WARNING: If you have not seen the last season of True Blood or Sons of Anarchy there are major SPOILERS in this chapter!
Sookie stared on at Eric, digging her nails into her palms as she fought back the tears she could feel welling in her eyes. Eric took a step forward with the natural compulsion to comfort her but gave pause when he saw her lift a hand up to stop him.
"You…never even said 'Goodbye', Eric," Sookie started as Eric's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"What are you talking about?" Eric asked as Sookie took a few steps forward having found the courage deep down in her gut to push back the tears.
"That night. You convinced me to give Bill my ear, Supermanned me home and then I never heard from you. You didn't even say goodbye."
Eric's eyes widened as his gaze turned into the idle deer in the headlights that he always used when he was somewhat at a loss for words. His head began to shake back and forth, as he took another step towards her.
"Sookie, I did what you asked. You wanted away from the paranormal. You wanted a chance at a normal life. A life with Eric Northman in it is anything but normal. I wasn't-I mean the fact is I had been hoping it wasn't goodbye so I couldn't bring myself to say that," Eric said, his gaze turning to stare at the ground a moment as Sookie studied him, studied his expression mostly. Sookie crossed her arms over her chest, her own gaze turning to look at a far wall.
"I could sense you for years, that's how I knew you alright, you were happy, but the connection faded after having not exchanged blood in so long. I can only assume this happiness dissipated if you are here…alone," Eric said, his gaze lifting again to study her face. He would be lying to himself if he said that he wanted to hear anything but that Sookie was in fact here on her own. Sookie pursed her lips together as she cleared her throat.
"Yeah, um…Mark was his name. Met him at Merlotte's, dark hair, beard, was a lumber jack and construction worker," Sookie started as Eric couldn't help but give a sidelong grin.
"Sounds…manly," Eric interjected, his smile fading when Sookie shot him that all knowing expression, his hands raising in mock defense.
"Apologies. Continue," he stated as Sookie cleared her throat again, shifting her weight to her other hip.
"We were happy and I had found a way to shut him out…from my head that is. I got pregnant and that's when things started to change. I don't know if it was the pregnancy or that I was just getting tired of having my power shut off constantly but, I started to pick up on thoughts he had here and there. Let's just say I don't have proof that he actually cheated on me but, what I heard…he may as well have and I just couldn't have that. You know me, not gonna let some dog piss on my leg and tell me its lemonade," she said as Eric simply offered her a warm smile in response.
"So you have offspring? I always thought you would make a wonderful mother," Eric said as Sookie audibly gulped, her hands moving to the front of her, fingers playing at one another.
"She was a stillborn," Sookie said, her voice seeming to trail off as she again fought the compulsion to start crying. It was amazing all the old feelings, the old emotions that drummed up again due to simply being in Eric's presence. Eric's face fell, knowing that to be a mother was one of Sookie's ultimate desires and though the blood didn't connect them anymore, he could feel her pain and anguish emanating off the walls. He took a tentative step forward and slowly lifted his arms, testing the waters with Sookie's reaction when to his surprise she shoved her face into his chest and welcomed the hug.
"I can't have children, Eric," Sookie said before her light whimpers turned into sobbing, letting her guard down and succumbing to emotions she had bottled up for years. Eric closed his eyes for a moment, his lips dipping down to kiss the top of her head tenderly.
"Oh Sookie, I am so sorry," Eric said as Sookie continued to sob, her nostrils flaring with the intoxicating smell of him. She had missed that smell, she had missed him, but wasn't sure if she was willing to admit that to his face. Eric's eyes fell on a large scar on the back of Sookie's shoulder, his face grimacing.
"Were you…shot?" Eric asked, Sookie's eyes opening as she slowly started to regain her composure. Through sniffles, she looked over her shoulder at the scar that Eric was referencing and gave a small smirk.
"God, no. All that sunbathing caught up to me, I had to get skin cancer dug outta me," she said as Eric's eyebrows furrowed at the mention of the word 'cancer', a human battle that he as a vampire would never have to fear. He offered her a meek smile before he raised a hand to run his fingers through a stray strand of blonde locks.
"I thought you looked a little paler," he said and Sookie looked up at him with a smile before clearing her throat, taking a few steps back, wiping away the tears and running mascara from her face.
"I did…I did miss you Eric. It drove me crazy not knowin' if you were even still alive," Sookie said and Eric's lips parted in a bit of surprise.
"You think I could be rid of that easily?" Eric stated with a cock of an eyebrow.
"Well, no I just…it's scary simply not knowin'."
"Did you miss Bill…after you staked him?"
"Eric, what kinda question is that?"
"A simple one," Eric challenged, his rear end finding a corner of the bar top to lean against, his arms crossing over his chest. He watched as Sookie squirmed, struggled to give him a straight answer, which meant that the next words to eek from her lips would be lies or untold truths.
"I mean at first sure, but after even a few days, I don't know I just felt like this huge boulder had been lifted from my shoulders," Sookie stated as she motioned with her hands, the act of something lifting from her shoulders. Eric turned his head to the side, watching her with intrigue.
