A Better Tomorrow

Chapter 9 There Is Such A Chill

When Sookie turned back to face Eric again, he was already gone and did not look back. He had declared that they would continue their discussion some other time which Sookie wasn't a fan of. Not only patience was not her strongest virtue but she wanted to understand Eric's intention. A part of her wanted to be closer to him but another part was afraid of him. He had managed to scare her a couple times already never knowing if her life would abruptly end in his hands.

She grabbed her shotgun that was still lying on the ground thinking that it was completely useless against vampires and their speed. The running noises were getting closer and closer and she managed to identify them as being 'dogs-ish''. Within minutes, Sam reached her still in his dog form. She always wondered why he was in that shape most the time but never asked.

"So you are keeping me company tonight then?"

Sam barked twice which meant yes in his doggy talk. He then approached her previously hurt leg and sniffed it with a lot of interest. After a while, he started growling and barking at her.

"What's your problem Sam?"

Sam kept growling

"You can smell Eric can you?"

Sam barked twice. There was no point in lying to him since his sense of smell was a lot better than most humans.

"So what's your problem?"

She knew she was only supposed to ask questions that required a yes or no answer but Sam was starting to upset her. She resumed her walk towards the opposite end of the wall followed by Sam closely who did not stop growling.

"You know this would be a lot easier if you would just stay in human shape"

Sam replied with one bark. Sookie sighed.

"So I guess you don't like him?"

One bark

"Fine whatever it's not like I need your permission"

Dog crying

"Sam Merlotte, why don't you go put on some clothes and come back so we can have a discussion?"

One bark

Sookie sighed and did not argue. Sam probably had really good reason to mainly be a dog all the time and at the moment, she didn't really care.

The night went by very slowly. Sookie had shot only a couple of corpses that were walking very slowly towards the wall. Strangely, in the past few weeks, there was less corpses coming their way and Sookie wondered why. Did the corpses eventually stopped walking? Or did they had all migrate somewhere away from Bon temps. Somehow the thought did not bring her comfort. When the 2 men who were taking over her guard duty reached her, she indicated to them where she had killed the corpses. They would have to tell the next guards in the morning so the corpses could be clean out and burnt away. She left them thanking them for taking over.

When she reached the main street, Sam barked once as in to say goodbye and left Sookie who was still walking down the main street towards the community kitchen. She was starving after all the walking she had done.

As she was preparing herself a peanut butter and jam sandwich on a loaf of bread her grandmother had made, she heard Bill coming in. He always made sure she knew when he was around in order to not scare her.

She took a bite of her sandwich promising herself to thank her grandmother for the delicious bread and smiled at Bill.

"Good evening darling" he said

"Hi Bill! I am just finishing up my sandwich and I was going to bed"

Sookie was lying. She had no intention of going to bed but she didn't want to have a conversation with Bill at the moment. She had always enjoyed his company since he had joined the community. Around him she could be herself, she did not need her shields up. It was pure silence and she loved it. At first their relationship had been of friendship. Bill was always so polite and attentive, but the more time she spent with him, the more attached she became. At first she rejected the idea of being with a vampire or with anyone for that matter. She always thought in the world they lived in, being attached to someone was setting yourself up for disappointment and heartaches. She already had her grandmother and her bother to worry about, she did not wish to have a lover on top of it but after long discussion with her grandmother, she had realized that Bill was really important to her and that there was no need for her to deny herself happiness. So one evening, under a full moon in the guard tower, she had leaned in to kiss him only to be met with rejection. Bill had pushed her away apologizing to have given her the wrong idea. At first, Sookie was raging, she never had taken rejection easily and to have exposed herself like this infuriated her but then she saw the sadness in his eyes. She saw the suffering which troubled her deeply. His body was doing the exact opposite of what his eyes were saying.

They were days without talking to each other. Sookie couldn't understand the rejection and she was hurt but one evening, in the same tower, during her guard duty, Bill joined her in silence. It took a while for Bill to start making conversation and Sookie to let him. They pretended nothing had happened which was awkward but she was just happy he was around her. Weeks later, they never mention that night again, Sookie ignored her deception and feelings for Bill and learned to just accept him being there as a friend and not a lover.

But tonight, she did not wish his company. She wasn't sure why exactly but since she had met Eric, things were different for her. She felt different. It was the first time since the incident, she did not want to be with him and it was the first time she didn't feel the pinch in her heart when he called her darling.

"It's awfully early for bed time" he had whispered

"I am tired that is all. I had guard duty tonight and…"

"You have had vampire blood, you shouldn't be tired"

Sookie looked at him horrified as if he had just walked in on her and some lover.

"I can smell him on you darling"

Sookie felt the heat coming to her cheeks as she was turning bright red.

"Bill Compton, this is none of your business"

Bill was staring at her as she finished her sandwich.

"Eric is dangerous Sookie. You should not trust him"

Sookie felt the rage boiling up. Bill was acting like a jealous boyfriend which aggravated her feelings.

"Like I said, none of your business Bill"

She threw her plate in the sink, washed it quickly and walked towards the door determined to not have this discussion.

"Sookie please, hear me out. You do not know him as I do"

"People change"

"Not Eric"

"I don't want to hear it Bill. I am being careful"

"Letting him feed on you is not what I consider being prudent"

She turned around as her inner kettle had reached its boiling point.

"Excuse me? You have no right to talk to me this way Bill. I will see and be with whomever I want and I certainly do not need your permission"

Bill had run at vampire speed right behind her which was blocking her access to the exit door.

"Sookie, please, I only wish to protect you"

"Protect me? From what! Eric is a perfect gentleman and has treated me like a lady so I really do not see the problem here. Please move out of my way so I can go to bed"

"He is far from a gentleman and I can tell when you are lying to me... He is using you Sookie"

"For what exactly ?"

"Only him knows but Eric uses people and vampires. That's what he does."

Bill sounded angry showing Sookie a side of him she had not witnessed before. Bill showed more emotions then Pam and Eric but anger was never one of them. She sighed loudly resigning herself to at least let him explain himself. She loved Bill and trusted him. He seemed to relax after a few minutes of staring at each other and then she saw it again, the pain in his eyes. She moved closer to him as he was moving away from her which frustrated her even more. She didn't have time to say anything she saw the blue eyes staring at her over Bill's shoulder.

"Am I interrupting?" Eric asked with his signature smirk.

Bill did not stop looking at Sookie and simply answered with a cold no.

Thank you for reading!

xox

Z