I know I know, I am taking forever. Just really busy with work guys... they sent me to P.E.I for the week and it was very long and boring but I got lots of writing down for another fic (since this one is finished). Anyways, what's holding up the chapters here? Nothing, I just keep forgetting to update because I am in writing mode... -_-
Thank you Fairytaleamber! As always, your beta work is fantastic
Chapter 31- I will stay with you
''Hurry up man!'' Whispered the girl to the man who was standing in front of her as they were heading to the warehouse first's floor's staircase.
''Blake said they were in an office close to the northern staircase which is right there.'' The man pointed in front of him.
''It's almost sundown Bob, can you imagine if the vamps wake up and find out she's missing?'' The woman declared as she gently pushed him down the hall to go faster.
''Let's not find out.'' he said to her as they open the office's door where the two corpses were.
The woman proceeded to put a collar on one of them to which she attached a leash. The man did the same with the other corpse.
''What was that?'' The woman said in the direction of the door they had just opened. ''I heard something.''
''The sun is almost down but it's still up technically speaking.'' Bob said looking out one of the small windows.
''Shhhh!'' The woman said as she walked slowly to the door. She looked down the corridor but the darkness was too thick to see anything. She signaled Bob to bring his corpse to the door, as they were ready to exit. They walked past the staircase and then down the other hall that would bring them to the main Foyer of the building.
The woman passed the staircase first. She heard a loud noise and a muffling sound, which instinctively made her turned around. Bob was gone and his corpse was standing there still tied up and muzzled. The woman placed her hand on her mouth in order to suppress the scream she wanted to let out. She turned around in a hurry to get out of the building but something was blocking her way. She slowly backed up before realizing that someone else was standing behind her now. A hand grabbed her shoulder and brought her closer, she shrieked as she felt a sharp pain on her neck. Her blood slowly ran down the length of it as the vampire drank slowly.
''That is enough Pam.'' Eric said as he approach the woman.
''How can you walk during daytime?'' She asked holding her neck up.
She couldn't really see them as it was too dark but she heard Pam laugh.
''Humans are so stupid. We can walk in the darkness even if it's daytime.'' She said omitting the fact that they had to make sure to get enough sleep so they wouldn't get the bleeds.
''Where is Sookie?'' Eric demanded. When the woman did not answer, he got closer to her, enough so she could look at him in his icy blue eyes.
''Where is she?'' he glamoured her.
''At the farm with Blake.'' She said before Eric snapped her neck.
Her body hit the floor in a loud thumping noise. She did not rise which meant she had had the cure.
'' I had forgotten the feeling of killing a human without them rising afterwards.'' He said as they walked back to the staircase. ''The sun is almost down.'' Eric said.
''How is Sookie?'' Pam asked her Maker knowing he could feel her through the bond and that is how they knew she was in danger.
''I believe they tortured her.'' he growled. ''She is alive but she is unconscious.''
''What the fuck happened?!'' Pam wondered. ''She was supposed to stay in the vault-'' She stopped talking midsentence. She started coughing slowly but the more she coughed the worst it got. She grabbed her throat as she coughed relentlessly until blood came up.
''What the fuck?'' she said in bewilderment.
Eric had just enough time to catch her before she fell onto the floor. She was weak and could barely speak. Eric watched her as more blood came up out of her mouth and then she passed out.
He let a low growl escape his mouth as he grabbed her bridal style and brought her back to the vault. She had seemed in day rest but he knew the sun was now down. He decided the best thing to do was to call the doctor so he looked for something to lite a fire with and placed it at a window. He was hoping that the size of the pile he had lit on fire would be big enough to indicate an emergency. He wanted to go to Sookie but could not leave Pam alone either. Something had poisoned her and he was hoping the doctor would know more about it.
Within the hour, the short doctor came in the basement with her medical kit.
''Northman.'' She said as sole sign of acknowledgement.
He nodded and pointed her toward the vault.
''Pam is not well, please take care of her, I must go.'' He simply said before running at vampire speed to the outside and taking flight to the farm.
He reached the deserted farm very quickly and as he landed, he took the time to smell the air for clues as to where Sookie was and where the rest of the humans were. Most of the senses he picked up were faint and old. He explored the main building where the human came to rest and found nothing. The place looked abandoned and only its state of cleanliness gave away the idea that someone or something was keeping the place tidy. Once he checked every single room and closets he could find, Eric exited the building at vampire speed and ran to the tower where Blake and his friends were usually up and watching for corpses or the beast. Just like the house, it was deserted.
