Smoke on the Water

The days that followed had surprises for Sookie around every corner. She had met the new Eric and she found that she liked him very much. He was kind and gentle and ready to accommodate her in any way he could. Matt was beginning to remember his past and the memories were hovering around Eric who was not yet ready to succumb to them. Despite Matt's ability to recall his past Eric seemed content to delay the notifications of his history.

But soon enough Matt tired of the flood of past deeds as they began to overwhelm him. Days went by as he batted away memories like annoying insects. He was beginning to realize that the story he had come to believe as the truth; that his mother seduced his father and the mistrust and awkwardness of Eric's parental prowess were untrue. Somewhere along the line they had been fed lies and they had both believed them. That was the work of a serious spell one even more so than the one Eric was suffering from now. At first he had reveled in knowing things long forgotten but suddenly he was overcome and everything was more confusing than ever. Matthew wanted the truth; he wanted to know his past as it truly was and not as he was led to believe.

Eric wasn't sure where he fit in and had no idea how to act and Sookie remained merely part of an audience who sat watching and waiting as to how this would all end.

"How's it going kid?" she asked Matt one afternoon.

"It's going but I don't know how to stop it," he answered.

"Is there a way?"

"There's always a way, but it's like getting the devil to dance."

"That easy huh?" she said faking a smile as Matt remained stoic staring off into the distance. "What's wrong?"

"Memories, ones I'd rather not have. But they remind me of one thing."

"What's that?"

"He will protect us no matter what the cost."

"What happened?" Sookie asked gently wondering what Matthews statement meant.

Matt took a deep breath his eye lashes fluttering as he settled himself. "I was a kid, probably around eight or so. My mother and I had been out collecting herbs and fresh water when three men came upon us. It was clear their intentions were less than honorable. We couldn't get away; they set up a makeshift camp and viewed us as the evening's entertainment. We lived in northern Scotland at the time, these men spoke Swedish apparently lamenting the fact that they missed the Viking era by a few hundred years. They made their plans for us having no idea I understood every word."

"I take it they weren't planning on a dinner and a movie," Sookie said hoping the light humor might diffuse the solemnity of the conversation.

It worked as Matt let out a short burst of laughter. "Not hardly their intentions were to repeatedly rape us and then kill us."

"Even you?"

"Depravity has always been around; it is not a modern development. In fact they were going to kill me first making my mother watch. I was able to relay this to my mother who knew if we could just delay them until the sun went down we would be okay. She convinced them to let her cook some soup with the herbs we had collected and she flirted with them so they would forget about me." He paused catching his breath. "We stalled as long as we could but the sun wasn't down yet. Two took my mother behind a bush while the one began to touch me."

"Oh Matt I'm so sorry."

"He hadn't gotten far when suddenly his entire weight collapsed on me. I heard movement and a scream then my mother tugging the man off of me. Her hair was a mess and her clothing torn but was still on her. Then there was another scream as my mother held me tight and finally my father coming to me; his face, hands, everywhere full of blood he then looked down at the man he had left behind. He picked him up; I could tell his neck was broken, his head just sort of hung there, he then disappeared with him but was back quickly. He had tried to clean himself up but he still had a lot of blood on him; he carried the both of us home and didn't let go of us all night."

"How awful," Sookie said when Matt was done. "It must have been hard for him to have to leave you when the sun came back up."

"He was beginning to smoke before my mother made him go underground. The moral of this story is no matter what he will protect you with everything he's got so you can sleep tight and fear nothing."

"Good to know," she said smiling. She looked at Matt whose face was frozen staring off into the distance peering down memory lane which she was beginning to understand was full of ruts and devastating road blocks. "The sun will be down soon, how about I fix you something to eat?" She stood up looking down at the blond head his expression looking as if he had just been pushed off a cliff.

"I guess that would be okay." He said suddenly coming to life; forcing a smile.

"Your safe here; your dad is only a few steps away."

"I know but you can't change the sun. I've always loved winter for the simple fact that he has more time above ground in the world and with me. Sookie, he was a good father and each day I get more evidence of that. Everything I thought was true when I first got here was lie that was sold to me somewhere. I had forgotten how powerful magic can be."

