Disclaimer: Everything in the Southern Vampire universe belongs to Charlaine Harris, not to me.

A/N: This was a really difficult theme for me. It was really hard to figure out how to incorporate the theme "heaven" into a vampire story and keep everyone in character. I decided to follow the set-up of my first chapter and give Eric's POV during one of the books. It's set during the time Eric was cursed in Dead to the World.

Theme 7: Heaven

POV: Eric

Rating: K+

Angel Watching Over Me

There was a burst of light and then I knew nothing. My first thought was that I had been killed and made it to some version of Valhalla or heaven. Then it occurred to me that the one thing I remembered was that I was a vampire. I didn't seem to me that a vampire could make it to Valhalla or the Christian version of heaven. By the time this thought was fully formed the light was gone.

I took a quick look around and realized I was on a road, surrounded by the darkness of night, away from city lights. Having no idea who I was, why I was there, or who might be after me, I took off running. I didn't know where I was running to or what I was supposed to do when I got there. I just felt the compulsion to run.

It hadn't been long since I started running when I was enveloped by another bright light. I knew that this light was coming from the headlights of a car; a car that was slowing down and stopping.

"Can I help you?" a voice called out of the car window. I risked a brief glance in direction of the voice but kept on running. From behind me, I could hear the owner of the voice jump out of the car and yell again, "Eric! It's me!"

Still not certain of anything other than what I was, I had no reason to trust this voice so I whirled around and took a defensive position, fangs bared to show that I meant business.

The person standing before me was not at all what I expected to see. She was a young woman, fairly petite with blonde hair, the same shade as that falling around my own shoulders. She was standing with her hands out in front of her, in a gesture to show, I assumed, that she meant no harm. She had a slightly confused expression on her face and she was alone. I was still on alert, but something told me not to attack just yet. Idecided to start by warning her, verbally, "Stay back, woman."

"What are you doing here?" she asked, as if she knew me; knew who I was.

"Who are you?"

She gave a great sigh of exasperation, "You know darn good and well who I am. What's up with you? Why are you out here without your car?"

I decided it was worth the risk if there was a chance of finding out who I was, "You know me? Who I am?"

She looked completely stunned by the question. It took her a minute to form an answer but when she did, I wasn't disappointed, "Of course I know you, Eric. Unless you have an identical twin. You don't, right?

"I don't know," I answered her honestly but thought that the chances of a vampire having any kind of twin who still resembled him were pretty rare (A/N: keep in mind he doesn't remember Sigebert and Wybert).

"You don't know if you have a brother?"

"No. I don't know. Eric is my name?" I began to feel a little hopeful.

"Wow." She seemed as if she didn't know what to say' "Eric Northman is the name you go by these days. Why are you out here?"

After I informed her that I didn't know the answer to that question, either, she continued to question me. She seemed unable to believe that I couldn't remember anything about myself. I was torn between amusement and annoyance when she asked me if I knew I was a vampire. She very obviously wasn't one. I could smell her blood. If she tasted as good as she smelled, she would be sublime to drink from. However, I found myself promising I wouldn't hurt her. I was taken aback when she implored me to go with her, "Come get in my car before you freeze."

After reaffirming with her that we knew each other, I got in the car with her. I couldn't say why I did it, but whatever had compelled me to run earlier also compelled me to trust her. I was oddly touched when grabbed an afghan from the back seat of her car and wrapped it around me before turning the heat up. I was willing to bet she was colder than I was, despite my lack of clothing, but the act was comforting, perhaps to both of us. We talked a little in the car but it didn't amount to much since I still could not remember anything.

"Here we are," she announced as she pulled her car up in front of in old farmhouse. She led me up the stairs and on to the back porch before inviting me in. I followed her through the door, still clutching her blanket around me, though it offered little true security.

As she turned the lights on, she gave me a once over and sighed sadly, "Oh, Eric." She got out a pot and filled it with hot water before returning with the command, "Pull 'em off." Since the only visible garment I had on were a pair of jeans, I assumed that was what she meant and proceeded to pull them off. She threw them outside and I re-wrapped myself in the afghan and sat in the chair she pointed out for me.

Once I was seated, she knelt beside me with the pan of water and began to wash my bleeding feet. The sensation was so pleasurable that I let out a groan and began to wonder if I had been wrong and was indeed in heaven. To keep my mind off this bizarre thought, I grasped onto the one thing I could think of to talk to her about, "You were out in the night."

