Eric is still hiding out at Sookie's house, but she has been summoned for a meeting with Pam. Unfortunately for her the meeting is at Bill's house.

It didn't take a psychic to work out Sookie's feelings as she left her home the next night and headed in the direction of the old Compton property. Her shoulders were hunched and her step heavy. It seemed to her as if a whole lifetime had passed since that night only weeks ago when she had raced so eagerly along the same path straight into Bill's arms and his bed.

She didn't want to see the house, and she didn't want to see Bill. She wasn't even sure she wanted to see Pam. Whatever the vampire wanted to talk to her about, she was sure it wouldn't be good news.

Eric watched carefully from the upstairs window as she disappeared from view. She'd made him promise not to follow her, but he was alert to any threat. He used the strength of their renewed blood connection to tune into her feelings. She had been through so much in the last few weeks, and he was aware of the weight of every painful memory dragging her down. Her spirit was so strong, but even so it was a heavy burden for her delicate frame to carry.

His hackles rose as he caught the briefest glimpse of a creature in the woods. It was too far distant for him to make out whether it was human, animal or supernatural, even with his superior eyesight. Ignoring Sookie's warning, he took flight from the window, making a circle of the boundary of her property. Whatever it was had hidden itself from his view and he reluctantly returned to the house. He thought he detected a faint smell of Fairy, but that could have come from Sookie, so he put it out of his mind.

He tried to relax but it was impossible. He built a fire, but even that didn't help. If he were human, he'd probably be reaching for a drink right now; that was, in his experience, their normal reaction to this kind of stress. The very idea that he could experience stress should have been unthinkable, but the effect of his relationship with Sookie was to reawaken human characteristics he had thought long dead.

Normally he trusted Pam's judgement, but he had to question the wisdom of going anywhere near Bill Compton. After all, the younger vampire had tried to kill both him and his child. Eric didn't trust him an inch, and he most certainly wouldn't put it past him to set up some kind of trap. All he could do was try and focus on Sookie's feelings. If he got the slightest hint she was in danger he would go after her and damn the consequences.

Pam was standing outside the old Compton house, leaning casually against her black SUV. Her face was composed into its characteristic smirk but for once it wasn't convincing. She was not a happy vampire.

People said you should be careful what you wished for; that answered prayers could be the worst kind. Pam could believe that as she reflected on the events of the last few days. There had been times in the past when, sick of being Eric's flunky, she'd fantasised about being the owner of Fangtasia. She would no longer be at his beck and call. She'd get first pick of the new dancers and hostesses. Hell she could go the whole hog and become Sheriff of Area 5 as well.

Now she wasn't so sure. It wasn't so much the workload; despite her carefully crafted indolence, she was in fact quite capable of hard work. The politics was a pain in the ass, but manageable, although she was getting heartily sick of having to fend off Queen Sophie-Ann and her increasingly frantic demands to meet with Eric.

No, what was really eating away at her was the responsibility she felt for other people. She'd been selfish in her human life and, like all vampires, her personality was amplified in her undead existence. Now there was the constant worry about her maker and the guilt that she might fail him in some way. And then, just to make everything complete, she acquired not one but two house-guests. She had reluctantly agreed to look after Hadley, the human favourite of the Queen, following her unexpected appearance at Fangtasia.

Two nights ago, she had returned from her trip out to Bon Temps to find a bedraggled figure sheltering under her porch. It took her a few seconds to recognise that it was even a woman. Her hair hung in lank rats tails, and her clothes were loose on her gaunt body.

She realised who it was as soon as the woman spoke. Yvetta, the Estonian dancer from Fangtasia. The one who'd stormed off in fury when Eric called her a gold-digging whore. Pam had warned him that was a bad move and she had been proved right when Yvetta stole the bar takings and left her chained to the dancing pole. But now the woman was down on her luck and desperate; with no job and no home, she was forced to beg Pam for help.

