Chapter 32- I Will Decay With You
Sookie watched Eric fall to his knees as she tried to suppress the fear skyrocketing in her muscles, making them spasm uncontrollably. She managed to get up on her feet resisting to give in to the pain she felt. Eric's blood had saved her life but she still needed to rest. She shivered at the idea that his blood could also have gave her an afterlife she did not want. He had gambled on her wishes and sure he had come out with the upper hand but the repercussions could have been devastating. She didn't have time to ponder, she staggered to Eric whose rage and confusion were so strong, it made Sookie waddle even more.
When she was close enough to them, she saw the hooded figure walk towards Eric and Blake. She recognized it from the thoughts and memories she had seen in one of her captors mind. What kind of magic was this person using to be able to bring a thousand year old vampire down to his knees. She knew it wasn't the witch since she had seen her act against her will probably glamoured by the hooded figure whom Sookie deducted to be a vampire.
She reached Eric and fell to her knees as she placed her arms around him.
''What's wrong?'' She whispered as Blake was now standing up about four feet away from them. He wasn't moving, instead he was watching the hooded figure which was now standing behind Sookie and Eric.
''Rise.'' Godric said taking off his hood.
Eric obeyed his Maker but the feelings of betrayal she sensed in the bond told her Eric was obeying against his will.
''I am sorry my child.'' Godric continued ''But I cannot allow you to kill Blake.''
Eric was growling. Sookie slowly stood herself up, overwhelmed by the bond; she started crying. Eric not only felt betrayed but he was broken. His maker had lied to him and had used him. He had no idea to what end nor did he understood why but the only person he had known his entire vampire existence stood up there with lies and empty words.
''Eric, please believe me when I say I wish there was a better way.'' Godric said as his child watched him walk in his direction.
Godric grabbed his Child's hand between his hands and looked at him straight in his eyes.
''Please forgive me.'' He simply said. After a long pause, he continued. ''I did not wish for all this bloodshed.'' He turned to Blake ''I did not ordered for Sookie's torture. No one was supposed to suffer needlessly.'' He hissed at him but then went back to Eric.
''I do not understand.'' Eric said.
''I know.'' Godric said now turning to Sookie who was still standing beside Eric holding his arm.
''I know you love her Child; this is why I could not tell you of my plans. If you had a choice between her, and me would you have chosen me? I think not.'' He paused. ''Please accept my apologies Sookie. They were to ask you if there was any other Fae capable of opening the portal.''
Blake threw himself on his knees at Godric's feet.
''I had to establish grounds. When she wouldn't tell us about the portal, I knew she needed to be broken to speak the truth.'' He said in his defense. ''We had to take her away from Eric since you did not want him knowing what we were doing. We waited all day at the warehouse but she was in hiding. When she finally came out, we were running out of time so we kidnapped her which broke the trust she had in us, Godric, we had no choice, she would have never volunteered the information.''
Sookie frowned and squeezed Eric's arm a little tighter. Godric sighed and instructed Blake to rise.
''What is done, is done. I can only ask for your forgiveness Sookie but you must understand. The cure cannot exist. My specie does not deserve to live. What better way to get rid of vampires than to control its food supply? I am just very deeply sorry that this also meant the death of millions of humans. Nature has her weird way to balance the scores.'' He continued saying to his child while caressing his hand gently.
''She cannot live Eric, as she could always bring the cure back.''
''No!'' Eric yelled! ''This is not the way Godric!''
Sookie was hit with Blake's memories and thoughts of a discussion he had had with Godric. Blake was internally freaking out not knowing whether he would be allowed to live or not and his mind kept going back to different events in the past month that had built-up to this moment. She had a flash of Godric explaining the reason why the mansion had been destroyed, she then saw him with the witch, glamouring her to do things against her will such as controlling Stephen at the distance. She crisped at the thoughts and Eric looked at her as he gently pressed his hand on hers. He could not really move without the possibility of his maker stopping him but having Sookie by his side, he would do anything to protect her.
''He destroyed the mansion.'' She whispered in his ear, which Eric knew already. His lack of expression confirmed what Sookie was feeling through the bond. The absence of surprise had confirmed his guilt. Eric felt Sookie's shift and he heard her mumble the words. ''You knew.'' ''Yes Sookie.'' Godric said. ''Eric helped me destroy it but I assure you he did not know the real reason behind it. We had discussed political advantages not the death of all vampires.'' He defended his child in one breath.
