Alright folks! only three more chapters to go! All with my beta at the moment and I will post them as soon as I get them (and depending reviews too). There will be an alternate ending (chapter 34) as, although I picked one ending, I debate for a long time how to finish this fic. I want to share the other ending that I did not pick.

Thank you FairytaleAmber for your awesome beta work

xxxx

Chapter 29- If You Fade Out Without Me

Pam was pacing anxiously while waiting for her Maker. Eric was writing a note they were going to give to the messenger, for delivery to Sophie-Anne. The excitement Sookie had awakened in Pam was eating her up. She wanted to go out, to hunt, to kill, not to play this political game and then babysit the farm while her Maker could have his fun with Sookie.

''What is it?'' Eric asked her.

''I want to go play.'' She simply said showing her fangs.

''You are not a child Pamela.'' Eric said while sealing the envelope.

He stood up and walked to the door followed closely by Pam.

''Are we gonna play the babysitters today, again?'' She asked rolling her eyes to his broad back.

''I saw that, and no. We are not playing the babysitters. Godric needs our help, he called me when I awoke.''

They both flew over to the border and waited for the messenger in silence. The perimeter was deserted, except for the tiny cameras watching their every move. When the messenger reached their location, no words were exchanged. Eric gave him the letter and he took it without even looking at him. The messenger left as fast as he had come and Pam smiled as she looked at her Maker.

''Can we at least feed before we go to the farm's sad party. I am hungry.''

Eric gave her a cold look but did not reply. The weight of Sookie's grief was heavy on his shoulders and he wanted to be by her side in case she needed him.

''Later.'' He declared with one of these tones you do not reply to.

''Fine.'' Pam said.

As soon as they landed near the farm, Godric joined them. He seemed tired and worn out and Eric noticed he had a mild case of the bleeds. Blood was slowly dripping from one of his ears. His white shirt was covered in blood while is black pants had holes in them. Eric frowned which Godric did not miss.

''Do not worry Eric, this blood is not mine.'' Godric said while pointing at his shirt. ''Blake administered the cure to Martha.''

Martha was an older lady whom had been bed ridden ever since Eric and Pam had found the farm. When Eric had met her for the first time, he had been told she had Tuberculosis, a modern name for what he knew as Consumption. Martha had all the classic symptoms; she was coughing up blood, she had a fever, night sweats and was frail to the point one would mistake her for a pile of bones. The farm had quarantined her since they did not have access to modern medicine. Consumption did not always kill the person who contracted it. Sadly, in Martha's case it became active. Since it was highly contagious, the group had chosen to close her off from the population.

Eric pondered about his time in London and how many people he had met with the disease. He could not help but think he could just give Martha his blood and she would be rid of the disease, but just like back then, he could not risk humans knowing what their blood could do. He had no desire of becoming a farm animal or prey so he decided to stay silent and just like the community, watch her die a slow and painful death. This surprisingly was taking longer than they all had anticipated.

Here they were, months later, Martha still managing to breath despite her lungs full of body fluids. She was the perfect candidate to test the cure.

''We might need to accelerate the process to make sure it works before we give it to Sophie-Ann.'' Godric pointed out to his child. His intentions were clear; he wanted Eric to kill Martha while no one was watching to see if the cure worked.

''Very well.'' Is all Eric said, his mind was elsewhere.

Pam rolled her eyes, which made Godric smile. He nodded to Eric who took off right away, leaving him with Pam.

Eric had only one thing on his mind and it was Sookie. Her sadness was evident through the bond and Eric ached to ensure she was safe. He sniffed the air in search of her scent, which he picked up near the animals at the back of the house. However, his maker had given him instructions and until they were carried out, seeing Sookie would have to wait. He had to take care of Martha. He walked to the farmhouse and flew to one of the windows on the second floor. He entered the room in silence and sniffed the air again, this time trying to gage who was on the floor and where Martha was. As he pinpointed her location, he made his way to the back of a room, which was sealed off with plastic. They could have put up a sign with Martha's face on the door and it would still not have been as obvious as the quarantine procedures around the area. No one was in her room and when he closed the door behind him, Martha opened her eyes.

