The Evil and Ugly World

Life quickly got tumultuous as Antonia turned up the heat by sending out a spell for all vampires to walk in the sun. Eric with the protection of Sookie and Matt was able to stay in his cubby and safe despite his efforts to get outside. As he lay sleeping after the fight Sookie followed Matt upstairs into the kitchen.

"So what is with this bitch?" she asked her face a fiery mask.

"Well she's a bitch. She doesn't stop until she gets what she wants."

"And what exactly is that?"

"All the vampires dead. She is evil and spiteful and has chewed on hatred for five hundred years."

"Who exactly is she to you?"

Matt was caught off guard by the specificity of the question and he feared his hesitation would cause Sookie to suspect something but she was far too caught up in her own world of anger to notice. "We share history, do you remember what I told you about my mother and Eric when we first met in your kitchen?" He began realizing now was the time to come to terms with his memories and the deceit that had been implanted long ago.

"You said your mother had been a witch and tricked your father into getting her pregnant and you spent your life running away from him," she said beginning to slow down realizing that the information conflicted.

"I thought you might come to me seeing the conflict but you have to understand that was my memory it was what I had been led to believe for centuries it has only been recently that I discovered the truth."

"That Eric had been kind and gentle and that you had been a family?"

"Exactly, this witch is full of power and she controlled me and my truths for far too long. When I saw her again her grasp slipped and the spell she put on my father had side effects she didn't intend."

"Like you both began to remember your past?"

"Right, what I told you was what I truly believed for most of my life but the I realized it was only because it was what I had been told."

"Didn't you suspect she would lie to you?"

"You have to understand she can come in any form she wants, I had no idea it was her. She put me under some kind of spell and filled my head full of lies and I believed them."

"Of course you did, anybody would have. But," Sookie began hesitantly, "how can you be sure what you remember now is the truth?"

"Because it is in my heart, I can feel it and I know exactly what happened to make Eric turn into the harsh vampire he is."

"What?" Sookie asked as Matt jumped up. "Did she kill your mother?"

Matt looked like a lost soul. He nodded a slight no.

"So Eric did?"

Matt stood his eyes reflected a mind churning relentlessly active for five hundred years and showing no signs of slowing down. It was unsettling to see the energy behind those calm blue eyes. Sookie felt uneasy but before she could react Matt took off running faster than she could comprehend.

Sookie was lost but one thing that was becoming clear was that a battle would be taking place and taking place soon. The witch wasn't going to give up and the vampires weren't going to go easily. She had tried to make them walk in the sun, to be sucked into some bizarre vortex and nearly killed Sookie in a ring of fire and that had just been the beginning. Matt had been tight lipped about any other details or what had sent him running that day. She had a feeling he was trying to protect her but she feared there was nothing that could keep her safe from the violence to come.

Days had turned into weeks and each day was met with uneasiness and fear. Eric was very sweet but unsteady with what was going on around him. Matt was hyper alert and acted like a cat waiting for a predator to sweep down. One evening before the sun went down she saw his back pack lying near the table. She opened it up and began to go through it. There were several graded papers all marked with A's or B's, a couple of books and a few folders along with an unmarked envelope. She looked around to see if Matt was anywhere around and once she was satisfied that she was alone she turned the envelope over and pulled out its contents. On a lone piece of paper was scribbled: quoniam punitio non refertur primo & per se in correctionem & bonum eius qui punitur, sed in bonum publicum ut alij terreantur, & a malis committendis avocentur. She stared at the words and finally gave up realizing it was of absolutely no help to her. She noticed the writing was not Matt's and wondered where he had gotten it. She had been so wrapped up in thought she hadn't noticed him standing there quietly staring at her.

"Oh," she gasped, "you scared me. Um I was just seeing if you had any homework and I thought maybe this was a permission slip or something, but I'm guessing it's not," she laughed awkwardly.

"No it's not," Matt said taking it from her.

"What is it?"

"A reminder."

"Of what, from whom?" She asked causally. "Oh and in what language?"

Matt looked stern as he looked down at the note and then back at Sookie. He looked up at the clock and swallowed. "It's in Latin from an ancient text."

