The original scripts for episodes 10 through 12 were very different to what we actually saw on screen. Thanks to our mole we can now see what might have been. Thankfully, Pam is not saddled with the ridiculous line "You can be a heartless bastard sometimes." Duh! Vampire! Stating the obvious anyone?

As in previous chapters, this assumes knowledge of Season 3 – I'm filling in some gaps and providing some alternative versions – it's not a complete rewrite.

"Use the girl!" In her anger and frustration Pam enunciated every word.

"No!" Eric equalled her in his vehemence.

"So you are just going to accept your final death. I never thought I would see Eric Northman go down without a fight."

"I do not intend to go down without a fight, but I have to accept that I might lose. Russell is older and stronger than I am, I need to make provision for those I care about."

"Eric, I really have no interest in inheriting your farm on Oland, it's a windy shithole."

"And I have no intention of letting the IRS, or worse still that double-dealing bitch Sophie-Anne, take Fangtasia. Now get Yvetta, I'm going to need a witness to this." Eric turned back to the solicitor who was watching him carefully across the table, pen in hand.

"To Sookie Stackhouse, I leave the contents of my accounts in the following banks: Coutts of London, Credit Suisse, Bank of America."

"What about me, you promised to take care of me." Eric hadn't registered that Yvetta was already at his side.

"I promised you a job and great sex; I think I have kept my side of the bargain." Eric replied coldly as he grasped her hand and forced her to sign the document.

The dancer swore in her native tongue as she stalked out of the bar, slamming the door behind her.

"You can be such an idiot sometimes," Pam drawled, "I've warned you so many times just how dangerous a scorned woman can be."

Eric shrugged as he got up to leave. He had far more pressing matters to think about than the gold digging whore who danced in his bar – make that past tense, he reflected as he took to the skies in the direction of Bon Temps.

Sookie was alive, he knew that, but he had felt a rollercoaster of emotions from her over the last two nights: fear, anger, lust and confusion. He had so many things he needed to tell her before the inevitable moment when Russell came after him.

He had hoped that Hadley's warning might have had some effect; that he would find her alone, or at least only in the company of other humans. But no, as he reached the house where she was hiding out he could feel that the lugubrious presence of Bill Compton hung around her like a shroud.

Fine, Eric thought, there were some things he needed to have out with Mr. Compton and when better than now. Since the moment Hadley had revealed her cousin's true nature to him, he had wondered if the old myth was true. Could fairy blood really allow you to walk in the sun? This had to be the reason why Sophie-Ann was interested in the girl, and it was just too much of a co-incidence for her chief procurer to turn up in Bon Temps for no reason.

Bill denied it of course, trotting out the pathetic lie that he had decided to mainstream in his ancestral home. The denial would have amused him in any other circumstances, but now it just served to make him angry. "Why don't you tell Sookie the fucking truth," he snarled at the younger vampire.

The sound of their raised voices drew Sookie out of her brother's house. Eric sensed her presence before she came into view.

How he regretted his high-handed attitude towards her. He had been so determined not to show the weakness that inevitably accompanied feelings. He was fully capable of seducing any woman if he set his mind to it and yet he had let Compton take this woman from right under his nose. Now it was too late.

The bitterness in her voice pained him, as she denounced him for abandoning her to Russell.

"I wish you well Sookie Stackhouse." It hardly seemed adequate as his last words to her, but what more could he say. He had tried to warn her, but she would not heed him, so blinded was she by her obsession with Bill Compton.

Sookie's appearance at Fangtasia the following night was not entirely a welcome surprise. He had no idea when and where Russell would strike so any contact between them risked exposing her to danger.

She wasted no time in getting to the point. "What did you mean when you said I shouldn't trust Bill?"

"I will tell you truthfully what I know; then you must make up your own mind. I first met Bill Compton almost seventy years ago. He had broken from Lorena and sought protection and employment at the court of Sophie-Ann Leclerq in New Orleans. Bill is, as you know, remarkably good at adapting to whatever situation he finds himself in. He rose rapidly through the ranks and was soon a favourite of the Queen. She employed him as her chief Procurer."

"Her what?" Sookie interrupted.

"Procurer. Most powerful vampires have one, their role is to seek out and seduce humans who can be fed on and perform…..other services. Bill was, by all accounts, one of the best. He was very convincing. Both women and men came with him willingly, believing that he cared for them."

A sick feeling took hold in the pit of her stomach. It was like the sensation of watching a runaway car, knowing it's going to crash and there's nothing you can do to stop it.