So now Pam had two strangers in her house, neither of whom she could really trust, but equally unable to throw them out on the street. Reluctant as she was to admit it, she needed to talk to someone, and Sookie was the only person she could share the truth with.

Sookie gave a brief nod of acknowledgement as she approached across the front lawn. "I hope you've got a good reason for dragging me out in the middle of the night," she hissed, willing the vampire to recognise her hostility as an act for Bill's benefit.

Pam raised a sardonic eyebrow. "Don't think that I want to visit this shithole any more than you do, sweetheart," she drawled. "I don't know how Compton can bear to live in such squalor – at least you had the Maened to decorate your place." She gave a humourless laugh, but her expression remained serious. "I need to speak to you about your cousin Hadley."

Sookie thought she could make out a figure in the back seat behind the tinted windows. Although she was dressed for the cool of the evening, a cold shiver ran down her spine. Warily she opened her mind to see if she could hear anything. Pam of course was a void – to her great relief she couldn't hear the thoughts of vampires. There was something though. It sounded like "follow the girl, she will lead you," but it was muffled and she couldn't be sure – whatever it was made no sense. She indicated to Pam to continue her explanation.

"A few days ago, Hadley turned up at Fangtasia. She uh…" Pam tried to think of a way of describing what had happened which wouldn't upset Sookie, but after a brief moment gave up, "she tried to hit on Eric. He said 'no' of course," she added hurriedly in response to Sookie's shocked expression.

"Anyway, she clearly wasn't herself so Eric asked me to look after her. I thought it was only going to be for a couple of days till he decided what to do next but it doesn't look like that's going to happen any time soon."

"So what's the problem?"

"There's something odd about her. I just can't put my finger on it. I brought her out to see you, I thought perhaps you could…well you know." Pam's voice tailed off, but to her surprise Sookie didn't reply at first.

She had the feeling that Pam was hiding something. When it was clear that the vampire was not going to speak, she was forced to challenge her. "There's something else isn't there, something you're not telling me."

"Yvetta is back." Pam admitted reluctantly.

Sookie just stared at her. "Yvetta?" she repeated blankly. The, composing herself she continued, "Why would she come back? She hates you and she hates Eric and she stole the bar takings, is she crazy?"

"No," Pam replied, explaining the circumstances of the dancer's surprise reappearance.

"I really don't like it, Pam. Are you sure it's not some kind of trap. Do you know where she is now?"

"I'm not stupid," Pam's reply was sulky. "I keep her locked in the basement bedroom. It's quite secure. I figured she was safer with me than wandering the streets."

Sookie shook her head, but at the moment the dancer was the least of her problems. She needed to work out what was wrong with her cousin.

Pam opened the passenger door and helped Hadley down from the car. The girl looked unnaturally calm and her eyes were expressionless. Sookie reached out and took her by the hands.

"Hello Hadley," she said, "how are you doing?"

"Sookie," her cousin responded in an expressionless voice, "how are you?"

"I'm good," Sookie's response was automatic and unthinking, all her energies were concentrated on trying to hear Hadley's thoughts. The problem was there was nothing there. She tried her normal small talk. "Have you been back to New Orleans?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. I'm staying at Pam's now." She sounded like someone who'd been hypnotised.

A terrible idea formed in Sookie's mind. Turning Hadley's hands over in hers she stroked the wrists, checking for a pulse. All the time she was probing her cousin's mind, searching for some sign of consciousness, but to no avail. There was nothing there.

"Why don't you get back in the car, I need to speak to Pam."

Hadley complied without complaint, and Sookie motioned Pam out of earshot of the car.

"I think she's dead." There was no point in beating about the bush, she decided. Pam just stared at her incredulously. For once she was speechless.

"Her heart is beating, but there is nothing going on in her head." Sookie went on.

Pam snorted derisively at that, earning a fierce glare before Sookie continued.

"Listen Pam, I know you, are you going to tell me you haven't hit on her all the time she's been staying with you."

