Part 7

It has been two weeks since I last saw Elizabeth on her porch, Sookie's arms around her shoulders, trying to explain to her what had just transpired. Eric helped me move the body of the dead Were deep into the woods, where we pulled it to shreds and threw it into the river to try to disguise his scent. I came back to the house later with a few jugs of bleach to destroy the blood on the gravel drive and I burnt my clothing. I wanted nothing left for whomever had sent the Were to find, because I assumed that at least someone from his pack would come looking for him eventually. Sookie already had Elizabeth bundled into the car by the time I returned. She looked at me with great sympathy, but said nothing. Eric nodded at me, we had hardly spoken either, it seemed that neither of them knew exactly what to say to me. I simply offered my thanks for their actions and stepped away from the car. Elizabeth turned her head towards my voice, and I whispered a goodbye to her, I don't know if she heard me or not. Right then I didn't expect to ever see her again.

I go by the house every night, just to make certain that it is safe and that no one else is prowling around. For the first few nights I saw the panthers, but I explained to Calvin, for he is the only one of them who will approach me, that Elizabeth had gone. He didn't mention the scent of the dead Were, so I assume that Eric and I did a decent job of disguising him. I haven't seen the panthers since. I have also gone into town, to the library, to try to find out about the hearing where Elizabeth was to testify. I brought the librarian a book from my own personal library, almost two hundred years old, it has endeared me to her a little I think. She has helped me find the appropriate websites.

I also thought that I should go by Merlotte's and speak to Sam, just to tell him what had happened with Elizabeth, and that he should not expect her to call over for any more deliveries. Also, I did not want him to think anything untoward had transpired. He seemed sad to learn she had left, and sad to know Sookie had collected her without stopping by Merlotte's to see him. It seems he still harbours feelings towards her. But in a happy turn, I have found my own have dulled somewhat, it is easier to speak of her to others, perhaps it had been seeing her with Eric as she was?

I have seen that Elizabeth did testify on schedule, and I was able to watch some short clips of her on the computer, she made me smile. She sounded so strong and confident, and she looked so professional, people deferred to her, as I believe they rightly should have. She made me proud, not that I really have the right to feel that way. I hope she is proud of herself. That testimony was nearly a week ago, and I have heard nothing of her since and have made no inquiries. I imagine that she has gone back to her normal life. I like to think that Sookie would have tried to get word to me if something had happened to her.

So every night I walk the path between our houses, and I walk the perimeter of the property. And every night it is quiet but for the nocturnal animals. The first full moon since the death of the Were has come and gone, I was especially vigilant that night, but nothing came, though the howling was there, as it usually is. The packs still like to run in Sookie's woods. I guess whomever it was I killed was not missed; lone wolves are not so uncommon anymore, not when there is V addiction and money to be made in these economic times.

Tonight is no different than any of the last fourteen nights. I rise, I wash, I dress, I drink a True Blood and then I walk, it is the pattern that keeps me sane. The stars are out tonight, it rained during the day, I can smell the moss and the dirt so clearly and the air is warm around me. I turn the path to cross the Bon Temps cemetery and point myself towards her house and then I hear it, footsteps coming towards me, careful, light, quiet footsteps, from someone who has walked the path before. Sookie.

"Bill is that you?" Her voice cuts through the darkness; I expect she has felt the void that is my mind to her before she has seen me.

"I am here Sookie." I quicken my pace to reach her, though I know there is no one else in the woods right now, she has come to find me for some reason, and I prefer to speak with her face to face rather than calling across a graveyard.

"Hello Bill." She smiles at me when I reach her. It is a comfortable smile; she is not frightened of me or repulsed by me. That knowledge gives me great happiness. "How are you?" She asks the same question of me that she did when I last saw her, but now I find I am ready to answer.

"I am well Sookie. I currently find myself in a quiet place, with a quiet mind."

"I'm glad." She pauses, "I was worried about you." She says in a much more guarded tone, crossing her arms on her chest in that gesture she has, protecting herself from mental hurt.

"You were worried about me?"

"Elizabeth told me about what happened, about how you wanted to meet the sun." My brows furrow, I am not angry but I had not wanted Sookie to know about such things. "Don't be angry with her." She then offers, Sookie seems to still be able to read all my expressions so accurately.

"She should not have told you Sookie. I did not want to cause you any upset with it."

"Why would you want to die Bill?"

"I came to a point Sookie where there was no joy in living any longer. There was nothing to compel me, and so much hurt to atone for."

"Please just say this wasn't about me Bill, I don't want to think that you would meet your true death because of what happened with me?" The pleading quality of her voice stabs at me.

"This was all about me Sookie, I have hurt too many people, you being one of them, you being the last of them I had hoped. I am a monster Sookie. The world has no need of me. I just wanted to balance the scales again."

