Chapter 7

Chaos had broken out and upon the realization that Sookie had broken free of the enchantment and had blasted the cell bars to melted puddles of silver, the revived Ezra had barely a moment to test out if his plans had worked. He needn't have worried as he soon shot like a cannon upwards through the hole in the basement ceiling, going after the two intruders that had interrupted but not fully stopped, his plans. Though it was clear to the slowly recovering Sookie, awakening from the stupor she had managed to fight out of, he had, in fact succeeded in merging himself with the powers of a vamp and a fairy. There was a pressure upon her arms as she felt herself being pulled from the basement, Johan clearly wanting nothing more than to get his prize to safety.

"Let me go….I broke free of the spell and-" she was stopped as she took in the damage to the cell that she had obliterated. There was splatters of blood and the smell of what she could only describe as….death. Not a trace of her true Viking was anywhere to be seen and she screamed in anguish at what she had inadvertently done. She had only meant to destroy the bars and yet…she saw nothing but devastation.

"Looks like you disintegrated him…less competition for me and even though you broke free of the spell, you aren't leaving me…you were promised to me and I am keeping you, one way or another." something slammed into her midsection without warning and she saw his hand pull away from her, revealing a syringe that smelled very strongly of what was deadliest and most dangerous to faeries. "Not enough to kill you but enough to keep those pesky powers of yours in check." he laughed as he scooped her up roughly and made to escape the manor. Outside, however, it appeared a battle was, in fact, raging. The two vampires had survived their rough treatment by Ezra, who was looking furious as Sookie was barely able to keep her eyes open, the iron racing through her blood. What she could see was that he was trying to spell the two women, to control them. Something was keeping him from being able to do so and whatever it was, Sookie thanked them, whoever or whatever it was. But tears stung her eyes as she thought back to the cell. Had she been trying to free him from the cell or instead, had she been ordered to do as Ezra had commanded. Everything was such a blur over the past hours and she came to conclude that she had not, in fact been ordered to kill. Either way, the results had clearly been what Ezra and his protégé had hoped anyway.

Pam and Willa were fighting with all they had against the warlock, who launched balls of light at them, laughing and in the light of the magic and of the moon above, he looked nothing less than a maniac. A monster. The women had managed to find ancient weapons from somewhere in the manor and were trying to fight with them, knowing that a beheading would certainly put an end to this creature. Ignoring the fight, Johan instead fled towards the three car garage and threw his unwilling passenger into the enclosed bed of the truck. Seeing her too weak to even move much, he smirked at her as he took to the driver's seat. The truck pulled away from the scene where Sookie started to hear the shouting and blasting occurring less and less. Cursing herself, she cried herself to the brink of having trouble breathing. She hadn't thought they had driven too terribly far when the vehicle lurched to an abrupt stop. Had they hit a deer, or had Ezra made quick work of her feisty family members? She held her breath as she heard the door of the truck bed open and felt herself being pulled out by her legs. Trying to fight the iron affecting her as well as the rough hands that had dragged her out of the car, she started lashing out with her hands, hoping at least her longish fingernails would allow a window of opportunity for her to try to make an escape. Instead, she was spun around, forced to look at the attacker and for a moment, she was haunted and fearful. That her child was still at the manor, locked up in a room all on her own, that she had…..she couldn't bring herself to think it. What had she done? The magic used on her had led her to be in this bewildered state and now with the taint of iron within her, she was nothing. Weak. Useless to her family. What was left if it, anyway. She stopped as she took a better look, using the moonlight, the starlight to look through the layer of blood splattering the face of her apparent assailant. Who wasn't, in fact such a thing, to her shock.

"How…..I mean, the light, everything seemed to happen at once and I was only trying to-" she stopped as she was helped remain on her feet, the weakness within her very much prevalent, though the gleam, the sparkle had returned to her eyes with the return of the one, true Viking vampire. She let him pull her close and though looking a little worse for wear, he was intact. Pulling away, she nearly fell over and turned around and saw, on the ground, a pool of goo that could only be a dead vampire.

"Clearly he was a pale imitation, couldn't even fly. And talk about a coward? One look at me and he tried to run!" scoffed Eric as he looked her up and down, surveying her for any injuries. "I smell the iron in you….I could heal you fast."

Relieved that he was more or less himself again, she nodded. "Make it fast, we have to get back to the others before he finishes them-" she was stopped as she looked past him to the three figures approaching. But another figure had joined them from behind and she was surprised to see Holly had joined them.