"So the vampire I see now, the good memories you are having are the truth then?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it. The spell that he is under now broke the previous one; Antonia was behind it all. We are both meeting each other again for the first time." He said with a satisfied smile. "He loved me, he loved my mother, I'm sure of it."

That night Sookie woke up in a cold sweat. She had dreamt that Matt had been trapped underneath a fallen tree and couldn't get out. She had been trying to help but simply wasn't strong enough and it was only noon with the sun blazing overhead. She woke up suddenly and in a near panic taking aa few minutes to realize it had been a dream. She sat up to catch her breath and remembered Matt's saying depravity wasn't a modern creation; that the evil of today had been built on the strong foundation of long ago and it certainly didn't seem hard to believe. Quickly realizing she was unable to get back to sleep she got up and headed to the bathroom for a drink and a moment to calm herself. She flushed the toilet washed her hands and filled up her Dixie cup with water and took a minute to clear her head. She padded over to Matt's room and saw him sleeping soundly taking his own advice. She pondered how many levels of hell the boy had been through in all the years he had been alive. The modern era was so full of evil she couldn't even imagine the unchecked immorality of so long ago. She stretched and wondered where Eric was when she heard a noise outside.

She went downstairs and saw a flash of light that took her to the front door to investigate. She stepped out onto the porch to see Claudine standing there. The fairy begged her to come with her but Sookie had no trust in her and certainly wasn't heading back to fairyland after her last experience which took a year of her life and left her very unsettled only escaping with the help of others. The last thing she wanted was to be once again sequestered with so many that she had no faith or trust in. Claudine wasn't taking the refusal well insisting that Sookie return with her. As she turned to go back towards the front door Sookie heard a noise and saw her fairy godmother disappear from view and land with Eric on the ground where he proceeded to drink her dry.

"You drank my fairy godmother," Sookie exclaimed.

Eric tried to stand up after Claudine had been reduced to dust but merely fell over. Sookie heard a noise behind her and turned to see Matt come towards her all remnants of sleep gone as he trotted over to see what was going on.

"He drank my fairy godmother," Sookie explained.

"I hope that's not a problem," Matt responded somberly.

"Not really, he was sort of protecting me. What's wrong with him?"

"I've seen this before she's not his first fairy. He'll be okay he's just drunk."

As if on cue Eric stood up and giggled as he wobbled forward towards his son.

"You need to go to bed right now, the sun will be up shortly," Sookie stated.

Eric merely laughed again emanating a high pitched squeal that nearly made Matt laugh. "I don't care if the sun's is coming up," he said racing around the yard.

"He'll be okay for a little while," Matt assured.

"But for how long?"

"Hard to say for sure, he should stay close so when the effects wear off he can get back to his cubby in a hurry."

Eric continued to romp around enjoying the effects of the fairy blood in his system. Matt and Sookie couldn't help but stand there and smile at his antics. Sookie went back into the house leaving Matt and Eric in the yard chasing each other around. She found herself peeking out the window the corners of her mouth twitching feeling for the moment as if this was a typical nuclear family as father and son tossed a baseball around in the early morning light.

A few nights before she had listened to Eric lament about never having time with his son in any traditional ways. Missing out on daytime play and normal activities he was now finally even if for a moment able to play the part of a typical dad.

Matt felt the sting of the ball as it snapped into his glove; a gift from the high school baseball coach who had hoped to woo him onto the team for the coming spring season. He couldn't help but smile seeing his father across the yard the sun creating a halo around his head. Matt threw the ball back Eric catching it with his bare hand. On the return throw he tossed high in the air causing Matt to circle under it and wait wondering if it would ever reappear, finally they heard the thunk as it crashed into the roof causing them both to recoil and giggle.

Sookie wondered what was going on outside as she heard something bang into the roof but by the time she got back to the porch it was all she could do to not get wet as Eric was now chasing Matt around the yard with the hose yelling with such glee she couldn't help but smile and enjoy the moment. She watched the two play until they disappeared around the back of the house. She could now see the father that Matt had described to her previously, the tenderness was more than apparent and she not only found it endearing she was begin to fall for vampire and his newfound kindheartedness. She shook her head unable to keep her lips from curving upward as she busied herself in the kitchen.

Matt stood dripping wet laughing as his father as Eric turned off the hose and shook some water off his hands. "We should go swimming," Eric said excitedly.