''Thank God.'' She said between coughs. ''Will you kindly put me out of my misery?'' She asked coughing up blood on her forearm.

Eric nodded without showing much emotion. He did not know the woman nor did her care about her; however, the fact that she was asking to be killed seemed to make the scene more intimate. He sat on the side of the bed and turned his upper body to face her. He was not sure if it was Sookie's feelings leaking through the bond that made him feel this way or the fact he was exposed to Consumption again, reminding him of a gloomy past. As Eric stared into Martha's eyes, he felt sadness. She turned her head away and asked not to be glamoured. She did not want a painful death but she did want to be conscious.

Before Martha could reflect on her own words, Eric stood up and place one of her extra pillow on her face, in a fluid, quick movement. It took only a minute for her hands to let go of the pillow she was hopelessly trying to remove from her face. Eric was always fascinated with the survival instinct of humans. For the most part, humans had none, always making stupid decisions over and over again. Just as he was witnessing now with Martha, when their death was imminent, their reason was kicked out the window and their survival instincts took over. Martha wanted to die, at least her mind did. Alas, here she was, her body fighting to hang onto life, until finally, she died.

Eric removed the pillow, which he threw in the closest of the room and he sat again at her side waiting; waiting for any twitch, a sign of an unwanted afterlife. He watched her hands now peacefully resting at her side, her stomach no longer rising. She did not move. Her body died and did not come back. The cure had worked; she would not walk this world ever again.

Eric took off in silence knowing it would not be long until someone found out she had passed away. He looked in the direction of the farm animals, which were peacefully sleeping in the barn. Sookie was in there, he could sense it.

He entered the barn quietly but the animals did not miss him. They were always nervous around vampires, which naturally alerted Sookie. She had been sleeping in a hay stack alongside of a goat, who had seemed startled by Eric sudden arrival.

''Eric?'' She whispered. He smiled knowing she could not see him in the darkness. He sat beside her and placed his hand on her leg. She shivered at his touched and placed her hand in his.

'' I wish I could take your sadness away.'' He said. He meant it, he wished there was a way to take her pain away but since Sookie was immune to glamour, that action was out of the cards.

''No.'' She said, removing her hand from his. ''I am glad you cannot glamour me.'' She stated. ''Emotions is what makes us humans.''

She stood up and brushed off the hay from her clothing. Eric knew he could never fully understand that side of Sookie as he did not really welcome feelings in general but he stayed in silence, letting her guide him to her needs.

His silence seemed to trouble her. She turned to face him without knowing, exactly as if she could feel him in the darkness.

''I know you are just trying to help.'' Sookie added, as if she needed to apologize for something.

Eric got up as well and encased her in his arms as she placed her head on his shoulder. He did not want to break their embrace but when he felt Sookie grow tense, he moved her away from him to look her in the eyes. The moon was bright enough to pass through the boards of the barn and was now shining on her lovely face.

''What is it?'' He asked, gaging her worries through the bond.

''Probably nothing.'' She said but then she stopped every movement as if she was suddenly frozen in fear.

''What is it?'' He growled low.

''Thoughts.'' She whispered. Eric waited for her to continue but she did not. He decided to grab her arm and guided her out of the barn where a couple of humans were working on a pick-up truck.

She smiled nervously at him; her eyes were giving away her fear. Sookie was hearing thoughts that scared her and Eric had no way to know what they were exactly.

''Ah, Eric.'' He heard his Maker say behind him so he turned to face him.

''Good evening Sookie.'' Godric said to her and she replied, but with one of those fake smiles, she was so used to giving to others so they would not think she was crazy.

''I have great news!'' He declared as Blake joined him. ''The cure, it works!''