"Bill, don't say those things, you aren't a monster. Not to me at least. Does that mean anything to you?" She is speaking animatedly with her hands; she does that when she is concerned, and frustrated. I would say it is adorable, but that might be condescending.

I purse my lips together in a small smile of resignation for her. The crickets speak for me.

"I forgive you Bill. Can you not find a way to forgive yourself?"

"Perhaps not Sookie."

"Then do it for Elizabeth." She asks, and the words stop me in my tracks, proverbially of course. I cast my hearing out farther and find not one heartbeat, but three, two of which are back behind Sookie, back at the house I can only guess.

"She is here?" My dead heart leaps; I have thought for the last week that she had walked away from me, and that she never wanted to be near me again.

"She is, she has been begging me to bring her back here for days, but I needed to ensure that some safeguards were put in place around the house first, that took some time."

"What type of safeguards?" I am imagining Were guards, or even Vampire ones.

"Wards." She tells me. "My friend Amelia has been able to put together some wards that will keep anyone who wishes harm to the rightful occupants of the house from coming near it. She tells me that the spell will affect all supernaturals, as well as humans, that they will suddenly feel an overpowering urge to leave the area if they try to cross the boundaries of the property. I would not let Elizabeth return until we were certain they were strong enough."

"And your Amelia is putting them in place now?" That would explain the third heartbeat.

"She is. In fact she is likely finished by now. Elizabeth will be waiting for you if you want to go to her. Or I can give her a message if you like?"

"No message." I mutter. Sookie seems disappointed in me. But in truth I do not want to send a message to Elizabeth.

"Will you see her?"

I want to bring it to her.

"I will." My head drops, but it is not with shame, finally. It is with relief. Sookie's own is almost palpable in the night.

"Walk with me?" Sookie holds out her hand, and I take it, I let her lead me back to her house, and I walk through into the front yard, the motion sensor lights going off with our presence. She smiles at me.

"See?" She says, "You walked right through the wards." Her smile has grown, I sense a genuine happiness on her part, and everything Sookie has ever done for me has been genuine. Even pushing me away. I had expected to feel an urge to turn away, given the description of the spell, but it has not come. Instead I feel a deep desire to continue forward, with my life, and not just this night.

"Thank you Sookie. For everything." I realize that it has been this woman, who more than anything else has made me aware of who I truly am. There are some things about my nature that I am never going to be able to change, but there are others that I can, because she has shown me the way, and because she has forgiven me, honestly.

"Bill, no matter what happened before, you're always going to be my friend, we've shared way too much." She laughs and I give her a very gentle hug. "Now go inside. Amelia and I have to get home, and Elizabeth needs you." There is a calm in Sookie's manner that I notice for the first time, a lightness of being that seems to say that she has finally discharged herself of the pain that was me, however she chose to see that. She has seen me safely delivered from my darkness, and, bless her, whatever guilt Elizabeth's admissions have given her, it has vanished.

I walk up the steps to the porch and I wait for the car to pull off behind me. I have only has a passing glance at this Amelia, but if Sookie trusts her then she is a good person. Sookie does not make mistakes, not anymore. I am glad that whoever she is, she has enabled Elizabeth to return to me, or at least to return to see me one more time. I knock on the screen door; it makes the same comfortable, thin, dry sound.

"Elizabeth, it's William." I love that she calls me William, the sound of it makes me want to be better, makes me want to be the man I was. The door before me is flung open, protesting on its aged hinges, with only the screen between us I can smell the lavender again, and I can see her, cheeks flushed with excitement, chest rising and falling steadily in short breaths.

"William?" She pushes at the screen door and I step back to avoid the force she puts into removing that final barrier between us. I grab her hands and step through the frame, she has never retracted her invitation to me, and it allows me to pull her into my arms and to kiss her soundly, wrapping a hand around the back of her neck, coddling her there against me.

"I have missed you." I whisper as I bury my face into the black strands, softly waving in lengths over her shoulders and down her back.

"I missed you too William." She confirms every fantasy I have made of her in the lonely hours before sleep has taken me.

Not wanting to let go of her, I use my foot to kick the door closed, and one hand to latch it, and then I lift her feet off the ground and carry her back to her bedroom our bodies pressed together. I know it is what she wants, and it is most certainly what I do. I lay her back on her bed and kiss her again. There has been no need to turn on lights so all we have is the crescent glow outside her window and it is more than enough. Her fingers tangle in my hair as I kiss her over and over, feeling her chest heave against mine. I find the hem of her jersey blouse and pull it over her head, I don't know where it has ended up, I will find it and whatever joins it later. Her fingers tug at my own shirt and it easily meets the same fate. We are a bundle of hands searching each other, and mouths looking for purchase.