Pam had the grace to look a little shamefaced. "Well maybe we did fool around a little, there's no harm in it is there, Sophie-Ann need never know. Now you come to mention it though, it was a little weird."

"What do you mean 'weird'?"

"The only way I can describe it is that it was like fucking a zombie."

"Have you ever fucked a zombie?" Sookie asked with just a hint of disgust.

"Once, but that was by accident. It hadn't really started to rot so I didn't realise. It all turned horribly messy though," Pam winced at the gruesome memory.

"Didn't you say that necromancers inhabit the bodies of the dead? What if Marnie has killed Hadley and taken over her body. She probably means to get at Eric, or you."

That got a reaction. A flicker of genuine fear crossed Pam's face. "What are we going to do, have you any ideas?"

"I don't think she should stay with you, and we need to get her as far away from Eric as possible….wherever he is." The last comment was an afterthought as she realised that Bill was probably somewhere nearby, eavesdropping. She was silent for a few moments turning over the options in her mind before she continued. "The problem is, Pam, if we succeed in removing Marnie, whatever power it is that's keeping Hadley breathing will be removed."

"So she'll die, I mean really die?" Pam said, stating the obvious.

"Yes. Unless…" Sookie paused. The alternative wasn't good but it was all she could think of "..unless Sophie-Ann agrees to turn her. I don't think she should do it now, we just don't know what would happen. It needs to be at the moment the spell is broken."

"Will it work?" Pam sounded sceptical.

"I just don't know. I guess there isn't a 'Wikihow' for supernatural problems – perhaps someone should start one."

Pam gave a humourless laugh. "How do we get her back to Sophie-Ann?" she asked.

"Well that's where it gets clever." She paused briefly, then without raising her voice said "Bill."

To neither woman's surprise he stepped out of the shadow of the trees.

"I've got a proposal for you, but first I need you to promise that you won't try to harm Pam." Sookie's voice was firm, but she couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes.

"Bill?" she repeated when he didn't reply.

"I agree," he finally said, with the upmost reluctance. "What about Eric?"

Pam raised an eyebrow out of Bill's line of sight, but Sookie kept a straight face as she replied coolly, "Yes, if Eric comes back you must promise not to harm him either. In fact, you must promise to give him your full support and allegiance as Sherriff of the area."

Pam was tempted to snigger at the look of barely controlled fury on Bill's face.

"What do I get in return?" He asked, coldly.

"I think I can get the Queen off your back, persuade her to drop the law-suit."

Bill snorted in disgust. "That's not a big deal, Sookie. Portia says we'll win easily, Sophie-Ann has no case."

"Maybe not, but do you want all the publicity. You won't be able to control the media circus once it starts. Who knows what will come out: Lorena, your family, Jessica?"

Bill considered for several minutes, torn between his hatred for Eric Northman and his instinct for self-preservation. Sookie was right about the media frenzy which would ensue, and he had some things which he really didn't want to have made public.

Sookie explained her plan. Portia Bellefleur would take Hadley back to New Orleans with an explanation of what she needed to do to save the girl. In return the Queen would pardon Bill for his act of lese-majesty. With the utmost reluctance he nodded his agreement, before stalking back into his house.

"Quite the little diplomat, aren't you." Pam said, unkindly.

"I'm just trying to protect the people I care about. Take Hadley home, and get her ready to go to New Orleans. Bill can arrange for his lawyer to take her tomorrow. You can use Portia to get me a message if you need to." She paused briefly. "And Pam, keep a close watch on Yvetta. I really don't like the idea of having her around."

Meanwhile, at Merlotte's

"Are you sure that Marnie can get rid of this baby for me?" Arlene asked Holly. They were sitting out in the smokers shelter, and even though there was no-one around she kept her voice to a whisper. She couldn't bear to give birth to the monster that was Rene's child, but if Terry ever found out what she was going to do he wouldn't forgive her.

"She's a real powerful witch, I think she can do anything. She told me there's someone else who wants a baby. I think somehow she's going to give your baby to them."