''Did you know about Stephen too then?'' She asked aloud in disbelief that she had been played in such matter.
''What?" Eric said not understanding what she was referring to.
''The witch, she's the one who made him kill the cat and the Were. She was glamoured by your Maker!'' She spit out feeling the rage slowly creeping up. ''Because of this, Bon Temps is completely destroyed. While everyone was wondering who had killed the Were, no one was watching the wall.''
''He has no part in that Sookie. It is true I glamoured the witch to do my bidding. I am not proud of it but it was necessary. The mansion could not be allowed to stand and find a cure. When the witch informed me of what you were after you went to see her, I knew you were going to be a threat. The Fae are life, if anyone could find a cure, it would be them. I could not allow you to open the portal. I had to take care of you. I tried to shift the community's focus by blaming a vampire, Bill, in the cat's death and your grandmother's disappearance. No one bit. Not even you. You would barely leave the community so I had no chance to grab you.''
''You took Gran?'' She asked.
''Yes but I never intended her death, it was an unfortunate event I am afraid.''
Sookie was growing impatient and could barely contain or hide her rage. Eric did not want her to do anything reckless so he squeezed her wrists still sore from the restraints.
''So to get to you, I had to destroy your community. I tried to help as many humans as I could when I rose. Most humans from the farm went in and I helped them too but you, you were nowhere to be found. When Eric reached Bon Temps, I had to leave or risking being exposed. So I did. I later found out, you were gone and I deducted you were gone to Faery. My only way to stop you and the cure was to keep my child close. I knew he would find you the minute you returned.'' He paused, fighting back tears that were filling his eyes.
''I love my Child, and seeing him suffering so much just added to my convictions.'' He approached Eric gently who crouched to be at his eye level. ''Eric, please forgive me. I love you so much. We can end our suffering, together, let us end our race and our miserable deaths. It is not living to be condemned on this earth having to kill and inflict pain on others just to feed ourselves.'' He placed a kiss on his forehead as Eric closed his eyes. ''We should not be allowed to live at all. The only way we can ensure this is to kill our queens and kings, eradicate our food source and making it obsolete and by killing the only hope humans have to a cure. I know you love her, my Child, although I never thought of you being capable of love, you have proven me wrong. I am just sorry it has to end this way. Vampires have proven to be resilient but our next moves will take care of their little cities they have built. I know where most of the royals hide out; together we can take them down my Child. I just need a little bit more time. I cannot let words of the cure breakout out of Louisiana. I trust that humans will always find a way to survive despite the corpses. The vampires have to go. We must pay for our thousands of years of pain and suffering we have inflicted upon them. I wish we could co-exist in peace but the reality is that vampires are damned. We cannot be saved; we are a creatures of death. God will forgive us.''
Sookie's rage was boiling over and she could feel her face becoming red. She knew Eric could not do anything about his Maker. Not only it was impossible physically but also he loved his Maker so deeply, to go against his wishes would be unthinkable. She thought about her Gran, her friends, all the deaths she had witnessed. Sookie was blinded by her anger, and she knew Eric could feel it but he did not let anything show on his beautiful face. He was suffering, divided by the two people he loved most and there he was, having to make a choice that was already made for him. Sookie was taken away from her thoughts at the sound of skin sizzling. Where she was holding Eric's arms, his skin was burning to the point of bubbling up. The darkness that had surrounded them was almost gone, as a small glow had seemed to enrobe them. She frowned and took her arm away by instinct. Eric was growling but he did not move. She looked at Godric who reached to grab her but as fast as he had put his hand on her forearm; he had removed it in pain.
''What the fuck!'' Blake said as he crawled away from Sookie.
She looked at her hands and realized her hands were giving off a small light, bright enough to lite up their surroundings. She felt the air move around behind her and thought it might have been the portal to the Fae, which turned out to be exactly that. As the portal open, it did not come and pick her up. It was opened from the other side, she was convinced of it. She walked to Godric and with fury in her eyes she said:
''Do you really think I am just gonna let this happened? You have killed so many innocent lives and in your quest to stop the carnage you only add to it.''
Godric looked down at the ground knowing she was speaking the truth.
Niall and three other Fae stepped out of the portal which closed instantly. Their delicious smell made their way to Eric and Godric whom were old enough to control their urges.