"You've been in the sun for a while, we should stay close to home and besides there are gators in the water…" Matt said realizing his father never heard a word as he had ran off towards the water without him. He took off to follow him but lost him in the woods and his calls went unanswered. He wasn't sure how big the fairy had been that Eric had drained but knew that the effects of being able to tolerate the sun would soon be ending leaving the vampire to sizzle and ultimately fry in the morning glow. He decided he had better go back and get Sookie to help him look.

"Sookie," he panted as he had run back as fast as he could, "Dad took off and I can't find him and he can't last much longer."

"Which way did he go?" she asked putting the dish cloth on the counter.

"Towards the water I think, he said something about going swimming."

"We need Alcide to help us."

"The wolf? Why?"

"Good nose," she said dialing the phone.

"I'm gonna see if I can find him," Matt said running back out the door leaving wet footprints behind him as he went.

After making the phone call Sookie went in search for a big blanket and went out to the woods in back just in case Eric happened to be there. She was heading back towards the front of the house when she heard Alcide knocking on the door. "Thank you so much for helping, the Fairy blood won't last much longer," she explained as he began to disrobe.

Alcide dropped the last of his clothes in a pile and was now a powerfully built wolf ready to track down the vampire.

"Look I know I'm asking a lot of you to help look for Eric but do this for me and for Matt. Do you have his scent?"

Alcide just snorted and trotted towards the trees. They had been looking for several minutes when Matt jogged up to them. "Hey guys," he said patting Alcide on the head. "Good dog, wolf, werewolf whatever."

"You can call him Alcide," Sookie said shifting the blanket. "Have you seen him yet?"

"No not so far," he replied as Alcide took off.

"We better follow him," Sookie said.

When they caught up the wolf looking at the water. "Alcide we need to keep moving we have to find him," Sookie urged.

"Wait I think he senses something," Matt said following his gaze.

And sure enough Eric popped out of the water. "Come join me," he invited.

"There's huge gators in there you crazy Viking," Sookie warned sending Eric into a monster search calling out to the reptiles.

"But I don't want to leave the sun and the water, Matthew my son come play with me," Eric called out.

Alcide then reverted back to his human form and agreed how different the vampire was causing a monster fueled growling match between the two.

"Why do I feel like I'm in the middle of a scene from Twilight," Matt joked. "Come on Bella we need to get him out of there. Dad you have to listen, the sun is going to burn you."

Only seconds after Matt's warning, it did just that causing steam to rise from Eric's skin and causing great pain to the vampire. Sookie waded into the water and covered him with the blanket and told him to run home at vamp speed. He was followed by Alcide who had returned to wolf form and then Matt hot on his trail with Sookie bringing up the rear. They raced home and as Sookie tended to Eric in his underground cubby Matt waited as Alcide got dressed.

"Wow he is different, I thought maybe Sookie was exaggerating."

"Not at all, a witch put a powerful spell on him," Matt explained.

"What did it do?"

"It reverted him. He was a lot like this when I was young, not so totally lost but calm, gentle, tender or at least that's father I knew. A spell, along with time and the world have slowly changed him or the loss of my mother made him go back to his Viking warrior ways. He took on a bitterness after my mother's death and he slowly built on it until what you see today. I was hoping my return might take the edge off, but I didn't seem to have much effect. Then a blast from the past show's up and bam my old dad is back. Life can be so ironic."

Back in the house Sookie had her hands full with the confused vampire.

"Is Matthew okay?" Eric asked as Sookie tried to soothe him.

"He's just fine," she assured.

"When he was little I so badly wanted to play with him in the sun. He would talk of the warmth and how the earth glowed it was all I could do to remember my time as a day walker. He would bring me flowers and describe how the sun had touched him that day," Eric explained a trail of blood red tears beginning to form.

"He loves you so much Eric and is so happy to be here with you again."

"But I wasn't good to him was I? I mean when he first got here."

"You were a bit gruff I suppose but he did fine with it, he seemed to be used to it, he expected it."

"I'm a terrible father," he said beginning to sob.

"No, no you're not you – well it's just that you're a thousand year old vampire with a lot of history to weigh you down. And your nature can be a bit savage. It can make for confusing relationships, but you have never hurt him."

"But I have I just can't remember how," Eric said collapsing on his bed.