Thank you all so much, and I hope you enjoy this one hehe. This one is kind of a filler chapter, but next one will be a lot more action packed. Thanks so much for reading, I feel so humbled.

Chapter Nine

Grandpa Niall doesn't say anything in answer to my questions. He just stares down at the floor for a very long minute, his eyes moist. And then, without warning, he starts bawling real loudly. It's a very heartbreaking sound; He sounds like a dog that's just been run over or something. Spontaneously, I hug him real tightly. I feel close to tears myself. I've never been good with comforting people when they're upset. I tend to soak up things like a sponge, I guess I'm sensitive that way, and it's hard not to start bawling myself. I meet Eric's eyes over Grandpa's shoulder. Help, I plead desperately. I have no idea what to do.

"Ssh," I whisper, attempting to comfort him. "It'll all be okay, Grandpa. Everything will be okay, I promise."

It doesn't seem to help any, my words of comfort. He just sobs even louder into my arms. His entire body is trembling, and Eric looks just as lost as I am on how to comfort him. I try to ease his mind by distracting him, because it's the best I can think of doing.

"Um, are you actually my Grandpa?" I ask slowly, while patting down his frizzy white hair with my hand gently. I still don't know how it is that we're related. "How many greats are there, because... I'm kinda confused?"

Grandpa lets loose a funny snorting noise. Slowly, he pulls back to look at me. The sadness is still there and tears are streaking down his wrinkly face, but there's a small smile on his lips.

"I am your Grandfather," he says sadly.

"Yes, I know that. But... how? I mean, I've also got another Grandpa called Earl?" Just mentioning my Grandpa Earl's name, it brings up a whole lot of memories. My Grandpa Earl died when I was about ten years old, but I have some very fond memories of him. Particularly how he loved hunting and how he kept Gran so happy. I'm not really sure where Niall fits into that, though. "How are we related exactly?"

Niall sniffles loudly and wipes his nose on the back of his hand. "I am your biological Grandpa, child. Your Grandpa Earl wasn't truly your Grandpa. He couldn't have children, but your Grandmother Adele and I... well, we had a little sort of a fling. She conceived your father, my son, and then... well, the fairy genes must have passed down to you."

I blink at Niall, trying hard to understand that. Okay, so my Grandmother had an affair with Niall? He got her pregnant with my Daddy? Niall was my Daddy's real father, and not Earl? I wonder if my Daddy knew that himself. Or maybe he didn't? I didn't even know Niall and my Gran knew each other. How could they? I thought Grandpa Earl was the only man Gran had ever been with? Guess not. How funny. Apparently Gran was keeping secrets of her own.

"You were actually with my Gran for a while?" I ask, surprised.

Grandpa Niall smiles at me fondly. "I was, yes." He shakes his head and blinks heavily, as if certain memories featuring my Gran blinds him. "At the time I met her, she was already married with your Grandpa Earl. She had gone through a very distressing time. She felt time was short, and she was concerned it was running out on her before she could get a child, which was something she wanted most of all. Your Grandmother was a younger lady, at the time, and I thought she was the most beautiful lady I had ever seen." I smile a bit at that; Even now, I still thought my Gran was beautiful. I bet she was a real stunner when she was younger, though. "Our fling lasted approximately a week. We would meet privately where her husband didn't know, and it didn't take long for her to get knocked up by me. Your father, Corbett, is my son." A somewhat sad and nostalgic smile crosses over Grandpa's lips. "But, you see, it is not safe for a fairy and a human to be together, so we agreed that she would resume her partnership with Earl. It was better that way, safer. But not a day goes by where I do not think of Adele."

"Does she know you're in contact with me?"

"Oh, of course not!" he says. "She couldn't know! She would be very upset! She didn't even know I was a fairy, and that there was anything peculiar about me, when we first met. It would have been dangerous for her to know, so although difficult, I never permitted myself to enter her life ever again. I would come see her, now and then, by hiding away somewhere she wouldn't be able to know I was looking. I checked on your father, saw that Earl was doing a fine job of raising the young man as his own. I decided I had no reason to interfere. Watching in the shadows was enough for me."

"Was there anything different about my Daddy? Was he like me, too?" I ask, picturing my Daddy's face. I'm not so sure if he had any of the abilities that I have. From what I could remember, he hadn't. He mustn't have, because I remember him and my Mama were very upset to learn of how different I was.

