt in finding her. Apparently, Claudine had just made contact with Sookie, Sookie was almost in her grasp and she could have 'popped' them both away, but then Appius showed up. Of course he did.

He sent Claudine flying before taking Sookie back inside the warehouse type building he is keeping her in. And this brought good news. We know Sookie is alive and seems to be basically unharmed except for her arm. We now know Sookie is in, or at least was in Oklahoma. For all we know Appius could be moving her right now. We don't know how badly Claudine is hurt. She went back to Faery to recover from her injuries; it turns out she was pregnant. I feel very conflicted at that. Though I am beyond grateful that she was able to locate Sookie, I am sorry it put her and her child at risk.

That is something that I am not used to feeling.

I have a call into Niall to please keep me updated on her condition but he may pick up that message weeks from now. I can only hope that with everything going on, he will be a little quicker than usual in picking up messages.

One can hope.

I am lying on my bed wishing for the sun to take me early, such a difference to the past evenings. There is nothing more that can be done tonight; plans are in place for us to travel to Oklahoma tomorrow night and to monitor those leaving the state during the day. As much as I would love to be flying to Oklahoma right now, it will do no one any good if we are not as prepared as we could be. But shortly after nightfall tomorrow, that is my plan.

My wish for the sun goes unheard as so many wishes have lately as Pam comes into my room closely followed by Karin and Thalia; it seems we are having another slumber party, all staying at my house again. Pam takes me by surprise when she blurts out, "That Faery thing. You have that wish making Fae thing!" Her face falls as she sees the lack of excitement in mine. This is something that I had thought about; this is something that every part of me wants to use. I even held the small charm in my hand. But when it came down to actually making a wish, a wish I could make for Sookie who I love, I did not know what to wish for as the warnings we had heard about it when we first found out what it was flashed into my head.

I start to explain it to Pam. "I could have wished for her safety, but what if that only made Appuis not physically hurt her and got us no closer to freeing her. I could have wished her to be with me, but what if that brought me to her instead of the other way around." Though I would delight to be with her, having us both potentially captured may not help the situation. I thought of hundreds of ways to wish her out of this situation and I thought of hundreds of ways those wishes could go wrong. As thankful as I am for the warning and the discussion Sookie and I had about this weeks ago, I almost wish I could make an impromptu wish with it and have it all be okay.

That is not how my luck has been going. With the way it has been, a wish on the cluviel dor would make this situation so much worse.

The three female vampires are disappointed with my thoughts but they ultimately agree with me; as tempting as it is and no matter how much I want to use it, I just do not know what the magic will accomplish.

And we know far too well the bad side of magic.

The three leave and I am hoping to spend the rest of what is left of the darkness with my own thoughts. I do not get to though. My phone rings and the ringtone is telling me it is Sophie-Anne, making an already long night seem like it will be endless. I pick it up and am surprised when before I can even acknowledge her she says, "So I had a very interesting conversation with Oklahoma tonight."

Flashes on how Oklahoma's involvement in this could further complicate things flash through my head. Dealing with two different monarchs at once would be hell without dealing with the added aggravation that is my maker.

"Your maker has been trying to contact her. Repeatedly. For a few months now." She pauses to let me take that in. "Any idea of what that has been about?"

I shake my head as I think over her question but I still respond, "No," to her. As far as I know, Appius had no contacts and very little good will to any vampire in this country; it is why he never moved here. What he could want with the Queen of Oklahoma escapes me. The only tie he has to Oklahoma, to anywhere in the United States to my knowledge, is me.

It is that thought that makes my blood run cold at the possibility of what Appius could want. In all likelihood it has something to do with me, especially given the fact that he has taken Sookie to use against me.

Sophie-Anne continues to explain that my maker has not actually spoke with Oklahoma but has left messages that he has something vital to talk with her about.

"Has he said what he wants?"

"Not in so many words," Sophie-Anne tells me and her voice sounds sad and I realize just how much I will hate what she is about to tell me. "But he does appear to be insinuating that he can offer her something that she has been looking for."

And that is when things click in my mind. Oklahoma has been looking for a spouse, one that is strong and well known to try to keep her state safe. Appius has been looking for a way to make me remember the lessons he fears I have forgotten; he wants to show me that he can still control me and that any emotion is meaningless. He wants to dangle me in front of Freyda, the queen of Oklahoma, and hope that she will take a bite.

