AN: Oh you are all in for such a treat! Ehehehe. This chapter is much longer than all the others have been, and I swear that they just took over. I really hope you all like it. I think the ending of this chapter might be my favorite one yet, now I'm not going to say anything else because I don't want to ruin it for you, but I really hope you all enjoy it. The response to this story is amazing and I want to say thank you to everyone that has put this story on alert or favourited it, really it means a lot to me. I try to respond to everyones reviews because I love them and they really do inspire me to write so much faster, but enough of me blabbing away I'm sure you all want to read the chapter, so here is it and thank you all again for all the amazing things you have said about the story and how much you like it!
Oh! One other thing, and I don't know if anyone has noticed but I posted a teaser in my profile for this chapter. Please tell me in your review (if you leave one) if you liked it or not, I know sometimes it takes me awhile to update, so let me know and I'll post a new one for chapter 12!
Chapter Eleven
Home
I wake in the exact position I fell to my rest in, the same lights illuminating my surroundings. Everything is the same as when I fell into my day slumber, but like the night before I sit quietly, listening. I hear no one on the other side of the door, but that doesn't mean someone isn't sitting out there listening for me in here. I turn and look at my piled up pipes, but none of them have been disturbed. I stand quietly, moving to the door I place my ear against. In reality, if there was someone out there I would have been able to hear there heartbeat without even moving, still the human act calms me some.
There is no one. I am alone.
Quickly I pull the pipes down from their resting places, going for speed rather than silence, which may be a downfall but I do not like the thought of being cornered in a room where I cannot escape. Still, if they have no found me while I was asleep I doubt they are looking here. I must have been successful in masking my scent. I pull open the door and peer out. It is pitch black in the sewers, and then little light that was in the matience room does not follow me out into it. I listen once more after pulling the door shut, satisfied that it looks undisturbed I turn and make my way back to were I went in. There were stores there, and a phone, maybe one of them will still be open, and I can ask directions.
I find the manhole I came down last night and quickly climb the ladder, pausing once again before pushing the cover up and over. I have heard nothing since I woke and the thought troubles me, I doubt they have given up and if the wolves didn't kill each other then at least one of them reported where I last was. I climb out and replace the cover and glance around. There are two stores open, one is a pizza place. I sped over to that one, there is a pimply red-headed youth behind the counter, and he smells of his wares, of dough and tomatoes as well as a numerous number of vegetables and meat. It is more pleasant than what I woke to.
"Hello." He startles and glances up, and I quickly grab his mind in my grip. "You will not remember seeing me." He nods his head and I smile stepping closer to the counter. "Where is there a large gated community, it is high end, with million dollar homes. It is not in the heart of Dallas but close enough not to take more than twenty minutes to get there, can you give me directions?" I ask, still holding his mind.
I can see that he is confused as there are several, but that's fine, as he thinks over the places he knows I pick the one I need from his brain. It is northwest of the area I am in. I quickly reaffirm that he will not remember me and leave. I do not want to dawdle in the area, and now that I know where I'm going once again I have no need to. I take a deep breath of the air once outside again and find no smell of wolf, or at least not a strong one. No one had been here for a few hours at least, perhaps they had search the area and found no trace of her, so they had moved on?
Probably.
Smirking I started to move, at first a slow jog, I picked up my speed once I was away from the lights of the small strip mall, I knew I would appear as if a blur on any cameras I passed, but I didn't care. I had eluded the people that hunted me, and all by myself. I was happy, I was proud. I had never been on my own, not really. I was always surrounded by guards and cameras, always watched when I was in the palace, even when I was supposed to be 'alone' I knew someone was watching. This was my first excursion into the public, not Rhodes. I had managed to escape the underground compound where I had been held and then fight off and escape the people they sent after me.
I was happy I realized I almost stopped running for how surprised I was. I don't think I had been happy in a long time, certainly I had had moments of happiness after feeding and fucking, but nothing like this. I tried to remember what it felt like to be happy when I was a human but it had been so long since I tried to recall those memories that they seemed distant and muzzy, kind of like a dream to me. I had known that vampires felt emotions differently than a human would, hell I had experienced the strength of them myself, but always the worst one. No I had never been genuinely happy since becoming a vampire.
I was free, really free. For the first time ever, I didn't need to go back to the palace; I could go where ever I wanted! As suddenly as the thought came it left, I couldn't go anywhere, I had responsibilities, and I had Hunter to think of. As thought that I checked our bond, and this time I did stop. He was close, and getting closer by the second, quickly too. I looked around myself, how was he here in Dallas? As I was looking a black SUV drove up, and as I looked at it, I could see him sitting in the front seat, pointing and saying something that I couldn't hear over the roar of the engines. I ran towards the car as it came to a stop. What was he doing here? It was dangerous, more over how had he gotten out of the palace?