"It seemed to have skipped him," Niall says, thinking back very seriously himself. "I do not know why, but it just did. It seemed to have passed directly onto you." He gives me a quick embrace at that, and it feels pretty great knowing that at least someone accepts me completely. "How very lucky you are. You got everything, while your father got nothing."

"Is that what it makes me?" I ask him doubtfully. "I'm lucky, because I've got all these gifts that make me different from everybody else?" Truth be told, I never feel lucky. I feel like a freak, a loser half the time. And people at school do nothing to make me feel any better about myself. If it wasn't for Tara, I would have no friends whatsoever. Other girls must sense something weird about me, because they always seem to steer clear of me. Boys also tend to steer clear of me, as well. Eric is the person of the opposite sex, aside from my brother, who doesn't exclude me meanly. I guess that doesn't give me much room for dating in the near future, but right now, I hardly am interested in dating. "If only you could see the way people treat me at school, Grandpa. Everybody keeps their distance, knowing there isn't something all that right about me. It's hard not to feel like a weirdo half the time."

"People deem you a weirdo at your school?" Grandpa repeats, very roughly and loudly. I can tell he isn't pleased by that. "You are anything but a weirdo, my dear. In time, if you learn how to harvest the full extent of your powers, you will be the most powerful girl on the planet! You mustn't feel ashamed of what you are!" He gives me a gentle shake. "You must embrace it, otherwise you have no chance of surviving on your own!"

"And I am trying to embrace it," I assure him. "I'm just not sure how I'm meant to begin on doing that. I think I need somebody like you to teach me what else I can do, with all my skills. I also know I need to learn how to rely on myself, and I need to learn how to fight so that I can protect myself."

"And that is where Eric comes in," Grandpa says, turning to look at him. "I can handle teaching Sookie how to use her powers to guard herself from danger, but I am not very skilled when it comes to combat. Plus, I am so old I can hardly move my body properly in order to show her any moves. I'll end up breaking my hip or something!"

I look at Eric excitedly myself, raising my eyebrows. I sure would love for Eric to teach me how to beat the crap out of everybody. I want to be a bad-ass, like I know he can be. I just need some headers. "Can you teach me how to kick butts?" I ask him eagerly. "I know you used to be a Viking warrior. Teach me how to be one like you so that I can defend myself from this Warlow guy!" I'm almost quivering with excitement. "I mean, you've taught me all the basic stuff. Like what vampires don't like, how to kill them. You've also taught me friendship, and how to trust somebody with every inch of my being. But you've never really taught me the good stuff yet, like fighting. I've got to learn that, too, don't I?"

Eric eyes my Grandpa for a moment. His entire body is screaming with reluctance, but I really do want for him to teach me all he knows.

"Niall?" He's asking for my Grandpa's permission.

But luckily, my fairy Grandfather is all for it. Since it's settled, I suck in a deep breath to prepare myself and get to my feet, while Eric does the same. He takes off his leather jacket and tosses it on my bed, then he starts rolling up the sleeves of the black V-neck sweater he is wearing to his elbows, while I get myself into a defensive stance, like the way I've seen boxers on television do it; I stand slightly on a lean with my legs an inch or so apart, while holding my hands in front of me, imagining I'm wearing boxing gloves. The black sweater he is wearing is so frigging tight it clings to every inch of his torso and makes fighting with him seem almost risky and daunting. He's the athletic one, not me. I have not an ounce of muscle on me anywhere. Eric assesses my stance and raises his eyebrows.

"Overeager, as always," he mutters under his breath in approval, I think. "Be careful with that, though. It isn't a very attractive trait. Nor is it a winning one."

It leaves me feeling high as kite; Eric's approval always does, I might as well be honest.

"You bet I'm overeager for this," I say. "I've been waiting so long to kick your butt, bestie."

"Oh, come on then, little fairy," he goads, showing his fists to me himself. Suddenly, I'm not feeling as confident as I first was. I know he's a vampire and he is way older and tons stronger than me physically. This is gonna be tough. "Show me the worst that you can do, Spotty."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The nickname throws me off slightly. "Spotty? Huh?"

His eyes flit pointedly to the horrendous zit invading my chin and his fangs run out with a daunting little clicking noise, as a patronizing smile slowly comes across his face at me. Finally, I get it and, after a day of mean people commenting on it at school, it is well and truly enough to send me over the edge.

Spotty, because of my zit.

Son of a mother. He is going to be so, so sorry for calling me that.

Hope you enjoyed this one. Thanks so much for reading :-) Love to hear your thoughts, as always x