Title: Dead Lost
Summery: Eric left a year ago, but now Sookie's being pulled back into his life. The initial mystery Sookie is asked to solved is over come simply, but now Eric wants to start over with Sookie, will they be able to get it together, or will the year apart and the changes that came with it drive them apart for good?
Pam/Sookie Friendship, Eric/Sookie eventually-like you had to guess.
Rated: M.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the words I write. The characters, themes and products most likely belong to someone else, except for any names/persons not mentioned in True Blood or the Sookie Stackhouse novels.
I apologize for the shortness.
At noon the next day I was awake and dressed, pulling open to door to find Vera standing outside, her arm posed to knock, she was in a dark shirt that read "some days it's not even worth chewing the restraints" and a pair of black shorts.
"Come on Sookie. We've got things to discuss." She grabs my arm and tows me into the kitchen; does everyone think I can't walk? I wonder absently, not bothering to argue though, because she pushed me into a chair and cooked us up some eggs.
While we ate Vera told me about what she needed me to do during the spell, memorize the persons face and pick through peoples brains to find him, her, or them. After we ate we got a tour of the palace, Vera shooed the guard away she collected her things and walked into the kitchen, announcing that everyone "needed to get the fuck out or she'd cast her witchy spells on them." Everyone scrambled out of the kitchen and I couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Vera looked over at me and gave me a lopsided grin before she cleared the floor, swept it and laid out her materials, "Now what's going to happen is the word is going to spin pretty damn fast, and then stop. I'd grab the counter to keep yourself from falling. Nobody will notice you. A hand or two might go through you. The important thing is, don't say a word."
She closes her eyes and speaks, the spell is different then the one Amelia had used, the room turned dark, the sky outside turned dark and then light and repeated at rapid motion before it suddenly stopped, I grabbed the counter and glanced at the clock, 9:30 am.
I stayed where I was standing, next to her, and waited. I watched her, her hair had turned black, her eyes were black, and her whole body paled. The air sizzled and cracked, with all the energy I was surprised that it took awhile for anything to happen but at 9:45 the woman I assumed was Linda entered the kitchen, she was tall, skinny and had a huge chest, her hair was blonde, her eyes were brown and she looked dead tired.
She was pouring milk into her bowl of cereal when it happened, the back door opened, she spun around to scream but before it could leave her mouth she dropped to the floor. The man was wearing a ski mask, the only thing I knew was he was big, muscular and had dark skin and eyes.
That didn't narrow down much, "let's go. Move your arse!" he barked at someone, okay so he was Irish too, a smaller man scuttled into the room, picked the girl up and carried her out the back door.
In a rush of air we were back to the present time, I grabbed the counter to gain my balance once more. I glance down at Vera, her hair is purple again, her eyes are fading back to hazel, "you got that telepath?" she asked, picking up the remains of her ingredients, standing and wavering on her feet. I caught her arm before she fell.
She pulled away from my arm with haste, she tried not to let the fear the crossed her face show through.
"Yeah, time to go explore. You coming with?" I didn't care one way or the other, but I'd rather have someone I know with me.
"Sure." We wandered the halls and I picked the brains of anybody that passed, I couldn't find anything in my initial scans, so tonight during my full exams I'd learn more, hopefully.
The first few rooms we wandered into were boring, but the library was something to marvel at. It was a huge room with a dome ceiling; the book shelves were 9 shelves high and filled with books. Most of them were newer, and I spotted older book in the upstairs loft.
Since there was hardly anybody around we made our way up the hidden staircase to the loft, the books were thick, with old binding and the names were in foreign languages. Vera ran her fingers over the binding of one book, it was dark brown with a fancy print, and the language looked Russian.
As if it were made of glass, Vera pulled the book out and crossed to the far end of the room, curling up in the high back black leather chair, "Holy crap." She whispered to herself, her eyes wide with wonder.
I sat in the chair beside her, watching as her eyes took in the book, "what is it?" I ask, breaking the silence.
"It's a ledger, from a small town in Serbia. Dating back from as far back as writing existed. It's got older copies of actually written things translated into the current form of Serbian, since words and such have changed from back then. My whole family is in here." She paused, running her fingers over a word in the book, "this word, here, Veštica, witch. This was written next to my great time 30 grandmother." She pointed to the word which looked nothing like it sounded and started with a B, "and this one, krv dojilja, blood sucker."
"Your family, they were vampires and witches?" she nodded, "some of the vampires are still alive, but they don't like the idea of mainstreaming."
"Did you track them down? Is that how you know?"
"They hunted me down, and scared the crap out of me one night ambushing me." She looked over the page once more, memorizing it and closed the book, "Let's see what else the queen has around here." She put the book away, and browsed the shelves aimlessly.
We found a few book that were also written in Serbian, and then two in English, other then that they were written in German and French. "I wish I could see the top shelf." Vera pouted, looking up at it.
"I can!" I supplied helpfully, I closed my eyes and felt my feet leave the floor, Vera made a surprised sound and when I opened my eyes I was hovering near the top shelves, "it's all German and French. Except for this book. I don't know what it says."
The book has one word on the binding, odödlig, written in red and fancy script, it was darker then the ledger Vera had pulled off the shelf, I read the word to her, "it sounds Swedish." I shrugged and looked around some more, then let myself touch back down on the ground.
"Well, lets go see who we can find." She muttered unenthusiastically.
We walked around for the rest of the day, and when I night came around I was more than happy to go find Pam and tell her what happened. The silence her mind offered made me unwind exponentially; I sat in a chair in the corner of her room while she prepared for the day. I told her what had happened and she nodded and hummed, telling me she was listening.