He wants to sell me off; to trap me in a marriage that I do not want, in a position that I do not want. And I am left wondering whatever the hell I did to make him hate me so much.

"Her response?" I ask through gritted teeth. I am Appius' property. If he truly sells me, there is little I can do about it and what I could do about it would cause me to spend the rest of my vampire life on the run, always looking over my shoulder. Not a life I want for me but especially not for Sookie.

"She has not contacted him with one yet." Again, her voice sounds hesitant, as if she is sad for me; sad for the position the one vampire who should never hurt me is putting me in.

"But…" I say leading her to continue with what I can imagine. And I am not disappointed as Sophie-Anne tells me that Freyda is not opposed to the idea. She has been looking for someone like me to help strengthen her army and fortify her state. It is something I did, am still doing, for Sophie-Anne.

"She may not be opposed to the idea," Sophie-Anne tells me. "But I most certainly am." And that is when the first glimmer of hope that I can somehow escape this starts to enter me. True, Appius' claim to me as my maker would over rule Sophie-Anne's as my Queen but she could certainly make Freyda's life miserable if she takes me from her; even attempt to take over the state herself. Judging from how desperate she is to strengthen her own defenses that is not something I think she wants.

With that thought, something else falls into place in my head. Felipe de Castro. His plans to try and get Louisiana and Arkansas would go a lot better for him if Sophie-Anne did not have my support. Suddenly, it does not seem likely that de Castro would be doing this at the same time that my maker has decided to strike. It is far too much of a coincidence.

"Has Felipe made a trip to Oklahoma recently?" I ask her.

"That was my thought as well," she responds before saying that she had the same idea upon learning of this and had checked into it. "He has gone to Oklahoma twice in the last month. Most recent excursion was last night."

"The bastards are working together," I say, stating the obvious.

"It seems so."

"And Freyda's involvement?"

Sophie-Anne takes a breath and says, "She does not appear to have any. She has not spoken to either of them and truly seemed shocked to find Appius was in her state." That fits if her state is weak at the moment. "She also does not have a problem with anything that we need to do to end this situation, provided we do not focus on her state."

"We?" I ask her knowing this is not her battle to fight.

There is no hesitation is her voice as she reiterates, "Yes, we. Someone is seeking my state and someone is attacking my Sheriff to try and make my state weake. I need to make sure that everyone knows that is not okay." I understand her words but I can hear in her voice it is more than that. I do not know if it is due to Hadley. I do not know if it is due to Sookie being a telepath. I do not know if it is simply because I am her Sheriff. But something in her voice is telling me it is more than that. Something with the way she sounds as she explains that she will send Rasul and several other vampires into Oklahoma with us tells me this is not just because this is an attack on a member of her state. As she tells me that she will send Sigebert to Area 5 to oversee it so that I do not have to leave someone here to monitor it, I hear something in her voice that makes me think me this is more personal for her.

And as she tells me, "Just get her back, Eric. Back to where she belongs," before hanging up, I know it is. And that thought is what I go to my day rest with.

Sookie POV

I wake up with a sharp pain in my arm and I let out a hiss as more pain enters when I move to shift it closer to my body. I fell on it again when Appius shoved me in here last night, clearly putting much of his frustration into that push. At this point, I am surprised it hasn't started poking out of my arm yet.

I have no idea what time of day it is. I could have hours left by myself until nightfall and Appius graces me with his presence; or I could have minutes until he opens the damn door. He was not exactly happy last night and much of that was probably due to the fact that he found me outside when I most certainly was not supposed to be there. He knows what the repercussions of me getting out of the iron room would be; my Fae family could have used that time to locate me.

And apparently they did. I was inches away from Claudine when Appius grabbed me. If I had only managed to get out of the building or away from Alexei a minute sooner, I might not even be here now. If I had made a left instead of a right just one time, I could possibly be with Eric, or at least be where he is, right now.

Or I possibly could have never even made it out of the building and for all I know the entire building is lined in iron. Getting out of the room may not have been enough; it may have only been when I was out of the building Claudine was able to find me. We can't live our lives in 'what if's'; we have to live in the situations we find ourselves in.

