Does anyone like Sookie? Hahaha, I love her myself but everyone else seems to be really irritated by her. By the way – season 3 finale! How good? At the end when Bill made his sweet speech – "I have never loved nor never will love like this" my heart belonged to him. Shame he lied and cheated…

By the way, I was reading over the early chapters. Sorry I kept calling Victor Vincent, I'm surprised more people didn't point it out, it was quite frequent. It would be a lot of effort to go back checking every single time I used his name, so I'll just apologize again.

Eva moved slowly so as not to attract attention. She rose from the throne and biting her lip to prevent herself screaming at an innocent passerby, she slunk towards the back door. The only people who noticed her leave were the avid fangbangers that watched her every move, and they didn't have much significance in Eva's order of people who mattered. They mattered as people of course, she wasn't that brutal to disregard a life, but in her situation they didn't matter.

Her chest actually hurt, as a human feels when they struggle to breath. She was choking without actually breathing. It was the strangest sensation, but pushing it aside, she quietly and stealthily left Fangtasia. The only people who noticed her leave was her shallow admirers and a quiet Latino looking vampire who'd entered the bar as Sookie had left it.

Stumbling outside in an unusually ungraceful manner, Eva relished in the quiet night air. Her fangs were protracted and blurry red was welling in her eyes. She tried to calm herself, then gave up and submitted to the building rage.

Leaping like a mountain lion onto the roof, she padded across it until she was facing the car park. She could see Sookie starting her Malibu on thefar side of the car park. For the moment, Eva detested her. She hated her hourglass figure, and beautiful features. She hated her blonde hair, and beautiful dress. She loathed everything about the woman who was pledged to her maker. Who she definitely did not love, she reminded herself.

As Sookie pulled out, Eva dropped down from the roof with the agility and litheness of, well, of a vampire; scaring the wits out of the poor human Fangtasia worker who was stood outside carding people. One second she there, next second she wasn't. She was a blur in the night pursuing the old car as it drove through the darkness.

As she ran with her feet barely touching the ground, she could almost feel her heart beating again. It was exhilarating, and at the same time the despair she couldn't deny pulsed through her veins. She wanted to howl like a wild creature, but kept her wits about her and moved as silently as a ghost. For a moment or two she thought she heard another rustle of movement behind her, then dismissing it, ran on.

She reached Bon Temps with more fire in her heart than she thought possible, and crouching low in the shadows she watched Sookie get out of her car and walk up to the dimly lit porch. She wondered whether to get her now or wait until she was inside, then remembering she'd need an invite to enter, she stepped forward boldly. She didn't know why she was there, about to do what she was about to do, but she couldn't stop herself.

Sookie didn't acknowledge another presence straightaway, she was fumbling with her keys and as Eva padded across the lawn like a true predator, she paused as if listening intently. What could she do to stop Eva? What good would she do against the enraged vampire child of Eric Northman? Thinking spitefully, Eva actually smiled.

She was mere steps away from the porch steps, and suddenly Sookie got her sense back. She started jamming her key in the lock at a hurried pace, knowing that if whatever was coming up behind her was off vampire persuasion, she needed to be inside sharpish.

Eva caught on Sookie's quickening in pace, and losing all inhibitions, sprang, fangs bared, like a bat out of hell.

Everything would be a blur to a human onlooker. All at once the once still yard was abuzz with movement and people. Mid pounce, another hefty strong body sprang out of the opposite shadows in record time. It caught Eva while she was air Bourne, grabbing low round her waist so her fangs were away from retaliation. Eva hissed as the figure blocked her attack, and clawed at the body with her fingernails. They landed on the grass with a small thud, and Eva's opposition rolled onto his feet, and clamping once hand (very bravely) over Eva's mouth, and the other under her arms and round her middle, pulled her back into the cover of trees before she could retaliate. She found herself looking at grass while she was being dragged then lifted, then as she regained posture she was facing Sookie's porch, back in her original vantage point. Eric was stood on her porch, kicking the door open now it was unlocked and pushing Sookie inside. All this happened in a matter of sheer seconds.

Confused and dazed, Eric bit down on the hand restricting her mouth. The blood she drew as she pierced the flesh was not human, not that she expected it to be, but tasted sweet and familiar. There was a quiet yelp near her ear and Lucio thumped her angrily.