"I had a feeling I needed to come and it looks like I was right….that spell was supposed to protect them from being controlled but….." Holly trailed off, pointing to the two vampires stalking towards them, Ezra trailing close behind with a grin on his face-a fanged one. "Looks like he got his wish for more powers…"

"Looks like." Sookie said as she finished nipping a little blood from the wrist he had bitten open for her. Already feeling better, she didn't put her own fangs away and instead took his hand into hers as they stormed forward to finish this once and for all. Pissed off human parents were one thing but when you added some supernatural aspects to the mix, the two parents approaching the warlock and the two spelled vamps were certainly nothing to sneeze at. Holly followed the two gingerly, thinking on her feet as to how she may help the situation.

"Nice try, wiccan." Ezra looked past the couple in front of Holly. "I smell wiccan magic and as strong as it can be, its no match to me and my own powers. Why Don't you run home and play with your little magic sets before things get ugly. This is between these two and me…" he frowned as he saw the blood that was splattered over the Viking and lost his smirk. "You didn't…you killed my creation?"

"Is that really any surprise? Your version of me was a pathetic shell of the real thing." sneered the Viking as he shed the tattered remains of his tank top and leather jacket and kept on approaching the villain and his entranced kin. "I don't want them involved in this."

"Too late, they decided to meddle in this and so why not put them into use in dispatching of you once and for all. And then I suppose with the demise of your doppelganger, I should have to take on the responsibility of taking your wife as well. Imagine the family she, myself and the little one will make. Once I repair the spell she broke free of, anyway. I should never have thought she wouldn't manage to break my spell but no matter, with my new powers, they fuel my magic, make it stronger. I dare say I will be able to enchant her permanently. And with her and your daughter under my thumb…..ah, the possibilities are endless." Ezra said as he turned to his companions, both of whom looked dead eyes and soulless. Nothing more than his puppets to control and remembering how it had been when he had been under the influence of a necromancer. Not wanting the same for his kin, eh turned to Sookie. "I would rather you not have to but you may need to use that light of yours to do to them what you had to do to me to snap them out of it….."

She said nothing but turned to Holly who seemed oddly relieved. Turning back to him she smirked. "Not necessary. Turns out her power was stronger than he bargained." and from behind, the talented actresses that were supposedly spell bound were far from that and leapt upon the villain, each wielding a short knife that they stuck in him many a time in a attempt to finish him off. Instead, he shoved them off him with a blast of light, not strong enough to kill but did stun the two. As they feebly stirred from the attack, Ezra made his hands light up once more, Sookie recognizing the ball of light he was manifesting, a light that would destroy both Willa and Pam with one blast. He was so intent on using his newfound power, to use it to kill, that he was woefully ignorant to the danger of the three creeping up behind him. Using her wiccan powers, Holly summoned the power of the earth to obey her, roots breaking from the ground and coiling around him like thick snakes.

"What is the meaning of this?" he roared as he tried fighting and biting through the roots but with each one he ripped or broke, more replaced it. Seeing that the wiccan was responsible, he managed one blast of light which struck her down. But he was snarled up enough that it was enough of a hindrance for him to be the recipient of a devastating attack by a figure that hadn't appeared as animalistic as he now did in some time. There was nothing but hate and malice in his blue eyes as he ripped the throat out of Ezra as he had tried in vain to cast a spell. And still not satisfied with that, he tore the arms and legs from the body, only stopping when two pairs of arms grabbed his own, gently. Seeing Pam and Willa revived and at his side, he slowly lost the rage that had overtaken him. With a last kick to the body of the man who had caused so much trouble in such a short time, he silently went to where Sookie was tending to Holly, who was dazed and a little bruised. But otherwise fine.

"You were so brave to come out here…..I mean, that guy was…..well, you saw what he was…..and that your magic saved them…" Sookie turned to Pam and Willa. "I really thought he had taken you two over."

"Well, perhaps in the next stage in our long lives, acting should be something we think about trying….but I won't lie, for a few moments, his power did seep into me. I felt it. But your wiccan friend here…she was the one that saved the day." Pam reluctantly admitted, having wanted to save the day. "As fun as this has been, I say we get the hell out of here and-"

"This has to be taken care of." Willa said as she gestured to the gore all around them, from the blood filled truck to the remains of the demented warlock. "Look, you all have been through a lot more than we have…..go back and get the kid and get home and rest. We can clean this up, right Pam?" Willa said, glancing at her friend who looked less than ecstatic about the task ahead but considering how close they had all been to losing so much, she relented.

"Fine. Just as long as you two get yourselves home and safe." Pam said as she looked from Willa to the spot where Sookie and their now free patriarch stood, looking exhausted but relieved that this latest crisis was over. "Well…..don't just stand there, we got this, go get the kid!"

Nodding, the two sped off back to the manor house a short flight away. Landing them in the front yard, he let her down gently as they raced into the house, to the room that was no longer spelled to keep others from entering. And to their relief, and yet shock, they came to find their daughter safe and sound but a foot taller and appearing to be more of a five year old than the two year old she had appeared to be mere hours earlier.