However, unfortunate they are at the moment.

My thoughts shift to what could have happened last night between Appius and Eric, and everyone else there. I know what I would have liked to happen but as Appius managed to throw Claudine I don't know how many feet last night and shoved me back in this room, I know that he is still alive. I hope the same can be said for Claudine. I hate the thought of anything happening to her period; the fact that she was here to help me, it would destroy me.

I at least hope that Eric got to show Appius how strong he now is. I would have loved to be there to see it but I hope that Eric stood up to his maker like I know he can, like I know he needs. I know the situation makes it a bit tricky, but I also know that Eric would find a way.

He always does.

I realize the hours I thought I had before having to deal with Appius was more like only minutes, as the door slams open and Appius storms in. Seeing the look on his face, I huddle into a corner, not worried about him seeing my fear for the first time since I have been here. Because for the first time since I have been here my fear is stronger than my want and need to not let Appius see it.

The look on his face is frightening and he hasn't even acknowledged me, hasn't even really looked at me yet. I am not looking forward to when he does. For all I care, he can continue to pace around the room and speak in whatever language he is speaking in all night.

Because I have a feeling that when he stops pacing and finally focuses on me, it's not going to be good.

The one word I do recognize in the rant Appius seems in the middle of is Eric, which is something he continues to say over and over again, obviously upset whenever he says it. And, despite my fear, that causes some pride to start to build in me. Appius would be very upset, probably this upset, if Eric was able to stand up to him no matter how minor it was. Even if I have to pay for it, I hope that is indeed what Eric did. Appius needs to know the damage that he inflicted on Eric didn't permanently damage him; it didn't make him malleable, as Appius had probably hoped it would.

He may need to know it but that doesn't mean he's going to like it and by the look on his saying he isn't happy would be a drastic understatement, especially when he stops pacing and turns toward me. I have never heard as much hatred aimed towards me as when he pointed and says, "You. You have ruined my child," causing my to shrink even further into the corner.

There are many things that pop into my mind to say in response to that, none of which would make the situation any better. Not too long ago, I probably would have said one of them and my other arm would also be hanging uselessly against my side. Maybe I am growing up. I just hope I can get out of here so I can continue to.

Appius continues to stare at me though and he takes a step closer. I don't think he likes my silence as a response but I also don't think he would like any responses in my head. I just want him to stop looking at me like that though so I search my mind for something that I can say to him that will allow me to keep all my parts attached. I finally decide on something similar to what I said to Sophie-Anne when I first met her. "I am not exactly sure that's how I would put it."

I wait for his response and feel a bit calmer when he starts to back away from me. That is until I see the smile that appears on his face. The smile appears a split second before I feel a flash of pain across my face. Unless Appius has a secret power that Eric hasn't told me about, he just slapped me across the face.

The fear rises in me and I know that he can sense it. Broken arm aside, Appius hasn't tried to hurt me the entire time that I have been here. I don't know if that's because of de Castro or just because but whatever the reason, I don't think it is enough to stop him anymore. As he starts to come closer to me again, I worry about what is coming.

But he stops as before he gets to me and grasps his chest. Hopefully, he is having the vampire version of a heart attack. But then that is when I clutch my chest in pain and fall to the ground, the pain in my chest outdoing the pain in my arm. After about a minute, the pain starts to dissipate and I sit up breathing deeply and I can see that Appius is on his knees as well, still clutching his chest.

As the pain in my chest eases, I cannot help the tears that start to fall down my cheeks. As I am becoming more aware of my body again, I am finding that I am missing something, a big something; something I have come to cherish in the little time I have had with it. I would try and deny it but with Appius' reaction I am finding it difficult to.

My bond with Eric is gone.

Thalia POV

The plane ride to Oklahoma is surprisingly quiet. We had discussed most of what we needed to last night and in the hour after nightfall before we left tonight. That hour gave us enough time to make sure all the little details were covered. It also gave Pam enough time to see Tray before we left. I know she is beyond happy that he is awake; we all are happy he's finally awake. I also know how worried she is about his lack of ability to move his one side, even if she tries to hide how worried she is. She was all for Eric and Sookie being honest about their feelings; I think its past time she play that game. And I am sure she will…in her own time of course.