The men who were working on the pick-up truck had joined them and as the rumors made their way quickly through the farm, a crowd gathered around them.

''Unfortunately,'' started Blake, ''Martha has passed away.'' He said looking at Godric who was now displaying the typical emotionless vampire face.

''But I guess, we should rejoice because she did not rise again.'' Blake concluded.

The crowd's reaction varied. From cries to smiles, it was obvious that Martha had been loved and that her death saddened many, but the news of the cure seemed to trump the distressed news. Eric grabbed Sookie's hand, which he noticed was very cold. She did not seem to be enjoying the update as much as one would think. She was tense, and kept looking around as if someone was watching her. Eric slowly caressed the inside of her palm, in an effort to calm her nerves but it had seemed in vain.

The crowd was slowly parting to let a young girl through to the middle of the celebration. She as carrying a big black pot, which was still hot judging by the fumes it let out. Behind her was another girl who had multiple cups.

''Everyone must drink this tea. This is the first step in stopping this plague.'' Explained Blake.

Godric grabbed the ladle the second girl had brought to him and started serving the tea in multiple cups, which were then distributed amongst the multitude. Eric found it strange that Godric was serving humans; he still could not possibly understand that side of his Maker. He was taken away from his thoughts by the small delicate hand that was now squeezing his so hard he thought he would feel pain if he was not vampire. Sookie's eyes had widened as they stared straight ahead. She was not shaking but her body was so overwrought, she looked like a statue. Some of her muscles had spasms going through her body but when Eric was hit with a small, almost unnoticeable mental pain, he frowned. He gently squeezed her hand but it did not take her away from what was tormenting her.

As he watched the humans drink their tea, he quietly approached his Maker and whispered in his ear that he had an urgent matter to attend. Godric nodded, giving him permission to leave the group. Eric grabbed Sookie's palm and was stopped by another hand on his shoulder; Alcide.

''Not before she takes the cure too.'' He said to Eric who growled in response.

''She is not feeling well.'' Eric said. At that point, he realized he did not want Sookie to drink the cure because sure, it worked on Martha, but they had no idea what the long-term effects were. Since he did not intend to let Sookie die anytime soon, there was no need in his mind to risk her life in another way. Alcide's words had seemed to make her snap back in reality and Eric prayed she would not argue with him. He tried to push some feelings of trust through the bond but then realized it was not necessary, as Sookie had started walking away from the group anyway. It was evident she had something else her mind.

Sookie seemed to know where she was heading, so Eric simply followed her. She walked through the field and then reached the tree line all without a single word. She then walked for about five more minutes and stopped in the middle of nowhere.

''When we were in the barn,'' she said. ''I heard someone talking about killing a cat.''

She did not need to say anything else; he knew it had reminded her of Stephen and the community.

''I am pretty sure it was thoughts, but I didn't recognize whom it was from. But,'' she stopped and seemed to be listening as if she sensed they were being watched. Eric knew no one was around so he reassured her through the bond and she continued.

''I saw myself getting' shot Eric.'' she stated, as a matter of fact. He frowned and could not help the low growl that escaped him.

''You would not get memories like that unless you touch the person?'' he asked. She nodded in the negative.

''With you, it seems that I have to touch you, yes, but with humans, sometimes I get thoughts, sometimes I get flashes of memories. The shooter was in the crowd.''

''Did you get anything else?''

She nodded adversely again.

''What does it mean Eric? Why would the shooter be there but not trying to kill me again? I don't understand.''

The panic was slowly taking her and Eric could feel it. He grabbed her hands to calm her down, as he took the time he needed to think about all of this.

''The only thing we know for sure Sookie, is that the farm is not safe for you.'' He stated in a deep tone, which left no room to argue.

''The sun will be up soon and,'' he paused; angered that he would not be there to protect her during the day. ''You need to be safe for the day.''