I turned right as Hunter told me too. We had left just after he fed; I had watched him personally and been impressed when I didn't have to stop him from feeding. He had immediately told me to head she was southwest of Godric's home so that's the direction we headed in. It was almost too funny how we took such a straight line towards her, only turning once or twice. As we pulled into the parking lot of a Wal-Mart he pointed her out to me even though he didn't need to. She was standing there, staring at us, a look of disbelief on her face. She was in nothing but a pair of little shorts that were horribly torn; I could see her skin through the tears, as well as a little tank top. The top was more torn then the shorts and her skin was showing right through that as well. Her breasts were still amazing, regardless of the fact that they were covered in what looked like dirt and blood. In fact she was completely covered in both dirt and blood and I felt a swell of pride when I thought of what Godric had told me that she had fought off several assailants all by herself.
I was out of the car before Hunter and moving quickly towards her as she moved towards the car. I don't even know if she noticed me until I put my arms around her, scooping her up and holding her against my chest. A second later Hunter was beside us, fidgeting and moving like a puppy whose master has just returned home. I held her to me pushing her hair away from her face and looking into her eyes I felt a peace come over me I haven't felt since I last held her like this. She had just finished completing the bond, drinking from my chest in front of Andre, we were only bonded for a month in total but I had experienced that sensation of home then too.
"Eric."
It was all she said and I barely noticed Godric and Pam coming to stand beside me as I wiped a smudge of flaking blood off her cheek. "Sookie."
"How are you here?" She asked, turning then and breaking our staring contest she reached out taking Hunters hand. "How are you here? How did you get out?" I push down the sting of hurt that thrums through me, he is her child, and obviously she would want to know about him as well.
"Sophie-Anne let me come to find you." He answers. Her beautiful face moulds into a frown. She tugs at my arms, wanting to be put down but I will not let her go, I have just gotten her back. Instead I carry her towards the car, not saying anything to anyone, but they follow me. I step into the backseat, keeping her firmly in my lap.
"Pam, drive back to Godric's will you?" I ask as they climb into the car. Hunter is beside me and he once again takes Sookie's hand. The car starts moving before she tries to break away again but still I hold on, she turns and frowns at me still tugging on my arms.
"Let me go, I'm fine as you can see." She says.
"No, you're covered in blood and dirt and I doubt Godric will want it all over the interior of his car, you can speak just as easily from my lap as the car seat."
She huffs at me and crosses her arm. I wonder if she is truly mad. Instead of saying anything else to me she turns toward Hunter and grabs his hand. "I'm sorry the bond got closed off. Are you OK?"
"I'm fine, I went a little crazy but I… Well I'm better now, that's what matters." Hunter says. "What happened to you though?"
I run my hands over her back, relishing the feel of her skin through her torn shirt and without it in the way. I haven't been this close to her since before she disappeared and the experience is heady, apparently Pam knows what I'm thinking because she flips down the visor and raises an eyebrow in the mirror. I ignore her. Sookie's head whips towards me and gives me a raised eyebrow of her own and I can't help but smirk as my hand wanders down and over the top of her ass. Although I want nothing more than to know what happened to her, why and how she was taken I don't stop what I'm doing. I don't even try to stop myself when I lean down and inhale her scent, letting it wash over my senses and sooth me. She's fine, she's here in my lap and she's safe.
"I had finished getting ready to rest and you were already gone for the day when Hadley came to my door." Sookie says. I hiss in a breath, my fangs clicking down and Sookie looks at me once again, grabbing one of my hands and smoothing her small fingers over my knuckles before continuing. "She said she wanted to talk, which was odd but I figured it would be about you. So I opened the door, I told her it'd have to be quick as the sun was rising. I was already feeling its affects but she seemed to have none at all, which is weird, she's not that much older than me." She frowns as she speaks and I want to reach up and smooth the wrinkle away although I resist, to do that would mean taking my hand away from Sookie, and I quite like the way her small fingers are playing with my own. "She insisted it had to be right then, and wouldn't leave, just before I fell into my rest I saw two weres come into the room, I didn't recognize them so they weren't from the palace."
"Hadley took you?" Pam asks, twisting in her seat to look back at us. "Are you absolutely sure?"