Eva turned to look at him, at a loss for words. He held a finger to his mouth signalling for her to be quiet, and quickly assessing to situation, she chose to heed him. Looking back, Eric's eyes were fixed in their direction, Eva let out a small gasp and his gaze grew keener. She was aware of Lucio rising ever so slowly, holding her arm indicating for her to move at the same pace. When they were on their feet, he slid his arm round her waist, and next moment she recalled, Eva felt like some sort of monkey leaping through the tree tops.

When Lucio set her down on a thick tree branch some distance away from the site of near bloodshed, he looked at her with imploring eyes.

"Wha...Why…" That was all she could get out. How'd he been there, she wondered, how'd Eric been there. She genuinely didn't know where to start. "Are you stalking me?"

"No, just visiting actually…are you mad…" he hissed.

"What? Oh god…I'm so utterly confused."

There was another moment of silence, then as Eva opened her mouth to say something, Lucio sprang forward, smothering one hand over her mouth again and pressing her against the tree. Establishing eye contact with Eva, and then sweeping his eyes downwards, he indicated below. Eva followed his gaze and under the tree they were plastered against, Eric picked his way through the undergrowth. His knees were slightly bent, ready to spring, and his fangs poised. He waited for a moment, glancing from side to side in the darkness, and then carried on.

If they were human, they would have released a sigh of relief.

"He would have ripped your fangs out," Lucio whispered. The sweet moonlight shone through the boughs of the trees and let a dappling light fall on Lucio's face, illuminating it against the blackness of the woods.

"I'm his child…"

"Yeah, so he wouldn't have killed you. Just seriously injured you and maybe mutilated you…"

Eva imagined if Eric had had the chance to turn on her, what extent would he have released his rage on her.

"He's my maker," she whispered feebly.

Lucio lifted his right hand to sweep her stray strands of hair away from her face.

"I'm sorry I bit you…again…" she added.

"I expected some sort of nip from that endeavour. Besides…I don't mind if it's you…"

Eva chewed this over for a moment.

"Who else has bitten you?" she asked eventually.

"Victor turned me of course…then people in fights…Natalie bit me once…"

"Natalie? I thought she was Victor's?"

"She is. Meaning she is also my sister. She can get rebellious and frisky at times," he informed her with a casual shrug. Eva shook her head; she could never be so flippant about things like that. Lucio's expression grew unreadable and after another long pause he asked, "Jealous?"

"Erm…yeah…" Eva lied.

"No you're not," Lucio snapped.

"I'm sorry…do you want me to be?"

"Yes I want you to try and jump her like you tried Eric's little blonde friend."

Lucio shuffled back on the branch and crossed his legs as if they were sat on a park bench rather than twenty something feet in the air.

"…whats going on, why are you here?" Eva cried, focusing on the subject at hand once more.

"I came to visit you, I did tell Victor to let you know."

"By near future I didn't realise he meant little over an hour…"

"When I came you were sneaking off. I went to see if you were off to get into trouble…"

"What if I was just off to the bathroom!" Lucio raised an eyebrow. "To do my make up…"

"Well, you weren't…"

"But I've walked in and out of Fangtasia lots of times…"

"Right, but I was there at that moment."

"Lucio?"

"Yes?"

"Have you been following me?"

There was a quiet pause.

"On occasion…"

Eva sighed.

"I'm sorry," he continued. "But you wouldn't speak to me, and all sorts were going on, I just wanted to see you were okay. It's not stalking, just visiting from afar."

Eva couldn't help but laugh, albeit quickly so Eric didn't come plundering back through the woods fangs a blazing.

"Visiting from afar, that's a good one."

Lucio smiled, brightening up his face.

"I knew you'd understand my logic!"

"And Eric? He knew what I was up too…how?"

"He's you're maker, he's in tune with you to a certain extent…and Pam probably tipped him off, she's a sharp one…"

"I'll never get out from under you guys thumbs."

"Sorry, we just care."

"He cares for Sookie…" Eva pointed out. He was hardly bounding down to give Eva a hand, now was he? All her earlier bitterness sprang back, and she looked away from Lucio before she could slip back into her madness.

"So…" she began again, plotting out the events in her head. "I went after Sookie, you came after me, and Eric came to maybe chop my hands off and tell me off…"

"Pretty much, the trouble you do cause…"

"He's…she's…pledged to him…" she breathed quietly to the night air, ignoring Lucio.

"What do you care?" he asked with an edge in his voice.

"I don't…" Even as Eva said it she realised she was outright lying. It was beyond obvious.

"Yeah right," Lucio snorted.

"Oh Lucio…She's pledged to him."