Eric was growing impatient as he could feel Sookie's physical pain but also her confusion and her anger. He decided to focus on their bond searching for clues as to where she was. He let a low growl escape as he let her side of the bond take over. He could tell she was injured and probably unconscious, which did not stop her mind from being pissed off and mad. He also noticed feelings of betrayal, which he deducted was most likely because someone from the farm had attacked her. However, if that was the case, where was everyone? Even the community members from Bon Temps were gone. He tried to focus on the details her physical body was picking up. She was cold which probably meant her body was in shock but there was also humidity and he wondered if she was underground.
He ran over to the barn where all the animals had remained, the only witness left from what had happened here at the farm. As he entered the building, he noticed long foot prints in the hay as if someone had dragged his or her feet. Eric thought it look as if someone was trying to hide something so he decided to investigate further. As he looked on the floor for anything that would help him in his search, a delicious scent made its way to his nostrils. Something sweet, kissed by the sun; Sookie's blood. He found a single drop on the floor near the rear of the barn. Judging by its strength, it was only a couple of hours old.
He crouched down to touch the drop as if it would bring him closer to her. He damped his index in the blood and stared at it. He could not think of any reason why the farm would turn on Sookie this way. She had brought to them the cure. She was helping human kind. It made absolutely no sense for them to injure her. He knew it could not have been vampire, since his queen would never order something like that. The cure was helping humans but also vampires. Without humans, they have no food source.
As he got up from his crouch position, something caught his attention. In the opposite corner of where he was standing, he noticed some hay branches broken. To the normal eye, it would not look out of the ordinary but to Eric; the quantity of broken pieces was abnormal, especially in a corner of a building. He walked to that junction and pushed the hay around until a huge trap door was uncovered. Eric did not waste time and opened it, throwing the trap to the wall. He used the stairs to get to the room that was below the barn's floor. It was a small room with a door at the end of it. He opened it and what he saw in the middle of the room would have been enough to stop his heart if it was still beating. He clenched his fists at the horror before him and tried as best as he could to control the rage that was threating to take over him.
Sookie was tied to a chair. Her head was leaning to the right side as her long blond hair was cascading on her shoulder knot with her own blood. Her chest was completely exposed while one of her breast was pulled to shreds. The amount of blood was enough to cover most of the damage but the pieces of flesh that were barely hanging on to her chest told a story all on their own. He also noticed her wrists almost blue under her restraints. He could not help to notice her fingers and some of her nails peeling away from her flesh. Every single one of them had a nail hammered in between her nail and the flesh under it.
***Please note this is where the alternate ending will begin. Please see chapter 34 for the alternative.***
He kneeled beside her and proceeded to untie her quickly. As soon as nothing was holding her back, Sookie's head and upper body fell onto Eric's shoulder. She started stirring as the fall had woken her up.
''Eric?'' She mumbled.
He let her body fall into his arm so he could see her face. Her eyes kept rolling back into her skull as if at any time she could lose consciousness again. He placed his free hand from the embrace onto her cheek and took a deep breath he did not need. He was trying to hold back his emotions as he watched his lover suffer in pain. His emotions intertwined with hers kept calling him to a rage mode he knew he could not give in to.
''Lover…'' He whispered as he caressed her cheek with his thumb.
As if Sookie was reading his mind, she managed to pronounce Blake's name. Eric let a growl escaped his mouth.
''The farm…'' she whispered in great pain. ''The Fellowship…'' She coughed as Eric brought her closer to his chest.
''They are the Fellowship of the Sun.'' Eric finished on her behalf which she nodded positively to.
Eric took a deep breath and watched her as she was fighting death with every breath.
''Sookie, I do not know if my blood can save you. You have lost so much of it. You risk dying and…'' He paused as he was reminded of Eleanor. He had not turned her against her wishes and had been condemned to live with his choice for centuries. Sookie did not want to be turned; he knew that because Pam had mentioned it. Sookie wanted to go to her heaven. She was convinced she would not be able to if turned. A part of him wanted to respect her wishes but he also knew the price of it. A lifetime of grieving, never forgetting that one person that made him feel alive. Sure, over time, the pain is not as dominant because somehow, it just simply becomes a part of you, a part of your everyday burden but Eric was not prepared to say goodbye to his lover. Not now, he had just met her a year and a couple months ago. This equaled to very little in his lifetime, he could not bring himself to face her loss. He did not want to bleed forever, he had let her open his feelings long suppressed after Eleanor and now he was going to lose her and suffer once more?
''You could be turned.'' He finished as he watched her bring her own hand onto his.
''I don't want to be turned.'' The tangled words breathed out of her mouth.