"Yes I'm sure!" Sookie exclaims. "I know my own cousin. Anyways, I woke up in a room; it had been plated over with sliver everywhere but the door. It was completely dark, and quiet, I haven't been anywhere that dark since I became a vampire, I couldn't even see my own hands." She pauses before resuming her story and I have to wonder if she's holding something back. "Eventually a guard came, and when he opened the door I glamored him. He wasn't supposed to open the door you see, but he'd thought he'd have some fun. Either way he didn't know anything. I found out I was in some kind of underground compound, none of the guards knew a thing, they had all been glamored into forgetting who they worked for, or what they or what this place was doing there. I left as fast as I could, when I got out of the compound I was in the woods, I headed north because I remembered that's where Godric lived." At this she looks to the front and smiles, apparently she liked my maker as much as he liked her. "Anyways, I was pursued but I managed to get away, I came out of the forest beside the Fellowship of the Sun church that we rescued Godric from." She turns and looks at me, her smile still in place. She gives my hand a squeeze and I squeeze it right back.
"So you have no idea why she took you?" Hunter asks breaking me and Sookie's staring match as she looks back over to him.
"No none. It's not only that, it's as if she was never in the compound at all, except the room I was held in. It was weird."
"Hadley acted like you had just run off. She asked me if would I have preferred to have had her as a maker." Hunter says quietly not looking at Sookie. "I was distraught, I thought you were dead. Everyone was looking for you, but no one knew how you'd escaped."
"I wouldn't have left you if I had Hunter." She says letting go of my hand and reaching over and taking his chin, raising his face so that he's looking at her. "I wouldn't have cut off the bond unless I was going to tell you. I promised you I wouldn't."
"I know. I just thought," his breath catches as he reaches up to put his hand over Sookie's; there are tears in his eyes. "I thought you were gone, I thought something awful had happened to you. I couldn't take it, I went nuts."
Sookie leans forward wrapping her arms around Hunters shoulders while she pets his hair. He is crying now and I can't help but feel the tiniest bit jealous that she regards him with such care when she has shown me nothing but scorn until a few minutes ago. I also feel proud though, she is a wonderful maker, and truly Hunter couldn't have a better one. I sit quietly watching them. Sookie's story has confirmed Niall's guess about Hadley, she did want to do something horrible to Sookie. Why though? Surely she knew that Sookie would just tell the Queen what she had done. Maybe she hadn't expected Sookie to turn up alive? The thought makes my blood run cold. If hadn't expected Sookie to turn up at all, she would be clear of the whole problem, she would have the Queens undivided attention and she would have Hunter. Was Sookie becoming Hunters maker the catalyst for this betrayal? I didn't know, and not knowing something always frustrated me.
"We're here." Godric's voice brings me out of my thoughts. Making Sookie lean back away from Hunter, she wipes away his tears before ruffling his hair and smiling.
"I'm fine, and we'll figure this out." Sookie says before turning and looking at the house. "You've changed things!"
Godric laughs as he opens his door. "Yes, well I rethought having the front of the house be glass after it being bombed."
Hunter opens his door and gets out, leaving it open for Sookie to climb down, which she does. He takes her hand immediately and she smiles gently at him before turning and looking expectantly at me. I climb out of the car and shut the door just as Godric and Pam come around the front of it.
"Come, you can shower and change inside." Godric says as he comes even with us.
"Thank god. Is there anyway I could feed possibly?" Sookie asks following and waiting for him to open the front door. She follows him inside, looking around slowly before turning and looking back towards Godric. "Your house is very beautiful."
"Thank you, and yes I can call a donor for you. Do you have a preference?" Godric asks.
"No, not really." She says smiling.
"Very well. Eric could you show Sookie where to shower? I'll try to find you some clothes Sookie." Godric says, pulling out his phone and turning away without waiting for me to agree.
"Follow me." I say turning with a smirk on my face, I lead her up the stairs and to one of the spare bedrooms. I open the door and walk in; going to the bathroom I push the door open. "Can I help you with anything else? Maybe washing your hair for you?"
She smirks at me as she walks into the bathroom, turning with the smirk still on her face she answers. "No, I'm just fine. Ask Godric to send the donor up though would you?" She slams the door, leaving me standing on the other side.
"You don't even know if he got a man!" I hear him say incredulously from the other side of the door and I can't help but laugh as I shuck my filthy clothing.
"Like that matters. Do be a dear and tell Godric though won't you?"