As I bend my head to her breasts and taste her skin I lower my hips to hers and brush against her so that she will understand exactly how much I want her. The ache is so powerful that it threatens my senses so I concentrate on removing her from her bra, a front hook closure for which I silently give thanks. I splay out the sides and set about teasing her, and myself, my mouth on the center of one breast while my thumb works the other, bringing moans to her throat and tension to the beautiful pink flesh there. Her nails rake down my back and find the waist of my jeans, pushing against the denim, and so I take one hand from her pleasure and wiggle my way out of them, kicking them away so that I can lay out on top of her and she can feel the full length of my body and erection against her. Again she moans and her body trembles.

I continue to caress her with fingertips and tongue, working my way downward to her waist, where she is already squirming out of her jeans. Her breath is beginning to come in gasps, and her heart is racing. I want to take it slowly but I find I cannot, every nerve in my body seems to have come alive, assaulted by the warmth of her body, the movement of her hands on my skin and the scent of lavender, now mixed with the sweetness of her arousal. I tug her panties down and bring my mouth to her, tasting and probing between her legs as her moans turn to more excited cries, and she bucks her hips against me.

"William." She gasps between breaths, the sound if my name calls me back to her and I kiss her mouth fiercely again, letting my rod brush against her, it makes us both jump. I want to be inside her more than anything right now. "I need you."

It is all I need to hear as I plunge myself inside her, the walls of her body, hot and strong envelop me. My fangs drop, and I hiss with the absolute pleasure of feeling her and I joined, finally. I feel her relax for a moment, and then wrap her legs around mine, coaxing me with the movement of her hips to withdraw and then thrust at her again, over and over, building up the tension and the passions in us both. I want to tell her how beautiful she is, I want to tell her how amazing she makes me feel, I want to tell her that I love her, but my mouth won't form the words, so lost am I in the pure sensation of her. I can barely hold back my needs, and with only the subtlest clues from her, the first wave of tension across her pelvis, I give in to the primal need that heats my blood and fill her with my climax, roaring as I do so with the cathartic release she has given me. Only as I kiss her again, fangs fully extended does she give herself to me with a most delicious shudder that runs from her body to mine, so glorious I feel the tears begin to well in my eyes, and I am thankful she cannot see exactly how I have fallen apart because of her.

I collapse to the bed, and pull her close into my arms beside me, pulling a pillow for under her head to that I can turn and look at her, and marvel in the gift that has been given to me; perhaps I gift I might actually deserve. I am amazed that I can even think that way about myself, it has been so long. I kiss her forehead as she snuggles into me.

"It has been so long William." She says almost what I am thinking.

"For me as well Elizabeth."

"So many men don't understand me, when I began to lose my sight I relied so much on touch. It was the transition for me William. It has given me comfort as things began to go dark. When I make love I need to touch my partner. That makes so many men uncomfortable."

"Then they are fools Elizabeth. I want you to touch me." I whisper. It is enough as I feel her hands on me again, sliding down my chest, taking me into a firm grasp and stroking me from base to tip, lingering over the most sensitive velvet and making my whole body quake once again. The smile that graces her face is divine, as if she knows exactly what she is doing to me, because she does. I yield to her as she slings a leg over me, and comes to straddle me, still holding me in her palm. I reach up to touch her again, caressing her breasts, and letting my hands slide down to her waist, resting on her hips, not guiding her, not yet as she begins to grind against me. I cannot help but arch my back as the pressure she bestows on me mounts and the pleasure floods me. Only when she knows she has my complete attention does she slide her body over me, letting go with her hand, and taking me between her legs where I can feel the slickness of our shared orgasm, still hot. Hips still moving she guides me to her entrance, and with a forceful thrust she takes me to the hilt, holding me there inside her as I struggle to keep my composure.

I reach out for her, to touch her as she rides me, keeping my fingers between us so that I can feel the place that we are joined. I use my thumb to caress her, bringing her to the same heightened state as I find myself in. My fangs are fully exposed, and somehow she seems to know this as unseeing eyes guide a hand to my mouth, where two extended fingers first caress their length, and then tear themselves on the points. She leaves the bloody tips on the edge of my lips where I can do nothing else but suckle them as she continues to work me. I have not had real blood in so long, it is ecstasy coupled with her body. We moan and cry together and finally I empty myself into her again as her muscles ripple across me, milking me for every drop. Again we collapse together onto the sheets, her breathing hard, me, trying to calm shaking hands.

"I was so afraid that you wouldn't be here where I came back William. I was so afraid that you would go out and meet the sun." She strokes my hair now, twirling strands between her fingertips. The scant bleeding has stopped already.

I concede to her that I have thought of it. "But once I saw you again Elizabeth I knew I couldn't do it."

"Then I saved your life?" She asks me with a grin.

"I suppose you did at that." I am in a suddenly giddy mood; it is not something I have felt in a very long time.

"Then you are mine?" She asks me.

"Only if you will be mine as well."

"William, I always have been."

FIN

Well, this is the last chapter, I hope that William has gained a little sympathy in your eyes, or at least has not annoyed you completely.

Thank you for indulging me.

Merick