"Where are you going tonight Pam?" I asked. Before she can answer I feel a brain I knew, one that's silence was familiar. I watched her stiffen her eyes shifting toward the door, she felt him too and we both fell silent until he passed by, "when was the last time you've seen him?" my voice was barely above a whisper, I still stared at the door.
"Almost a year," She replied with a tone that told me she was trying to sound like she didn't care, "I haven't been to the palace since that bitch gave me area 9. Anyways, I'm going to my shop. Would you like to join me? The humans are all off tonight."
"That sounds fun." I glanced at Pam's attire for the evening, a little less harsh then her Fangtasia get up, "what should I wear…?"
"It doesn't matter to me Sookie, but you should change. You smell…odd." She wrinkled her nose and shooed me toward the door.
"Okay. I'll go change." She turned back to the mirror and picked up a tube of mascara.
"I'll come get you when I'm done." I nodded and left the room making a beeline toward the human quarters, I changed into a the first thing I found, a white sundress and sandals, I pulled my hair down, it was still wavy from the day before, and fell down to the middle of my chest.
I put a headband in to push it back-making sure my ears were still covered- and skipped makeup, I found I didn't need much makeup anymore, my skin glowed a natural tan color, I readjusted the headband, and the top of my dress, looking in the mirror. Then I changed my mind, pulled my hair down, clipped some of it back and then slipped on my shoes.
Two short knocks told me Pam was ready. I grabbed my purse, checked my hair and opened the door, Pam openly eyed my attire, I waited patiently until she was done and then we headed out the front door to her car.
Pam's shop was named Croft; it was a dark shop like a Hot Topic Claude had once dragged me into. Clothes lined the walls, filled racks and hung from the ceiling. She had two rows filled with purses, hair things and a check out counter near the door, it was over all very nice, and vampiric, just like Fangtasia. I would attract the kind of people that go vampire bars.
"Feel free to explore." She said, unlocking the doors, 30 minutes later people flooded in. the cliental wasn't as bad as at Fangtasia, but it did have pretty much the same feel to it. I found myself heading toward the checkout counter where Pam was to escape the looks, from both the humans and vampires, any vampires that gave me a second look got a protective growl from Pam.
I got to meet Pam's right hand man, a vampire by the name of Bryant McAlester, he was a younger vampire, muscular and of average height. He told me he used to be in construction, that he wasn't much older than me, he was a pleasant man and very talkative.
Between Bryant and Pam my time was spent talking, and focusing on their minds and not the humans all around. Bryant seemed to assume I was Pam's pet, and I had learned that challenging that wasn't a smart idea, from the looks I was getting from those coming in it was a good thing.
It was close to 3 am before we left the store and drove back to the palace. There were hardly any shops open, and nothing to look at but the starry sky. Half way down the road Pam slammed on her breaks and something hit the roof of the car, I didn't know what it was.
Pam sped off before I could try and figure it out, the gates were hardly opened when Pam skidded through and to a stop that flung me forward, even in my seat belt, my head banged on the window hard. My vision blurred and my eyes watered.
Guards were at our car in seconds flat, pulling the doors open and pulling us out, inspecting us and asking over and over what had happened. I was so flustered that the guards were probably ready to hit me because I couldn't figure out what had just happened.
"Let them go." The guards froze and backed away, one who had been gripping my arm let me go like I was a diseae. I wasn't sure if that was good or not, I looked up from my feet, which I had been previously staring at, and met the blue eyes I've had memorized for 3 years, "Pam, what happened?" he was talking to Pam, but his eyes were locked with mine, staring into me.
"Someone jumped on the roof of my car, I didn't want anything to happen to Sookie." She replied, I broke eye contact with Eric as I reached up and touched my head where it had hit, I felt the blood on my fingers and my heart jumped in my chest.
"Pam, can you walk me to my room?" I asked, my voice sounded panicked. She was at my side in an instant, her arms around my shoulders as she walked me inside as fast as she could. I could feel Eric's eyes burning into my back, "Pam, I'm bleeding."
"I know." She told me, our pace quickened and we were soon inside Pam's room, "You're much safer in here. Let me get something to clean that up." She locked the door, and pushed me into a chair.
She disappeared into the bathroom and came out a few minutes later, "You should stay here for the rest of the night." She muttered, opening a first aid kit, I noticed she kept glancing at the blood on my forehead, "I can't risk someone smelling you."
"Are you like…my personal care taker?" I asked.
"Yes, I am in charge of your well being. If anything were to happen to you it would mean my fangs." She replied, 'ah-ha'ing when she located the alcohol pads.
"Well….why?" I was completely puzzled, as far as I knew my safety never rested on anybody's…fangs.
"Because I care for you Sookie, more than some random vampire the Queen would have appointed for you." She answered, "Now shut up." She grabbed my chin and held my head still, swabbing away at the blood. It stung a little, but I just bit my lip and shut up.
She closed the wound with a bit of her blood and gave me clothes to change into. I sat at the top of her bed while she pulled her hair down and brushed it out, watching my reflection in the mirror the whole time.
I finally broke the silence, "was he angry?"
"No." Pam answered, closing her eyes briefly, "he was…hurt, shocked, and surprised."
I nodded and rested my chin on my knees, "how come you haven't seen him?"
She glanced at me, and shrugged, "I don't know." I knew she was lying, I didn't know how I knew but I knew she was. I watched her pick up her phone, type something and toss it to me, it hit the bed in front of me, and I reached out and grabbed it.
She wanted him away from anything that made him more human, which is laughable because Eric is anything but, and she wanted him isolated, so he was hers. He had a pet once, or so I heard. But other than that he uses random donors. The queen was quite annoyed at having to call us in.
I looked up to say something but Pam was no longer in the room. I deleted the text and set her phone on the bedside table, curling up in the center of her bed before I fell asleep for the night.