"Were you and Bill friends then?" Sookie had to know more, even with the risk that the knowledge would only bring her pain.

"Not really. I had other roles at court so our paths rarely crossed. I left soon after he arrived." It was impossible to convey to her in words quite how claustrophobic and incestuous Sophie-Anne's court had been. "I decided to travel and did not come back to Louisiana for over fifty years." He didn't think it necessary to tell Sookie that Sophie-Ann and he had been lovers, until he tired of her constant demands and rejected her. After that it wasn't safe to venture within five hundred miles of the state.

He had been surprised that the queen had allowed him back into Louisiana and amazed when she asked him to become Sheriff of Area Five. He had always suspected some ulterior motive, and after recent events the suspicion that it was all part of a plan to exact revenge for his betrayal had taken root. His queen was surprisingly capable of playing the long game.

"So you don't really know the truth about why Bill came to Bon Temps?" Sookie tried to sound hopeful, although she knew that whatever Eric had to tell her was unlikely to be good.

"I know that just over a year ago Sophie-Anne acquired a new human favourite, the woman I now know to be your cousin Hadley. There were rumours at court that she gained her position by boasting to the Queen about the special powers which ran in her family."

He got up from his chair and moved to the front of his desk, now only a few inches away from where Sookie stood. He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper as he continued his explanation, even though there was no-one to hear.

"I had a few strange phone calls from Sophie-Anne at that time asking whether I knew of any supernaturals in my area, apart from the shifters. She tried to sound casual, but I know her well enough to be sure that something had really excited her. That was about six months ago. Shortly afterwards Bill Compton turned up, announcing that he wanted to 'mainstream'." Eric spat out the last word with the disgust it deserved.

Sookie considered his words for a while, fixing her gaze on his chest so she didn't have to meet his eyes. She knew she would see only pity there, and that hurt her more than anything. "I don't know what to believe. Russell showed me the dossier Bill made, but Bill said he only did it to protect me from you. Do I need protection from you?"

"What do you think, Sookie?"

She lifted her face to meet his gaze. In the short time she had known him, she had never seen him quite so serious. There was no hint of the cocky, controlling Eric who both repelled and fascinated her. He seemed as vulnerable now as he had done that night at the Hotel Carmilla when he had begged Godric not to meet the sun.

"I don't believe you would hurt me."

Sookie didn't move as Eric stood up and raised his hands to her shoulders. She could tell from the look in his eyes that he wanted to kiss her, and somewhat to her surprise she realised that she wanted to kiss him back. She felt so used and confused; the comfort of his embrace cried out to her. Reaching up, she slipped her arms around his neck.

"If I go to my final death without ever having kissed you, that would be my biggest regret," he murmured gently.

Before she could respond his mouth was on hers. For a brief and futile moment she tried to fight his desire and her own. Then she parted her lips and met the fierce urgency of his need with an urgency of her own. His hands were rough against her neck, pulling their bodies closer together. He could take her now and she could do nothing, would do nothing to stop him. That realisation brought her back to cold reality.

Reluctantly she pulled away. There was too much at stake now, they needed to focus.

"There must be something you can do? You can't just give up like this."

"Now you sound like Pam."

"Well Pam is right then."

"There is something but…" he trailed off, unwilling to finish the sentence.

"But what, Eric?" Sookie demanded grabbing him by the arms.

"But it would put you in danger, and I'm not willing to do that."

Sookie took in a slow deep breath, and then let it out with a sigh, shaking her head. Why wasn't she surprised? Every interaction she had with the vampire world put her in danger, why should this be any different.

"I'm a grown woman, Eric, I can make my own decisions. Tell me your plan."

"Russell believes that your fairy blood will allow him to walk in the sun. I have to tell you that after hundreds of years of night, this is every vampire's dream and the older the vampire, the stronger the desire. I believe this is also why Sophie-Anne wants you."

"Oh shit, tell me you're joking, please. If that's true I'm a dead woman."

"It's not true. Your blood does allow a vampire a few minutes in the sun. Bill found this out when your friend threw him out of Alcide's truck, it gave him about ten minutes grace, long enough to reach cover; after that though he would have begun to burn."

"So?" Sookie was feeling very confused now.

"So, if I can convince Russell that it is true, I get him to drink your blood, lure him outside and leave him to burn."

"Well that sounds simple enough," Sookie replied, with the merest hint of sarcasm. "Could you just run the 'drink my blood' part past me again though."

"This is why I don't want to do it. He wouldn't need to drain you. He probably wouldn't take much more than Bill does, normally, but it will be painful."