"Of course it is and what text would that be?" she asked forcing a smile.

"From the handbook that inquisitors used back in the late 1500's."

"Oh inquisitors?"

"Yeah like from the inquisition when the church ran around and killed witches and suspected witches. Translated it says; for punishment does not take place primarily and per se for the correction and good of the person punished, but for the public good in order that others may become terrified and weaned away from the evils they would commit. It's from Antonia; I believe she is speaking of vampires. She's not done with her fight and this is a long way from over."

"Why is she doing this why did she go looking for what she doesn't even like?"

"Revenge, continuing her hatred? People will see what they want to see and won't give up until they find it."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"Nietzsche once said, 'the Christian resolve to find the world evil and ugly, has made the world evil and ugly.' She needs to find what destroyed her she needs to see what she wants to see."

"You speak Latin," Sookie asked suddenly realizing he had translated the note.

"I've had a lot of spare time in my life. Dad was a stickler for languages he wanted me to blend in no matter what country I was in. It's easier to hide if you speak the language."

It was becoming quite clear that the two sides; witches on one and vampires on the other were coming to an impasse. Sookie explained to Eric his warrior past and how there was really no other choice but to fight. Antonia wasn't leaving and things were just getting worse. The vampires had no idea what was coming next and were getting mighty tired of the onslaught of assaults. Matt had been forbidden from going anywhere near Antonia and had abided by his father's command more out of fear as to what Antonia might do rather than his father. But he knew a showdown was in the works and nothing could change it. It was his fault all of it, his past coming back to haunt the innocent along with the not so innocent. He had given thought to just going with her but knew even in his altered state that Eric would follow and be no match for the powerful witch. He had never felt so caught in the middle in his life there was no simple answer and no easy ending. People were dying, vampires were burning and it was because of him that she had found a home in Bon Temps. There was no way he couldn't be a part of this, it was on him to finish it once and for all.

Matthew stared down at his lunch tray pushing the sloppy bits of so called food around. "You have to eat, you are too skinny. If you don't get some meat on your bones you'll have to talk to the school psychologist," Beth said.

"Why?"

"Cause they'll think your anorexic, you know where you starve yourself to stay thin," she hinted.

"I don't starve myself to stay thin; I don't eat because it's crap."

"True enough, but eat more at home then. I mean I've seen you naked and I like what I see but I'm just sayin' you might start drawing attention."

Matt looked around at the nearby tables to see if anybody had heard her remark concerning their most intimate moments; he apparently considered their private moments a little more private than Beth did. Convinced that nobody had paid the least bit of attention he turned his attention back to Beth. "It's all crap, the vegetables taste like cardboard, the fruit like nothing at all. The meat though plentiful gives me a stomach ache and everything else is too salty or sweet."

"I guess your picky then, my momma always told me I was picky but it has helped me stay thin," she said scooping up a spoonful of Matt's pudding. "You seem preoccupied, what's wrong?"

Matt opened his mouth but closed it again and pushed his lunch tray away from him. "There's going to be a big battle tonight, one my dad forbids me from being in but I'm going to anyway. If I could just persuade Antonia to leave maybe nobody on either side will have to die."

"Oh okay, what's the battle about?" Beth asked slurping down the chocolate dessert as if Matt was speaking of a television show.

"It simply amazes me what humans choose to see; vampires, werewolves, shifters and witches everywhere and they go about their business without a care just as long as they can sit down to their favorite nightly television show."

Beth shook her head and smiled. "I know vampires are around they drink that Trublood stuff so they don't kill us all but the others I think you are making up."

"Why do you say that? If there can be vampires why not the others?"

"I don't know, just cause we haven't seen them I guess."

"Would you know a vampire if you saw one?"

Beth merely shrugged. "Probably not unless they showed their fangs."

"And what you don't know can hurt you."

"What are you talking about, are you going to meet up with a vampire or something?"

Matt looked at her his face etched in frustration. "I meet with one every night."

"But how?" she asked her words quiet and frightened.

"I can't believe I said that, never mind, forget everything I told you. I have to go," Matt said getting up.

"You can't leave, you'll get detention," she shouted after him but Matt just kept walking.