As soon as Niall saw Sookie, he started clapping happily.
''I see you have been working on your Fae powers!''
Sookie frowned at him not understanding what he meant. Eric looked at Sookie and saw the flash of green and the dark black eyes. He knew Sookie was part Fae but did not know she actually had some powers. He had not seen that sight in over 800 years.
''Your glow, it is your light child. Now calm down, we need to talk with Godric.'' He pointed at him. ''We watched everything that has been going on through you Sookie and I must say, although I completely understand where Godric is coming from, there is a better way to eradicate vampires which I will happily help him with.'' He declared clapping again in joy.
Godric lifted his head and watched Niall as he signed to follow him into the farmhouse. He indicated to Blake, Eric, Sookie and Godric to sit at the dining table and took place himself followed by the other three Fae.
''We need to stop this bloodshed dear friends. I agree that it would be a much better world without vampires Godric. That being said, human blood does not need to flow in order to achieve this goal.'' He stated.
Sookie had managed to calm down a great deal between Niall's arrival and the dining room. The amount of information she needed to process gave her a headache. Eric had deceived her. Followed up by his Maker, who had deceived both of them. To then be captured and tortured by Blake and company who turned out to be the Fellowship of the Sun. She had forgiven Eric's lie when he had explained himself at the mansion, but this new development awoke the pain she had suppressed. Adding salt to the injury, his Maker had been responsible for her community's destruction and her Gran's death, which brought tears in her eyes. She looked up at Niall wondering if she could fully trust him too. Faeries were strange beings and they seemed to be masters at deceptions and illusions so she frowned, keeping her guard up, focusing only on the things that mattered to her; her survival, Eric's and everyone else she cared about.
''Where is Pam?'' Niall asked Eric who would have killed him on the spot if looks could kill.
''Why?'' He hissed as sole response.
Niall smiled. It wasn't his typical warm smile Sookie was accustomed to. No, it was a mysterious smile, borderline mischievous. Sookie watched him get up from his chair and walked over to Godric. He whispered something in his ears. At the same moment, Eric got up and reached over the table to grab Niall.
''You will not harm Niall, Eric.'' His Maker said stopping him dead in his tracks. Eric's frustration leaked over to Sookie who was once again turning red.
Eric knew why his Maker had stopped him. Niall had whispered the next thing he was going to say would piss him so much he would fear for his life hence why his Maker instructed him not to harm him. Eric braced himself at what Niall was going to say next. He knew it involved his Child and the more he thought about it the more Sookie turned red.
''The cure.'' Niall continued, ''It isn't good news for vampires. It is actually a powerful poison. If a vampire feeds from a human whom has drunk it, they will die within the next day.''
Eric clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white. He looked as if he was ready to raise hell and so did Sookie. She did not want this for any of the vampires she knew. Unlike Godric, she believed that each species had its good and its bad and you can't condemn an entire one based on the action of a few. She was furious that her hesitation on trusting the Faeries had been confirmed to be right. All this time, they had plotted to exterminate the Vampire population their own way but had been used Sookie as an instrument to do so. By bringing the cure back into her world, she had contributed to their destruction. She felt Eric's rage boiling over as he got up on his feet. Since his Maker had ordered him to not touch Niall, Sookie deducted he would attack the other Fae. She decided to reach for Godric to stop him from ordering anything else to Eric. She was still weak but the anger she felt added to Eric's had been so strong, she felt as if her Fae side had emerged again.
She grabbed Godric by the arm as Eric grabbed one of the Fae and drained him in a couple seconds as the other two took a defensive stand. Niall reached in to stop Eric whom pushed him to the opposite wall. Niall crashed into it the wall stunned by his fall. He was tapping into his Fae power, which took longer than his usual, as he hadn't been in this world in a very long time. The rules were different, the ground had change and the tables had turned. In Faery, the sun provided them with easy access but in this world, not only the sun was weaker but it was nowhere to be found at that very second.
Godric's arm started to burn at Sookie's touch, which instinctively made him reached over the table to grab her by the throat. Sookie let go of his arm and joined both her hands on his forearms inflicting deep burns. Godric hissed in pain as Sookie tried to break free. Eric was now on the second Fae, who was avoiding his attacks like a pro. Their battle was at vampire speed but it was evident that the Fae had learned some quick techniques to dodge Eric's movements.