And it's true, mostly. I did like having sex with males much more than I liked having sex with a woman but I had had sex with women before. Hell being a newborn like I was, if they had the right equipment and I was in the mood it didn't really matter. The first time it had happened I had been disgusted with myself. Hell the first time I had had sex while being in blood lust I had been disgusted with myself, and it wasn't because I had dislocated the guys shoulder and broken his ribs as well as killing him. No it had been because I had lost control, it had been because it was the first time I'd ever had casual sex and I was disappointed in myself for breaking that rule. But I had learned how to control myself, true I did have sex with strangers almost every time I fed, but I could control myself. I no longer hurt them, and I didn't let my actions hurt me either. Sex was just another tool to use in getting what I wanted, and what I wanted most was blood, having sex was the cherry on top.
I knew it would be different with someone I cared about.
I turned on the shower to hot, stepping under the spray I ran my fingers through my hair, knocking out dirt and small leaves that had gotten stuck in it. What had I been thinking letting Eric keep me in his lap? Letting him run his hands all over my back and then taking his hand and playing with his fingers and knuckles? I shouldn't have done any of it, I knew that but it had felt so nice, so wonderful to know I was cared about. To know he had been worried. Even having Hunter hold onto my hand, and cry and tell me he had been scared had been wonderful, and I scolded myself over that. It was obvious he had been scared when he couldn't feel me, but I couldn't stop being grateful that I had him, that I knew that I'd always have someone that would care about me. Really care about me.
Washing my hair I paused, did I have more than one person that really cared? Was it possible what Eric had said was true, that he did indeed care about me? I rinsed the shampoo out, and then started in on my body with a loofa. He had said he cared so many times before I was changed but I had never believed him, I had thought he just wanted my body and it was possible, no more like he definitely still wanted my body. But did he care too? Obviously he must care at least a little bit or he wouldn't be here right now, and he wouldn't have been so stunned to see me in Rhodes, he wouldn't have said all the stuff he said either. It had been twenty years after all. Rinsing off and grabbing a towel I slowly dried off. It must be true that he looked for me, so why hadn't he been able to find me?
I blew out a breath, wiping the condensation off the mirror and looking at myself. I looked at least sane now, picking up a brush I quickly ran it through my hair, and then I wound the towel around myself. Opening the door I stepped out into the bedroom, smiling when I saw a dark haired girl standing at the foot of my bed. I scanned her quickly.
Oh my god, she's gorgeous, I really hope she doesn't just want to drink, please fuck me!
I dropped the smile and beckoned her over with my hand. She wasn't going to get what she wanted, and I wasn't in the mood. I knew I had to figure out why the hell Hadley had had me abducted, and the only way to do that was to go back to the palace. When she stood in front of my I tilted her head to the side, licking the big vein in her neck I bit quickly, although not cruelly. I took four mouthfuls then closed the twin holes in her neck before sending her on her way. She was so dazed that she almost ran into the door frame and I chuckled as I watched her drunkenly walk down the hallway.
That was how Eric found me, standing in my towel with little drops of water still running off my hair, laughing at the donor. "Good meal?" He asked raising an eyebrow in my direction. I did nothing but nod, a smile still lingering over my lips.
"Are those my clothes?" I asked nodding towards his hands.
"Yes, we'll have to take you shopping, I'm not sure if anything Pam has will fit you properly but we tried to find something." He said as he handed them to me.
"Thank you." I say, moving back into my room. I turned to shut the door when I realized he had followed me in. His eyes were running over my body and I couldn't do anything, no I didn't want to do anything to stop the heat that rose up in me. I looked over at him raising an eyebrow, my hand on the door ready to close it. "Are you going to let me change? Or would you like to help me with that?"
I can feel his eyes running over my shoulders, down my arms, following the curve of my body and stopping at my toes before slowly going up, lingering slowly at my legs then my hips and breasts before they finally returned to my eyes. He licks his lips and another piece of kindling is added to the slow burn that is starting in my belly. He steps closer, taking a strand of my still damp hair between his fingers and curling it around one before giving it a small tug. I feel like I'm falling, straight into his eyes. I imagine this is what it feels like to be glamored, something I've never experienced due to my little quirk.
"Why Miss Stackhouse are you asking for my help in dressing?" I ask stepping closer and smirking.
Sookie takes a step back still smiling. "No I was just wondering why you were in my room?" She replies. Turning she walked into the bathroom, shutting the door slightly, but leaving it open a crack. It's a very good crack actually, it might be my new best friend as I can see her unwrapping herself from the towel and pulling on the tight blue t-shirt over her head. She groaned in dismay as she found the panties I had picked. Well, I call them panties but really they're nothing more than a scrap of lace in the front with small strings attached. I turn and look away, willing my erection to disappear and forcefully retracting my fangs.
