Chapter 5:
Two weeks passed, until the dreaded restlessness returned to haunt Sookie's skin. Like the warrior she was, she fought it valiantly. It could not be shot, or stabbed, or blown up, like her usual quarry, though at times flaying herself alive seemed a viable option, to relieve herself of the wild longing weighing upon her.
This night, the vampire hunter decided to run herself to the ground, hoping utter exhaustion would grant her a decent night's rest.
On the note they'd ended on last time, she would be damned if she went crawling back to Eric for a fix, this time.
With night vision that rivaled a vampire's own, Sookie navigated through a wooded trail that looped around the house and linked with her pot-hole ridden driveway. Fixing the drive remained on her to-do list for the house, a continually shortening list, at that. Gran's house looked the best it had since it's heyday, years and years ago.
Another perk of vampire slaying-she lived far from hand to mouth, on a well padded salary.
As her feet flew across the ground, a vision of Eric's lips upon her chest accosted her mind. Gooseflesh raised across her arms, a certain pain above her heart almost flooring her.
Sookie picked herself up from the stumble, pushing herself into a full sprint, a ragged cry thrown out in challenge to the stars above. I don't need him, she repeated to herself. Sometimes, she huffed it aloud. She moved so quickly, it seemed a possibility for a moment that she really could outrun her problems.
As the sensory memories assaulted her, Sookie only pushed herself harder. Her limbs shook with the effort, her breath ragged. The vampire slayer got her wish, achieving total distraction, clouding her senses with physical exertion to the point of near oblivion.
The assailant seemed to come out of nowhere, dropping upon her from the sky.
Sookie rolled with the impact, fighting with a speed and reflex she'd never completely understood. She simply did, striking out almost blindly, sending her attacker sprawling. But in a moment he was upon her again, relentless as a storm. The dhampir never went anywhere unarmed, anymore, and the blade of the silver dagger she'd secreted about her person soon flashed in the moonlight.
But the shadow she battled with would have nothing of it, dodging too cleverly to be cut, too quickly for her to even get a good look at him.
It was not until she lay upon the ground, pinned beneath him and a large hand about her throat, but her blade hovering in position to push home into heart-flesh, that Sookie realized her opponent to be none other than the vampire her vexed her most.
Breaths came heavy, blue eyes glinting fiercely in the moonlight. Both wondered if the other could actually do it. End it all in a fit of rage.
"Well?" asked Eric, glancing down to the blade positioned beneath his breastbone. "What will it be?" His grip lightened upon her, fingers caressing her throat, though she was not fooled. In less than a moment, he could rend her to pieces with those large hands.
Sookie's heart thundered in her ears. Though it wouldn't quite kill, a silver knife to the heart would surely incapacitate. The temptation thrummed in her arm to push it home. To be rid of him, once and for all.
With a sadness in his eyes Eric removed his hand from her throat all together, tracing a trail down her collarbone and arm, leaving gooseflesh in his fingers wake. "You won't."
However, something hard glinted in her stare that left the vampire unsure.
A medley of emotions boiled within him, a dangerous concoction of anger and desire and contempt and need. How was it this small blond woman reduced him to this? Rolling in the dirt, daring her to kill him just to find some peace.
Sookie seemed frozen, and Eric found he could wait no longer for the answer. Could she destroy him? Daring her, he leaned into the blade, hissing as the point pushed past his shirt, entered his flesh just a fraction, until Sookie finally jerked away.
"God damn it," she cursed, stabbing the knife into the ground. Why couldn't she do it? Why couldn't she have the strength to end this mess once and for all?
There was an answer, that terrified her to the core.
That slowly, her loathing of him was dissipating.
Which infuriated her even more. Her perceived betrayal by Eric had formed the foundation of her new life as a dhampir; the basis of her identity. Who would she be without it?
A hypocrite, for one. What kind of vampire slayer fell in love with a 1000 year old vampire?
The dhampir sat up on her elbows, bringing her closer. Her mouth opened with the intention of hurling some insult, no doubt, but the vampire gave her no chance, his mouth suddenly crashing over hers. "You can't do it," he growled between kisses. "Admit that you can't kill me. Admit that I'm more than just a fix."
His hands traveled beneath her top, and even as Sookie arched her back to meet him, reveling in the relief his touch brought to her skin, she snarled, "Believe what you want. If you stop, I promise I will kill you."
Furiously, they clashed against each other, ripping clothes and tearing skin with nails and teeth. An outside spectator happening upon them would have beheld an act of violence rather than sex, as they rolled in the grass, each fighting for dominance. Within them their storm howled, electrifying their hearts and rattling their souls.
In the end, Sookie won her place on top, and it was only as they both met their ends, orgasms punctuated with ragged cries that verged on pain, that the pair knew some peace once more.
Limbs heavy as lead, Sookie rolled off Eric and away, reveling in the cool dew of the grass upon her back. Eric tried to draw her into his arms, but Sookie only pushed his hands away. "No," was the only word she could muster, amidst a deep breath.
"You used to like to cuddle afterwards."
She still did, but something inside her wouldn't give him the satisfaction. She would retain that small sliver of dignity, she resolved.
"Don't be such a whiny bitch."
Eric's eyes narrowed in response. The vampire turned his head to her, but his own scathing reply died on his lips as he beheld the sight beside him. Her eyes pressed closed, a single tear ran down either cheek, their trails glistening in the silver light of the moon. He suddenly wanted to kiss those tears away, pull her into his arms, and hold her until Sookie's hardened soul softened once more to him.
But it would do no good, and so he just lay with her upon the grass, surrounded by the night sounds of the insects of the woods, the soft leathery tittering of bats passing overhead, beneath handfuls and handfuls of stars.
Minutes or hours might have passed, until Sookie moved once more, just minutely. Slowly she shifted, reaching out to curl a single finger around one of Eric's own. There were no words between them, only the warmth generated from that small contact spreading across their skin.
Soon, she rose, gathering the tatters that were once her clothes. She did not look at Eric as she dressed, appearing as a raggamuffin in the tattered fabric. Absently, she sang a tune under her breath. A self acknowledged musical null, by her own admission Sookie could not carry a tune in a bucket. But the vampire managed to make out one lyric, a collection of words that chilled him to the marrow of his bones.
There's a doorway that my heart could never walk through, there's a graveyard full of times I've let you down. *
Without looking back, Sookie walked back towards her home, limping slightly. Once more she left the vampire disheveled and cold, the scent of her clinging to his skin. Yet this time, a shred of hope burned in his breast, the tiniest ember that he would guard within his heart, cherish carefully as a knight with his lady's kerchief. He'd found she could not kill him, and in that he found possibility at long last.
A/N: A thousand thank yous to everyone who has read and left a review! Your awesome feedback and insights have really helped me in keeping this story on track!
*Lyrics from Perfect Lover by Hayes Carll