Eric's grip tightens up at her words. He could not stop the single tear roll down his cheek leaving a bloody trace in its wake.
He did not want to live without her; he could not let her go.
He had to try to save her.
What kind of life would he live if he did not?
A life of wonders and everlasting what ifs?
Did Sookie realize what she was asking him?
''I am sorry lover.'' He whispered in her ear. He then brought his wrist to his mouth and ripped the skin off, letting his blood flow freely. She tried to turn her head away from his offering but she was too weak to stop him. He gently brought it to her mouth and watched his ancient blood flow in her mouth.
''Please lover, do not leave me. Drink.'' He said as Sookie tried to fight the blood that was now running through her veins. ''You will live Sookie, please believe it.'' He desperately added.
She stared into his eyes in search of answers she already knew. The trail of blood his tear had left brought tears in her eyes. He did not want to let her go and was willing to risk her humanity for it. She let the blood flow into her mouth tired of fighting the inevitable. There was nothing she could do to stop him. Now she had to fight to stay alive and not turn.
Her head slowly dozed off to the side but Eric grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him.
''No Sookie, stay with me, let my blood help you. Hang on.''
As the minutes past, her blemish tone turned to a more normal color for her skin. Her body slowly awakened from her imminent death, the sweat gone, the burning fever had dropped. She did not break their stare as her breast's exposed flesh slowly turned to a dark pink, the skin being almost see-through. The nails from her fingers were gently pushed out as their wounds scarred. Her breathing was now steady and she slowly regained control of her body's functions.
She was the first to break away from the embrace. She managed to stand on her own with much efforts and difficulties. Eric stood up too and helped her stand by placing his arm around her waist. He could feel her mixed feelings through the bond and he wanted to tell her he was sorry but he was not. She did not turn, she was alive and she would recuperate.
They did not exchange any words as he helped her out of the room and up to the barn's main floor. As they exited the building, Eric placed Sookie against the wall and sat her up. He signaled her to be silent with one finger before he turned around. He had heard a couple humans talking and deep down he knew one of them was Blake. He was going to make him pay for what he had done to Sookie at all costs, even if it meant to kill every single member of their precious farm turned cult. He ran at vampire speed at the group that was standing in front of the house and in a quick and deadly movement, he snapped three of the men's necks who then hit the floor with a loud noise. He then stood right behind Blake, his arms along his side with a lethal look in his eyes. Eric was in kill mode and nothing could stop him. Two men who had realized what was happening ran to Eric from behind and threw a silver chain at him, which he dodged easily. Eric then threw them both simultaneously against the house's wall, which gave in spectacularly at the force of the impact. Blake had turned around and was now facing a livid Eric.
Sookie could see from where she was sitting and as much as she did not enjoy watching people die, she couldn't help but feel the sweet revenge that ran through her veins. She wondered if it was Eric's feelings through the bond or her own but either way it felt extremely satisfying.
''Wait!'' Blake yelled at Eric. ''I was forced in doing that to her, I swear!'' He said but Eric was not listening.
He grabbed him by the throat and lifted him in the air. Blake was holding Eric's forearm as if that could stop him from strangling him. Eric's fangs came down with a vengeance.
''You deserve a long and painful death.'' He hissed at him.
The last four men who were standing around to watch the scene unfold ran toward Eric with their weapons drawn. One had an axe while the other three had various sized knives. Eric threw one of his free arms out while one of the men stabbed him in the back. He turned around still holding Blake by the neck and grabbed his stabber by the throat, which he crushed quickly, killing him in the process. He then kicked the third man so hard he crumbled to the ground. He grabbed the handle of the knife that was still lodged in his upper right shoulder and implanted it in the bastard's head. The last man came at Eric with an axe, which he threw quickly, slicing against the soundless air. Eric stopped the blade in mid-air and used it in an elegant spin reverse to throw the man on the ground. He was still holding Blake in his clenched hand but ensured he was getting enough oxygen so he would not die too easily. Eric grabbed the axe from with his free hand and violently brought it down smoothly onto the fourth man's chest. Slitting it wide and causing the man to cough up blood.
He then turned his attention back to Blake mentally calculating the best way to kill him. His logical side was screaming to let him go and start asking questions but his rage was so strong he could no longer contain it.
He then felt an enormous pain right in his brain and he hissed still holding on to Blake who was very confused as to what was going to happen next. Sookie could feel through the bond Eric's pure fury but something else was slowly creeping up; confusion.
There was only one person who could inflict him this much pain and Eric clenched his teeth at the answer.
''Let him go.'' Is all Eric heard before his hand let go of Blake and the pain got stronger bringing him to his knees.