Arlene winced, she wasn't sure she would wish this devil child on anyone, even her worst enemy. She'd been having nightmares ever since she had found out she was pregnant. She was sure that the baby growing inside her was pure evil, just like his daddy had been.

"So when's she going to do it?" she asked, trying to sound more confident than she felt.

"Tomorrow night, about eight. You need to go to the old RelaxInn motel on the outskirts of town. Ask for Marnie and she'll tell you what room to go to. I'll cover for you, there's really nothing to worry about." Holly idolised Marnie ever since she had warned her to keep her son Cody away from the Red River. Two days later two of his friends drowned playing on the banks, and she was convinced that Cody would have been dead too if it wasn't for the warning.

Arlene wasn't so sure. The memory of Maryann and the trail of destruction she had left in Bon
Temps was still fresh in her mind, or at least that bit of it which hadn't been wiped in the process.

"We've had a bit of trouble round here recently with…" she couldn't bring herself to use the word supernatural "strange goings on. And I can tell that Sookie doesn't trust her. Are you sure everything will be alright?"

Holly regarded her suspiciously. "What has Sookie said to you?"

"Nothing, but I've known her long enough to be able to tell. She's got this way of knowing what you're thinking somehow. I don't know how she does it, but it makes me wonder if she knows something we don't. Perhaps I should talk to her."

Eric continued to pace the floor, unable to sit still. He was deeply frustrated at his own powerlessness. Pam had warned him that having feelings for a human would weaken him and now he was thinking that perhaps she was right. There was nothing he could do about it though.

The thought of Sookie had a calming effect. She was something more than human, with her fae blood and her telepathy. Even without those powers, she was marked out by her courage and her compassion, and her willingness to do anything for those she loved. Now he could count himself amongst those people. She was on her way back now, and he could feel her anxiety subside as she drew closer. Not too long to wait and she would be back in his arms.

He lay back on the couch and closed his eyes, thinking of her. He remembered the first time he had ever seen her, that night in Fangtasia. He thought of her bravery on the night he had rescued her and she had ended up rescuing him from the Fellowship of the Sun. Bloody tears pricked at his eyes as he remembered her kindness to Godric.

Eric had heard every word that had passed between them, as he crouched behind the fire door listening to his master's last moments on the earth. Godric had asked Sookie to look after him. It seemed ridiculous to him at the time, but as usual Godric had been proved right. So absorbed was he in his emotions that he didn't hear anyone approach the house until there was a loud rap on the door. He sat perfectly still, certain that he couldn't be seen in the gloom.

"Sookie, I know you're there, come out." It was Jessica. "I'll break the door down," she yelled.

Eric was well aware that she had both the power and the attitude to do just that. Reluctantly he got up and went to the door.

Jessica gasped with shock as he answered. "Eric, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were here. Listen I need to speak to Sookie and its real urgent. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't."

"Jessica," he whispered; his voice low and menacing as he leant in close to her ear and held her arm in an iron grip, "you haven't seen me. If you tell anyone, I'll rip your head off."

"Fine, I understand. But please promise you'll get Sookie to call me as soon as she comes back." The young vampire pulled her arm away and scuttled out of the door without looking back.

In the normal course of events, Eric got a great deal of satisfaction from threatening people. He knew it was petty, but it was a nice reminder of how powerful he was. He was good at it too, which was why it came as quite a surprise to hear Jessica knocking at the door again. "What do you…." he growled as he opened the door again.

Only, as it turned out, the person standing there was not Jessica at all.

So I'm sure you'll have thoughts on what happens next, but I'm not giving anything away until the next chapter is posted. I promise it won't be long. As always thanks so much for the review and feedback on the story - it's what keeps it going.

In the meantime, I am shamelessly plugging my 'Upstairs Downstairs' story: Lady Persephone's Lover. It's a bitter sweet tale of passion, politics and forbidden love set in 1930's London, and I've tried to write it so that it makes sense even if you've never seen the TV show, so please check it out - you can get the link from my profile