"Yes, they are joined in the eyes of vampire regularities…she is his and he is somewhat hers…" Lucio said it tediously, trying not to notice the effect it was having on Eva – but it was hard to noticed her devastation, no matter how much it tore Lucio apart.

Eva blinked away tears but they came thick and fast. She remembered why the name triggered a response in her now.

"The Fellowship of the Sun has cleverly snuck in a succession of bombs, which are now being deployed in series around the hotel. In a couple of hours this place will be rubble."

"And you're calm, cool and collected, how!" Eva shrieked, waving her arms in the air in exasperation.

"My Sookie's out, my child – Pam is out, and now here you are safe and sound and soon to also be out as well."

The memory summed it up for her entirely. She came third, and always would. This Sookie had taken priority over even Pam, and Pam definitely took priority over Eva. In Eric's life, Eva was the third most important girl; maybe even less on the scale if there was someone she still wasn't aware off. The horrible bitterness of an indirect rejection washed over her, and with one small gasp, then another louder one, she eventually broke into a series of wails.

Melodramatic as it may have seemed, blood streaked down her rosy cheeks as she howled like a lost child. Lucio rushed forward to hold her, and as she cried into his now bloodied shirt, he stroked her hair and murmured gently in her ear.

Lucio had intended to talk a lot of things over with Eva while he had the opportunity, but the opportunity had passed and now he couldn't bring himself to not hold her and try and comfort her. Anyone else he would have wanted to shake back to their senses, but with this girl that had brought a certain degree of excitement to what he'd seen as a life slipping into the monotonous, all he wanted to do was ease her pain. As Eva cried for being unloved and for not coming first, Lucio mulled over how he hadn't come first. She didn't feel the blazing jealousy for him; she didn't feel the calm and serenity from his company as he did hers.

"You don't love me," he asked directly and straightforwardly.

Eva sobbed for a couple more minutes as girls do, then raising her head again; she held his cheeks and smiled through her blood smeared face.

"How can I not love you?"

"You cry for coming third, why should I not cry for coming second?"

"Eric's my maker, I'm sorry, it's just instinct, I…"

"He got to you first. If I had known where you were, I would have been your maker."

"We were amidst a bombing…" she protested.

"No Eva. My biggest regret is not finding. Not turning you before he could…or even saving you…Eva you could have been human still…"

"I could be a lot of things – if I'd listened to my Mother I'd be a solicitor. I could still be a waitress. I could be dead. Living in the past would get me nowhere and the same goes for you. Sure I could be human, but I'd still be vulnerable, I'd still be running from people…"

"I'd have looked after you. Eva, I come second to you and it's my own fault."

Eva hated Lucio feeling like this, she detested him weighting his own happiness on impossible feats he could have done for her. Eric would have never told Lucio where she was, and Lucio could never have found her. She could neither hate Eric though, if he hadn't come for her himself she'd be dead. Well, really dead.

"I never envisioned myself having this conversation in a tree…" she pointed out. Lucio laughed gently despite bloody tears of his own appearing in his tear ducts. He was full of hate and regret and remorse and the only thing he was taking comfort in was Eva's presence by his.

"If you were my child, how simple this would all be."

"I'd never be second best to you, ey?"

"You never will be, no."

"What selfish creatures we are, not content with someone's love unless it's wholly there's."

Lucio nodded slowly.

"Yes, but we are meant to be in pairs, I believe anyway," he told her.

"And Eric has Sookie…"

"So you're left with me, unless there's someone else I need to face?"

"No…and I'm not left with you…I'm blessed with you."

"Eric…"

"I don't love Eric…"

"You just want to obliterate any other woman in his life," Lucio pointed out.

"He's my maker and those instincts are there. I'll work over them, but as to spending my life with Eric…being a couple with Eric, in the old fashioned sense of the phrase…god…Good luck Sookie!"

Lucio laughed, and leaning forward he brushed his cold lips against Eva's icy ones. They found each other, and pressed creating a warmth that most people would never expect to find in a couple of vampires.

"I should go back to Fangtasia…deal with Eric's wrath…" Eva sighed eventually, breaking away.

"I'll come with you…"

"We go like lambs to the slaughter…"

Laughing, they dropped down with ease to the solid ground, and bounded back to Fangtasia like deer in the spring.

The minute they stepped through the door, Lucio was grabbed by the throat and in a swift flick of Eric's wrist, hurtled against a wall. He then delivered a blow to Eva in the abdomen that sent her crashing into tables. Eric's teeth were at her throat the next moment, the cold edge of his fang pressed against her cool skin.

Good thing it was after closing time.