He did not wait for a response; he scooped her off her feet and headed out to the abandoned warehouse. He did not even land in front of its entrance as he usually did; instead, he landed in the back of it and flew to the open window on the third floor, which was right beside his office.

''You must stay here for the day.'' He said more as an order than a suggestion.

''And what am I supposed to do all day?'' Sookie replied with her arms crossed on her chest.

His growl was menacing enough that she did not add anything else. He could feel her frustrations through the bond but they did not have the luxury of time to formulate a better plan.

''We do not know who is involved nor do we know how, it is not safe there.''

''What about Alcide, Tara, Jason…'' Sookie started but Eric cut her off.

''If, whomever shot you, wanted them dead, they would be already. Until we know more about this, please lover, stay here.''

She shrugged her shoulders and looked at the broken window of his office.

''Fine, but when you rise again, I am going to be starving.'' She said turning back to face Eric who was now right behind her with a cheeky smile.

''I can think of many ways to take care of it right now if you want.'' He declared.

She chuckled and wrapped her arms around him.

''No offense but I'd rather have real food.'' She said as she placed her cheek on his stomach.

''Am I not good enough Lover?'' He asked. He brought his hand to her hair and gently caressed her head. He knew she was smiling and relaxing in his arms and that is all he wanted in this moment.

''Will you stay here for the day?'' He asked politely, knowing he could order her all he wanted and she could always choose to not obey. As much as Sookie was His, she wanted her freedom. and would happily fight tooth and nail for it. Her fire was what had attracted her to him in the first place, he would never dream of taking that away from her.

''Yes.'' She whispered. Her eyes were closed and her breathing had slowed down. She was tired, Eric could tell just by her demeanor.

''Come lover.'' He said as he guided her out of the office. They walked down the abandoned hall. The floor they were on must have been used for office work, since the long corridor had your typical grey carpet and plain white walls. The only source of light that allowed Sookie to see anything was the moonlight escaping through the many broken windows in all the offices they passed by.

When they reached the stairs, Eric opened the door for her and grabbed her hand. There were no windows in the staircase; it was a pitch-black abyss. Eric could see just fine but he knew Sookie could not. They took several minutes to reach the bottom of the steps, which Sookie guessed brought them to the basement of the building.

''Why do you guys always choose to go underground? I understand the light problem but wouldn't it be the first place people would check if they were looking for you?'' She asked as they walked through a very large room that contained machinery and giant piles of rocks.

''Yes of course, but human nature is to avoid basements and darkness. It will always be the safest place for us.'' He explained.

They reached a giant volt door, which Eric opened with a silent swing and then closed behind them. He then lit up a candle that was located on the side of the door. Sookie screams made him jump a little which he would never admit aloud. Pam was standing in the back of the now illuminated vault smiling ferociously.

''Oh humans, you are all so jumpy.'' She said, ''Did I startled you Sookie?'' She asked but Pam was looking to her Maker with an amused look.

''Yes!'' Sookie replied as she looked around the room.

Pam crouched down and lifted four of the big tiles that were on the ground. The tiles hid a trap door, which Pam opened without much difficulty.

''After you.'' She said to Eric and Sookie.

Eric went in first followed by Sookie and Pam whom closed the trapdoor behind them and locked it tight. Pam went to her coffin right away without any words while Eric pressed a kiss into Sookie's forehead.

''Do not leave the vault.'' He said before he lay in his coffin.

Sookie was busy looking around the dome. She walked the room trying to figure out why it was built and by whom. It was cold but not humid. The room was covered in small tiles, which gave it a sterile hospital feel. When she turned to look at Eric, she realized he was already in his resting place. She approached it and looked down while the candle light gently danced around the curves of his dwelling. He looked so peaceful as if he was on display on the day of his funeral. At that point, Sookie figured the sun was up and it was probably time for her to catch up on some much needed sleep herself.

TBC

Reviews are SUPER appreciated!

Z