"Well, that would make sense considering he had been lying to you from the beginning. What was it you said about dog piss and lemonade?" Eric said deadpan, his eyes willing her to continue telling the truth.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Sookie said sardonically her arms uncrossing and dropping to her sides in defense.
"I thought I'd never see you again Sookie, but now that I have you back, there were things I left unsaid that you never even once pretended to acknowledge. I was hoping now that the Compton influence was extinguished you'd actually see reason," Eric said as he pushed the bar to take a few steps towards her again. Sookie lifted a hand to his chest to stop his approached, her brown orbs staring up at him with irritation.
"First off, you don't have anything of mine, Northman. Second, if you have something to say, why don't you just come right out and say it," Sookie said as Eric's jaw squared off, staring down at the woman he would take a stake in the heart a dozen times if it meant saving her life.
"You were a strong, independent, spitfire of a woman from the moment I met you. The woman that walked into Fangtasia that night wouldn't have let Bill drag her through the coals, but yet you did. You kept going back to him, you would not let him go, no matter what he did to you or what he said. You were a willing addict always prepped for their next fix and that was not the real you," Eric said, his every word bringing him closer and closer to her, their faces mere inches apart as Sookie looked at him completely shocked.
"Oh and I suppose all of this is over the fact that I should've been yours instead?" Sookie asked and Eric simply shook his head.
"This isn't about me Sookie. This is about you. Tell me to my face that you loved Bill Compton, that you were in love with him," Eric said his eyes boring into hers as she stared back up at him, unblinking and struggling to formulate words let alone even any kind of action in response. She gulped then shook her head left to right in a panic.
"I-I don't know what to say," Sookie stated and Eric let out a deep sigh, his gaze turning to look outside, the sky starting to turn a light shade of purple.
"It is almost dawn. I must sleep," Eric said as he turned from Sookie, making his way towards the door. Sookie reached out a hand to the air he left behind him.
"Eric I-," she started to say as Eric glanced over his shoulder awaiting the next words that never flowed from her lips. He nodded once in her direction.
"Goodnight, Miss Stackhouse," he said which caused a pit to form in Sookie's stomach as those were the last words he said to her the last time she saw him.
The next day…
Jax Teller and the rest of the members of the Sons of Anarchy rolled down the street, their motorcycles roaring as they made their way to the location they overheard that Marks and his men were going to be attacking. Marks was Cartwright's employer and they had every intention on gaining revenge for Bobby's brutal death by giving them a surprise blood bath of their own. Once they all arrived, they quickly maneuvered their bikes to hide them over the side of the hills and in the woods surrounding the country home. Jax ordered several of his men to hide around back, some to hide in the shed outside, he took Tig, and Chibs into the cellar with him after having jerry rigged an explosion to occur if anyone were to try to open the Winnebago parked outside of the house. Jax closed the lid of the cellar; several guns for each of them locked, loaded, and ready to kill. They all waited patiently as they listened to cars pulling up on the dirt roads surrounding the property. Several of the men scurried inside, another checked the shed, and when they spotted the Winnebago no doubt, Marks would send a couple of his men to go check it out. When they went to open the door, they'd be greeted with a loud explosion causing several of the men to die, get thwarted with shrapnel, and the others to become disoriented.
This allowed for enough distraction that the men who were hiding behind the house scrambled out first, guns already shooting before Jax signaled to Chibs and Tig as they threw open the doors of the cellar, shock spread across Marks's features as all the men unleashed gun firing fury on all the men responsible for Bobby's death. Once every single one of the men were dead, the Sons of Anarchy looked around at one another, their faces and clothes now stained with blood but revenge had been sweet as they nodded to each other in understanding.
Later that night…
Eric Northman sat at the table upstairs at the clubhouse idly waiting for the Sons to show up, having never been one for lateness. He had reverted back to his old ways somewhat with Sookie as he all but ignored her downstairs, deciding that once she was ready to talk to him with the truth and admit her experiences with Bill, he would open up to her again. That is if he had the strength to keep up this side of him, as he knew it was always a thorn in Sookie's side and he still had reserved hope of them being together. He heard the door open behind him as his finger idly drummed atop the table.
"Well, look who decided to finally show…," he started to say as he rose an eyebrow seeing the men shuffling to their seats, blood sprayed across their faces and clothes, "…up."
Jax sat at the head of the table, his hands running across his long blonde locks to put them back in their place, a sigh escaping him as he had clearly just begun to come down from the adrenaline rush that had been coursing through him mere moments ago.
"Didn't think to invite a vampire to your merry bloodbath?" Eric asked with a smirk, Jax patted the top of the table a few times, regaining his composure before turning his gaze to Eric.
"We figured you'd have wanted to avoid a sunburn, besides this was a club affair, had nothing to do with our side," Jax said, Eric continuing to drum his finger on the table. He moved to stand, his hands slipping into his pockets as he approached Jax, his eyes staring him down.