"How painful?"

"Have you ever had a vampire take your blood against your will?"

The memory of Bill's attack in the truck made her shudder.

"I can see that you have. In that case you know that it will be very painful."

"But you'll protect me, right?" She tried to sound more confident than she felt. Deep down she knew that he would, but she was also well aware of the powerful forces they would be taking on.

"I will try to, but you must be aware of the risks. If you want to walk away now, I will not stop you."

Sookie pulled her shoulders back and raised her chin just a notch in a gesture of defiance. A woman with any sense would have turned and left while she had the chance, but something prevented her from taking that step. She called it stubbornness, but deep down she knew it was something more. She had her own reasons for wanting revenge on Russell.

Eric gave a subtle nod of acceptance, and then his face took on a look of grim determination.

"I'm sorry to have to do this, but please understand that it is necessary," with that, he scooped her up over his shoulder and carried her down to the cellar, ignoring her screams of anger.

He couldn't just sit and wait for Russell to come for him. He was going to have to find the king, and persuade him to walk into the trap they would lay.

The voice of the dark haired woman soothed her. "You did the right thing, Sookie. I know it was hard but you made your choice and you saw it through."

"You told me not to trust Bill." Her confusion was evident, and the fae Claudine smiled kindly.

"I did, and I meant it. There is one vampire you can trust though."

Before Sookie could ask for an explanation, Claudine was gone. In the distance she could see a powerful light, and she knew it was pulling her back to consciousness.

She awoke to the sight of Bill's dark countenance glowering over her. Her neck and wrist were still painful from the dual assault of Russell and Eric. The Viking had tried to help; she had been aware of him stroking her hair even as he fed from her. The gesture had told her more about his feelings than words ever could.

It was evident immediately that Eric wasn't there. One look at Pam's bloody tears told her the truth, and the security cameras confirmed it. She could not let him do this. Pushing Bill to one side, she raced out into the sunlight to save him.

It took all of her strength to pull Eric back into the safety of Fangtasia. He was too weak even to sit up, and his whole body was terribly burned.

Bill scowled in fury as she forced him to bite into her wrist. She sat down next to where Eric lay, offering him her blood. He took her wrist into his mouth with utmost gentleness. She knew how weak and desperate he must feel, but there was no urgency, no sense of assault. He sucked gently on the life-force she offered him.

So many thoughts went through her mind as she watched him slowly heal. With her free hand she gently stroked his hair. It felt so natural somehow to offer him comfort. She could no longer deny that she had feelings for him. Not love exactly, after all she loved Bill, and whatever his faults he loved her too. That was the one certainty she had in her life right now. Everything else was just confusion.

Sookie sat alone in the dark. Her whole life was in ruins around her. Everything she thought she knew had turned out to be a lie. The stupid thing was that the warning signs had been there all along, she just hadn't recognised them.

It was still hard to square the man who had said he loved her, who had wanted to marry her, with the controlling vampire who would kill anyone else who tried to get close to her.

She had cried until she had no more tears left. Whatever her suspicions had been, she could never have imagined that Bill would betray her so badly. If only he had told her the truth about the queen. A part of her knew that he did love her, but his lack of trust in her was the worst betrayal of all. But then she was also guilty of a lack of trust. Eric had tried to warn her but she had ignored him.

He was the one she had been unfair to. He hadn't meant to hurt her, she was sure of that. She had let her anger and grief blind her. She had lashed out at Eric, even though he wasn't the one to blame.

The raw emotion was too much for her to cope with. There had been too much pain. She longed for her grandmother. If Adele were here, she would have scooped Sookie up into her arms and soothed her. Perhaps the cemetery was where she needed to go to find peace.

In the meantime though, she needed to make her peace with Eric. Every muscle in her body seemed to ache as she dragged herself up off the couch and made her way over to the phone. The least she could do was call Fangtasia and apologise. He must be back there by now.

"Pam," Sookie was surprised at the relief she felt hearing the familiar snarky tone on the other end of the phone, "is Eric back?"

"No," Pam was abrupt, and untruthful, as the topic of conversation had just at that moment walked through the door. Pam turned away holding the phone close to her ear in an attempt to muffle the sound.

"Please, would you tell him I called? Tell him that I want to apologise, I was unfair to him, and I need to make sure he knows that. "

"Fine." Pam put the phone down. "Prank call," she told Eric, rolling her eyes. They got them all the time, that and the hate calls. "You should shower; it takes forever to get that damned concrete out and you really don't want to have me shave your head."