I for one am enjoying the quite time as Jason moves closer to me in his seat and presses a kiss he probably thinks I can't feel to my head. I try and ignore the fact that I wish he were not on this plane; I wish he was safe and sound in his house in Bon Temps and would be excited when we bring Sookie back to him. In fact, I wish it so much that I almost glamoured him to do just that. But I simply couldn't do that to him. And as I curl, and yes it is difficult for me to admit to doing just that, into him on the seat next me I am glad we were able to compromise on this. He gets to come but he agreed to stay out of the fight for the most part. I am just hoping he remembers that.

Rasul and Eric continue to talk quietly but we can all, with the exception if Jason, hear them and call out interjections when the plans they are laying out could be improved. We are all planning but I know we are all also aware that we could plan for everything we can think of and Eric's maker can think of something much more contrived.

Eric is even more on edge than he has been in the last few nights. He knows that at any moment, Sookie will no longer be able to feel him. Though that thought is very depressing for us all, it unfortunately is necessary so that Appius also cannot feel him. Octavia is performing the spell right now even as we are flying towards them. Eric didn't want to waste any time once he agreed to the spell.

That was a hell of a discussion.

Eric outright refused knowing what Sookie would think happened and hated the idea of doing that to her. The thing is we needed to get to her without Appius knowing we were coming, meaning he could not feel Eric. Octavia said there was a spell she could perform but with time constraints it would be easier and shorter to block all of the bonds Eric share and not just the one he shares with his maker.

After Eric and his children, stopped screaming and yelling, Octavia was able to explain more. I kept my mouth shut even though I sided with the witch. I hated the fact that it needed to be done but it is the best way to take Appius by surprise. It took some major convincing but once Octavia said she could fully restore the bonds in a second by dropping her spell, he agreed to it.

That doesn't mean anyone has to like it.

The entire plane could tell when the spell took hold and not simply because Octavia stopped her whispered chanting. Everyone heard the gasp of pain that the three vampires let out when they could no longer feel each other. Jason even felt their pain and tightly grabbed onto my wrist at the sight of them moving toward and grasping onto each other, ensuring each other that they are still there.

"I hope I have something like that one day," Jason says softly squeezing my hand. I am not sure if he means with a bond or simply someone you feel that close to but I can't help but hope that I find it someday too. I rest my head on his shoulder and try to come up with ways around how this could all go wrong.

The plane lands and we all start to disembark. The Queen of Oklahoma knows that we are coming into the state so there is no reason for us to try and hide at the moment. It would be good to have the element of surprise when dealing with Appius though so hopefully Oklahoma isn't lying through her teeth. That would be the last thing we need.

The air starts to get tense as the vampires and other Supes leave the plane. I immediately get ready for what that could mean but it is quiet outside. There is no sign of a struggle or that we have been ambushed so I am unsure of what could be cause the ripple affect I feel in the air.

I see it as soon as I step off the plane though. All the reasons why she could be here run through my head and none of them make any sense. It is a great risk for her to be out here and I cannot think of one reason she would take that risk. I follow suit of everyone else that exited the plane before me, even the wolves and the dog, and fall to my knees as a sign of respect. I pull Jason down with me and pray to whoever will listen that he just says nothing. I may lo…like him a whole lot but I am more than aware that sometimes what comes out of his mouth is less than intelligent.

We can't afford for any of that at the moment. Not when the Ancient Pythoness is standing in front of us.

Hello dear readers. I sure hope you enjoyed this chapter, as we (hopefully) get closer to this family coming together again. A little earlier than usual as I have a busy day with a family gathering then off to see Maroon 5 in concert. Thanks so much for taking the time to read and thanks to those taking the time to review. I am so glad most of you thought the song last chapter was a good match for it.

I am not sure when the next chapter will be posted; it could be on it's regularly scheduled day or it may be a day late. I am going to traveling next weekend for work (never thought I'd have a business trip as a teacher) and posting will depend on Internet connection and when I get back.

Jsm88 – Yes, it would be the night Eric is coming to save lol. And it's coming. At least he's in the same state now. Glad you are enjoying.

Kate – Well, we got some info on Claudine in this chapter and will get a little bit more in the next. Let's keep our fingers crossed Eric gets to her soon!