She answered my unasked question by informing me she had been at work. This started our first discussion about her. I found out that she worked at night in order to earn money for her house, car, and other necessities and that she had a brother who not only did not take care of her himself, but permitted her to work these hours. When I asked her about that she said, "Oh, for goodness sake, Eric. Jason's got his own problems." I was beginning to wonder what sort of world this was that I was in when I, a vampire with no memories as to who he was, wanted to take better care of this woman than her brother apparently did.

Before I could dwell too much on that she pulled my feet out of the water and stood up, "Listen, I think what I better do is call Pam. She'll probably know what's going on with you."

I searched for any memory of the name but came up blank, "Pam?"

"You're second in command," she answered, impatiently. I was about to inquire as to what position I held that I had a second in command but she cut me off, "Just hold on. Let me call her and find out what's happening."

I was struck by a sudden thought. What if this Pam was responsible for my current condition? I voiced this concern and was told that if that were the case, we needed to know that, as well. She had a point but I was interested in seeing how she was going to find out.

I didn't have to wait long. She grabbed the phone and a little book that I assumed was an address book before dialing the number. I listened in to both sides of the conversation and was impressed by her ability to get information without the direct questions she wanted answered, though I was affronted that she had the nerve to tell Pam, who I still didn't remember, that I was mentally damaged, even if it was the truth. After a long pause, the voice on the other end of the line asked, "Will he be a danger to you?"

Sitting up, I stared at the woman in front of me. I wanted to be able to gauge her emotions as she answered. She paused for the briefest of moments, seeming more amused by the question than in deliberation of her response before replying, "I don't think so at the moment."

That was all I felt I need to hear of the conversation for now. She was right; I wouldn't harm her and it seemed that the vampires loyal to me were still loyal to me. I stopped trying to listen in, but I still caught bits and pieces, specifically the mention of witches. That would make some sense. I couldn't think of many other things that could erase the memories of vampires.

Hanging up the phone, the blonde woman raised her eyes to mine. Her head tilted endearingly to the side as she surveyed me. She seemed to fight a brief internal battle before falling on the side of filling me in other the phone conversation. I was informed that my second in command would be arriving the following night to get me and explain in further detail what had happened to put me in this position. I can't say that I minded staying with her, but was still fighting that nagging fear, "You won't let anyone get in?"

"Eric, I'll do my best to keep you safe," her voice was gentle and tired. I realized suddenly that it was quite late for most humans to be awake so I didn't hesitate when she began to pull me down the hallway. She led me into a small bedroom and showed me a trapdoor in the closet floor, leading to a light proof hole where I would be able to spend the daylight hours.

"Do I have to get in now?"

Her brows furrowed into a concerned expression before she answered, "No. You don't have to. Just get in before sunrise. There's no way you could miss that, right? I mean, you couldn't fall asleep and wake up in the sun?"

I considered it for a minute and was shocked to discover that along with remembering that I was a vampire, I remembered everything about being a vampire in general. It was only I, specifically, that I had forgotten. I informed her that there was no way I could miss the pull of sunrise and asked her if I could stay with her in her room until then.

"Come on," she said with a snicker before leading me to the room across the hall. I sat in a chair and watched as she took off her shoes and socks and pulled a sleeping garment out of a drawer. When she disappeared into the bathroom I felt lost. She was all I knew in the world right now and for ten minutes she, too, was gone.

When she returned, she turned out the lights and crawled into bed. Not wanting to lose my anchor on the world around me, I climbed in with her, hoping she wouldn't try to throw me out. Luckily she seemed inclined to believe that sleep was more important than kicking me out of her bed. Before she finally nodded off, I had one bit of information I desperately wanted to discover that night, "Woman?"

"Hmmm?' was her mumbled reply.

"What's your name?"

She answered with all the amusement her half-asleep mind could provide, "Sookie. Sookie Stackhouse."

Though she couldn't see it, I smiled into the darkness, "Thank you, Sookie."

"Welcome, Eric," She did something then that surprised and pleased me. She reached out and slid her hand over my own. I turned mine so that our palms were touching and entwined our fingers. As I watched her drift off to sleep, I marveled over this woman who would not only take in a lost vampire but would fall asleep holding his hand. I thought to myself that I must have been wrong earlier. Vampires must be able to get into Valhalla or heaven or whatever equivalent they had believed in during their human life. It had to be possible because I didn't see how this woman, Sookie Stackhouse, could be anything other than an angel.

A/N: There it is the longest chapter so far. The next theme is "Innocence." I'll try my hardest to get it up by the end of the weekend.