"Gotta love faerie growth spurts…..but at least they aren't as rapid as pure faeries….." Sookie said as she scooped up the still sleeping child from the simple bed she had been left on. The child awoke from the touch of her mother and brushed her long and now lighter blonde hair from her little face. "Hey kiddo." Sookie said as she took in the way her daughter looked now. Same yet different, the baby face was diminished somewhat and as much as she knew that within months Aurora would likely be fully grown, there was still plenty of time to enjoy together.

"What happened?" asked the little one as she finally noticed her father in the room with them and with outstretched arms, she let herself be handed over to Eric who was slightly amused that she didn't seem to mind his rather messy appearance.

"She's talking." he said in wonder. "Are you ok, little one?" he asked as he played gently with her hair, looking her all over to make sure there was no damage done to his daughter.

"There was a lot of noise and I felt shakin and there were screamings." rambled the child. "Then I felld asleep and then mommy woke me up….." Aurora said as she grinned a bright grin at her parents. Hugging her close to him, he looked over her head to a equally relieved Sookie. "Good thing about these growth spurts is that soon I can start teaching her the finer aspects of my own heritage. Every girl should know how to hold a sword. And put it to good use, of course."

Rolling her eyes, Sookie silently thought to herself that no one, not even she or their daughter would ever be able to take the Viking out of the vampire or vice versa. They were one and the same and she really had to admit, she wouldn't have it any other way. He was even more than that now, she saw as she followed him from the room, leading them out of the house and back into the fresh air where Holly waited for them.

"Everything good? " she asked as she took in the sight of the child that was much larger than the last time she had seen her. "As much experience as I have had with faerie babies, its always a shock to see them after a growth spurt…..how about I whisk y'all back home?"

"That would be great, Holly…thank you for everything." Sookie hugged her friend as Holly gave Aurora a quick hug and a pat on the head.

"I am always here for you guys…..now let me get you sent back home so you can get some rest and get the kid put to bed. I'll call in the morning to check on you, Sookie."

Epilogue

Holly was as good as her word and after casting a spell that sent the three back to their house, and right into their large living room, it was time to take stock of everything. The room was still littered with the carnage that had been caused earlier. The damage would be taken care of the next day, Sookie vowed as she followed Eric into the nursery, which would also need some remodeling and some updating. The room was now no longer age appropriate for the child that appeared five now.

For the night, the large crib would need to suffice and as they worked together to put the once again slumbering Aurora to bed, wrapping her snugly in a purple cashmere blanket that had been put aside for when she was bigger, the two flopped down on the loveseat that had been used to give bottle feedings to the former baby. "I know we have been through some weird ass crap…but that was…..that was the worst…..being with someone that looked just like you…..that I was fooled and then spelled to be nothing more than his-their-slave-" she shuddered. "If I had only been able to see the truth sooner, I should have seen it sooner! Then our kid wouldn't have gone through what she did and-" she was stopped by a pale finger to her lips.

"I am not one to admit this…usually…but those two bested both of us. It was a cunningly clever charade and that they researched me so well that even you were deceived…..gotta hand it to them for their commitment to their plans."

Sookie was not going to be easily assuaged. Getting up, she walked out of the basement nursery and didn't stop until she had walked down the hall to their room, flopping down on the bed on her side, her face looking at the wall. She knew he had followed her and sighed. "I will never forgive myself for this….and that I almost could have killed you…I am not as strong as I thought I was, to say nothing of be being rather…stupid…..again!"

He lay down next to her and started massaging her shoulders. Swedish massage, indeed, she thought to herself with a slight look of ecstasy on her face. "You are far from weak and you are most certainly not stupid. They were good at what they did and if they had been smarter, they would be living still. That the three of us and our family, Ginger and Holly are all safe and sound speaks to the fact that we are fighters, not quitters. That one can make mistakes and yet come to triumph over those who mean us harm. That magic that was used was some seriously devious crap."

She sighed as she turned to face him. "You always have had a way of making me feel better….but nothing is going to take the guilt away that I couldn't even tell that you weren't you….." she pulled away from him and got up on her feet. "I think this time was a close call too many and I can't stand the idea that somehow, someway, my power, my sheer idiocy could be the one thing that takes you out once and for all. With all that you have survived, it could very well be your own wife that is the true death of you." she closed the bathroom door behind her, a sad look in her eyes and as much as he was tempted to join her in the shower, he knew now was no time for such a thing. The one thing he did know was that this latest trial had scarred his dear Sookie deeply and perhaps, permanently.

The End

Authors Note-don't worry, I don't plan on having the melancholy ending stick for too long, wanted to end a story a little differently. Another story will continue this dramatic saga. Please read and review-Thank you!