"Let us get something straight here, Jackson. As much as I couldn't give a shit about your petty human squabbles, I am to know just as much as there is to know whether it have to do the V transactions or a revengeful massacre against dozens of people," Eric said, his eyes unblinking as he stared down at Jax. Jax in turn moving his gaze to peer up at Eric, his jaw beginning to tight and untighten, causing ridges at the corners of his mouth.
"I got it," Jax said simply as Eric gave a smiling nod.
"Good. You boys are just in time to go dig up our new cash cow," Eric said, motioning with his hand for them all to rise. They were on their bikes and speeding down the road towards the abandoned warehouse that they had buried Pam and Cartwright, wasting no time to begin the arduous six-foot dig to reach the now two vampires. Eric stared down into the hole, his form moving forward to drop a hand and assist Pam out of the hole as her face poked through the dirt with a cough. Pam grabbed onto Eric as he effortlessly pulled her up and out of the hole, Pam shaking her head of the excess dirt with a grimace, her hands finding Eric's chest, giving him a light shove. He stifled a laugh.
"Don't evah ask me to do that again. That guy smelled like corn ships and coconuts, absolutely nauseating," Pam said as she stalked off, the newly created vampire sitting up in pure confusion, wiping dirt from his eyes.
"What the fuck have ya'll done to me?!" Cartwright bellowed, looking up from the hole at all the members of the Sons of Anarchy, grinning down at him, pleased that what Eric had told them would happen actually did.
"Think you all could get access to bags of blood?" Eric asked simply, turning to look at the men as they looked between each other, shrugging.
"We still have a connection at the hospital, I'm sure we could work something out?" Tig said as Eric nodded once, looking for Pamela who was walking back, freshly washed.
"Good because unless one of you wants to feed him yourself, that'll be the only way he will survive," Eric said as Pam approached, glaring down at the man in the hole, a hand on her hip.
"As your master I command you to get your ass out of this hole and vamp your way to Scoops. You are to not harm any of these men or I'll fuck your ass with a pineapple," Pam said deadpan, Eric glancing over at her with a wicked grin.
Back at the clubhouse…
Sookie hurried around cleaning the rest of the place up as she prepared to close for the night. She popped open the cash register to count out the final till as her eyes widened seeing all the men coming back inside, a black man with fangs sprouting, looking confused and weak. What the hell? She thought to herself as she saw Pam following him, kicking him occasionally in the butt, all of them making their way towards the basement. She started to push herself from behind the bar when she noticed Eric taking up the rear and stopped in her tracks, gulping slightly.
"Eric, what is going on? Did you all just turn that guy into a vampire?" Sookie asked and Eric crossed his arms over his chest, deciding he wasn't even going to sugar coat it.
"Yes, Sookie. We are going to use him to supply V to paying patrons of Charming," Eric said as Sookies eyes widened in shock.
"You-you what? You're just going to chain him down there to constantly drain his blood?" Sookie asked as Eric took a few steps forward, his palms pressing onto the bar top as he leaned over her.
"This man has killed countless people as well as tortured one of these men's friends for weeks. They returned their friend to them dead, missing an eyeball and three of his fingers. You'll excuse me if my sympathy for this piece of trash is severely lacking," he said, pushing off the bar top and turning to walk away before she had a chance to respond.
"You haven't changed at all," Sookie said with a grimace, as Eric didn't turn around to face her.
"No my dear, Sookie…you haven't. Open your mind, I think you'll be happy with what you find," Eric said, disappearing down into the basement. Sookie's movements became a little more aggressive as she counted the money from the register, slamming the drawer shut with a huff. What bothered her the most was that she knew he was right, why was it so hard for her to just admit to him that before they parted ways she truly did feel some deeper connection to him? She sighed and left, locking up for the night.
Eric rolled up the sleeves of his long shirt, as Pam stood with her hands on her hips ready to give the man orders if he wasn't complying. Eric wound a pair of chained handcuffs onto Cartwright's wrists, lifting them above his head and securing them on a hanging hook. Cartwright's eyes grew wide, his chest beginning to heave, as he looked around the room at all the men, seemingly very happy with themselves.
"What the hell is going on!" Cartwright bellowed as Eric cleared his throat.
"You…are now a vampire and your sole purpose in life now is to provide us with your blood. That's all you need to know, you will live forever and we plan to keep you alive for as long as we deem your worth," Eric stated and Cartwright started to scream at the top of his lungs, apparently hoping someone would hear him. Jax instinctively stepped forward, bashing the butt of his pistol into the back of the man's skull. Pam placed a hand on Jax's shoulder to coax him away.
"I got this, sugar," she started as she grabbed onto the man's mouth staring down at him.
"As your maker I command you to never speak a word unless for some unknown God damned reason, I ask you to speak," Pam said shoving his face away with a grimace. Tig came clamoring down the stairs of the basement handing a small bag of blood to Eric, sounding out of breath.
"That's all I could dig up for now, but have it arranged to deliver some every week," Tig said, Jax nodding to him as thanks. Eric took his teeth and ripped a corner of the plastic away, forcing Cartwright to open up his mouth.
"Down the hatch," Eric said as he started to force feed the blood into the new vampire's mouth, Cartwright's eyes wide and full of horror.