Eric shrugged and headed towards the shower, stripping off his ruined tracksuit as he went. Luckily he had a spare pair of jeans and a vest in his office. Pam was thoughtful while she waited for his return. She didn't approve of his obsession with the human. He'd been willing to put her safety before his own, something a vampire should never do. But on the other hand Sookie had saved his life when he'd made that crazy gesture of self-sacrifice. She had willingly given him her blood, despite that idiot Compton trying to stop her.

Pam had watched carefully as Sookie had let Eric suck on her wrist. Her eyes had been full of concern, and it would have taken a heart of stone not to be moved when she gently stroked his hair. Pam's heart was most certainly made of stone but she acknowledged the gesture. By the time Eric emerged from the shower, she had made up her mind.

"Sookie called while you were in the shower," she told him, "she said she wanted to apologise to you about something."

Eric briefly contemplated phoning her back but rejected the idea. Whatever she had to say, he wanted hear it in person. "I'm going back to Bon Temps. Don't wait up for me," he couldn't hide his smirk, "if I can't get back in time, I'll find somewhere safe to go to ground."

He knew as soon as he stood on Sookie's porch that she wasn't there. The front door swung listlessly back and forth on its hinges, the night breeze was the only sound. He sampled the air hesitantly. There was no smell of human, alive or dead.

Moving as fast as he could, he headed across the cemetery to the Compton House. That door was also hanging open, but it was clear from the muffled noises inside that the house was occupied. Nothing could have prepared him for the scene which greeted him.

Sophie-Anne Leclerq was sprawled out on the living room floor. Jessica was sitting on her legs and Bill Compton was holding her by the shoulders. A human who he didn't recognise was holding what looked like a broken chair leg a scant inch from her chest. The three vampires all turned to look at him, but the human didn't move a muscle.

"Would someone like to tell me what is going on?" he said, sounding every bit as incredulous as he felt.

Jessica answered. "Hoyt and I are moving in together, we came back to pick up my things and found Bill and this woman fighting."

"This woman," Eric replied with a sardonic nod towards Sophie-Anne, "is the Queen of Louisiana, and now of Mississippi as well, so I suggest you treat her with a little more respect."

"I'm real sorry, Ma'am," the human said, as politely as he could, considering the position he was in.

"I suggest you accept his apology, your majesty," Eric said, coldly.

"Why should I?" Sophie-Anne was her usual petulant self. "I should have them both drained on the spot."

"The vampire Jessica Hamby and her human are under my protection, Majesty. If any harm should come to them, you know what the penalty will be." His gaze was fierce and unblinking, forcing her to back down.

Jessica gave a little shriek of pleasure and ran over to kiss Eric on the cheek. "Thanks, Eric. I don't think you've met Hoyt, my fiancé," she said proudly.

Hoyt ambled over, feeling slightly awkward. He held out a hand, then pulled it back, remembering just in time that vampire did not shake hands. Eric nodded his acknowledgement.

"Where is Sookie?" He addressed Bill, who had released Sophie-Anne and was sitting on the couch.

"I have no idea," the younger vampire said bitterly.

Eric looked at Sophie-Anne, who was rearranging her black mourning gown in the mirror. Her fangs were still extended, which rather spoiled the demure effect of her pose. "He's telling the truth. He told me he had her here, but he was lying."

Eric opened his phone and called Pam. She was a fine tracker, if anyone could find Sookie, she could. He gave his instructions concisely, silencing her protests as he snapped the phone shut.

"I thought you came to collect your things," Eric said to Hoyt and Jessica, who were standing in the middle of the room, looking awkward. "Get them and go." The two lovers needed no further encouragement, scooting out of the room as quickly as they could.

"I intend to have the girl," Sophie-Anne said firmly.

"You will not have her," Eric earned himself a scowl from Bill. "She is under my protection, if you harm her, I will kill you. Besides, it's not true what you've been told. Her blood does not allow you to walk in the sun. She has a little Fae blood in her but not enough. You could drain her dry and it would only give you thirty minutes before you started to burn. I know this, I was forced to test it."

The three of them sat in silence, waiting for Pam. It was thirty minutes before she arrived, a look of extreme displeasure on her face.

"I tracked her as far as the cemetery, to her grandmother's grave. After that the scent disappeared without a trace."

"Do you know anything about this, Compton?"

Bill shook his head.

"If I find you are lying I will stake you."

So there we are at the end of Season 3. What are the chances of a sneak preview of Season 4? I shall have to ask our moles!