Eric quickly understood he had no hope of touching him unless he stopped punching the air and in a fluid movement, he reached up and caught the Fae as a toad would a fly. He quickly snapped his neck as the third Fae grabbed him from behind. Eric yelled in pain, which made Sookie looked in his direction. The third Fae was using some kind of magic that looked like electricity going through Eric's body. Niall was now standing up with his hands on each side pointing up. He had completely turned green and for the first time Sookie knew she was seeing the real Niall. His dark eyes were locked on to Eric who was now kneeling in front of the third Fae. Niall walked over to him which made Sookie panic. She did not want to risk Niall's desire of killing all vampires. Since Eric was not sharing his opinion, Sookie thought he wouldn't hesitate to end him. Her anxiety level was hard to control. She wasn't in a position to do anything as Godric was still holding her by the throat. She felt a tear roll down her cheek as she watch her great grandfather raise his arm higher, a ball of energy forming between them.
She looked back at Godric, no longer feeling enraged. She was desperate, pleading for him to let her go. Godric's fangs retracted, his muscles relaxed and something changed in his eyes. Sookie was no longer seeing a fight, an opponent. She saw a broken vampire who accepted her plea and let her go.
Without hesitation, she jumped to Eric who was still on his knees and screamed to stop. She barely had time to enlace him with her arms; her great grandfather was releasing the ball of electricity in their directions. She closed her eyes and held him as tight as she could. If he was going to die, she was going to die with him.
They stayed still for a couple minutes, Sookie wondering if she was dead or not. She slowly risked an eye in Eric's direction who was now looking around them. He quickly smiled at her before getting up and helping her to do so too.
Niall was lying on the floor where tree like burn mark had made their way across his arm and chest. She looked behind them and saw the third Fae on the ground. He looked as dead as the other two. Godric had seemed to be knocked off his feet too but had risen at the same time as they did. He quickly made his way to Niall and crouched to his level.
''Stop.'' He said to Eric and Sookie. ''We can still end this war Eric, without any more human or Fae bloodshed.''
Eric looked away as Sookie stared at Godric.
''Why are you condemning your entire species based on the action of a very few?'' Sookie asked him.
''A few? We have been using and killing humans our entire undead lives Sookie. It is not a few, it is all of us.''
She did not respond anything as Eric had grabbed her arm in an effort to temper her. She looked back at him and understood his hesitation. Godric was his Maker, he could not take a physical stand against him nor did he want to.
''Eric, let the Fae do their job, they will exterminate our kind and humans can finally live in peace.'' Godric said in Eric's direction.
Eric nodded without any word. To Sookie's dismay, he let her arm go and took his Maker's hand instead.
''We can finally rest in peace my son.'' He said.
''What!? No!'' Sookie cried but the two vampires were already walking to the front door.
''Let us meet the sun together.'' Godric said.
Eric stopped walking and turned to face Sookie who was now crying.
''I can not.'' He simply said but Sookie wasn't sure if he was talking to her or Godric.
''Eric.'' She said incapable of hiding her anxiety and her sadness. Despite shaking uncontrollably, she grabbed his arm and forced him to look at her.
''The sun will be up soon.'' Godric said slowly as he walked outside.
''Don't do this.'' Sookie said to Eric.
He placed his arm around her waist and brought her closer to him. He gently brought his lips to her forehead and left a kiss.
''Lover, I would never.''
She looked up at him and he was half smiling. One of those smiles that were filled with sadness.
''You are stuck with me.'' He sheepishly said to her. ''Godric understands my choice. I promise I would not stop the cure.''
Sookie wondered how they talked to each other without any words being exchange but she thought it wasn't the time nor the place.
''I do not want to him to die alone.'' Eric continued. She nodded in silence and leaned in to kiss him. She then walked outside where Godric was standing.
''I have not seen the sun in so long'' He said peacefully. ''I am sorry for all the heartache I have caused you Sookie'' He said genuinely. ''I never meant to cause so much pain.''
Sookie placed her hand in his and quickly smiled before looking to the horizon where shades of orange and pink tinted the sky.
''I understand why you did it.'' she said.
He looked at her with admiration before joining Sookie in looking at the horizon.
''Thank you for being here.'' He said.
''No one should die alone.'' She replied as they watched the sun slowly come up.
Thank you FairytaleAmber for the awesome beta work!