"So why are you here? You never did tell me." Sookie calls from the bathroom. I resist the urge to look back over.
"I was dropping off Pam for her visit and planning to go over the monthlies with the Queen when we found Hunter. He was being restrained by some weres; he told me that you were gone. I offered my assistance when Andre felt the bond reopen." I hear a gasp and glance over, she's was buttoning her pants when she paused, I guess since her fingers are in her waistband. "He said you were northwest of the area and I doubted you where in Shreveport so we guessed Dallas. I knew Godric was still in the area so I offered to help find you, and to look after Hunter while he followed the bond."
She pulls open the door frowning as she switches off the light. "They just let you help? I still find it hard to believe they'd let Hunter out of the palace so easily. I was locked up for years."
"I don't think they could have really stopped him, and it was obvious that Sophie-Anne wanted you back. But yes, they just let me help as you say." I reply.
"Still it's weird; I know that Sophie-Anne wants Hunter…" She trails off, looking sharply at me, realizing she's said too much.
"Yes what with his unique gift I'm sure she wouldn't want him to get away from her." I say watching her carefully for her reaction.
She frowns and bites her bottom lip, something she always used to do when she was in a situation she didn't want to be, before looking up and into my eyes. "So you know huh?" I nod my head. "It's not that I didn't want you to know, it's just that, I don't want him to be used."
"I understand."
She nods, still looking troubled. "Still it doesn't explain why you came. You didn't have to."
"I wanted to." I say willing her to look at me, which she does. She looks surprised and it just makes me angry. "Did you really think if I found out you where missing I wouldn't come looking for you?" I ask.
"I never even thought you'd know to be honest." She says shrugging her shoulders. "I've learned not to count on anyone."
I grind my teeth, telling myself that it's true, she's been by herself for a long time and no one but vipers around her. Still she'll figure out I'm not going anywhere soon enough. "Well either way you're away from the palace now."
She laughs suddenly, surprising me. "But I have to go back." I open my mouth to protest and she shakes her head. "Eric, I have to, I have to find out what the hell Hadley's up too. Do you honestly think I could let her get away with this?"
"No, but we could learn what she's up to from here. We could say we haven't found you yet, that the bond you had with Hunter has disappeared. You could help, you could block your bond with Andre and he'd never know."
"Block my bond with Andre? That's impossible." Sookie says, clearly believing what she's saying.
"No it's not, I can block my bond with Godric and Pam can block my bond with her. It's something every vampire can do. Surely Andre has taught you?" I ask incredulously.
"No, I didn't know it was possible. He never taught me." She sounds so forlorn that I step over to her, and pull her into my arms, wrapping them around her. I lean down and kiss the top of her head.
"I'll teach you." I whisper, she wraps her arms around my back and rests her head on my chest. "I'll show you whatever you want to know that you don't."
"I still can't stay here Eric." She says pulling away from me, leaving my arms aching for her body. "I need to find out what's going on with Hadley, and if it has something to do with Sophie-Anne or if it's just another one of her stupid ideas."
"You don't have to do anything for her Sookie."
"She's still my Queen Eric, as well as yours. I'm sworn to her just as much as you are, even if I hate her sometimes." She says quietly.
"I have a meeting with the Magister tomorrow." I say changing the subject. If I have my way she won't be sworn to Sophie-Anne much longer, "To speak to him about my bonded being abducted and then turned into a vampire." Her mouth hangs open as she stares at me and I can't help but smirk. "What? I told you that I was going to do something about you having to stay in the palace. You being out of it is surprisingly advantageous for that even if I wasn't the one that helped you escape your cage."
"Eric, she's your Queen! You could get charged with treason for even saying a bad thing about her! Hell I could be charged with treason if they think I've been bad mouthing her!"
"The Magister doesn't particularly like Sophie-Anne, they got into something of a scuffle in the 70's and he's always had distaste for her." I say smirking, "But me he has always liked. He'll listen. After all you were my property."
"PROPERTY!" She screams. "We were bonded for only a short while, and you're calling me PROPERTY!"
"Technically. You know I never thought of you that way lover."
"ARE YOU OK?" Hunter asks bursting into the room and rushing towards us, stopping when he sees that we aren't doing anything but talking. "What's going on?"
"Nothing."
"Eric here was just telling me how I was his property." Sookie says crossing her arms. "I was telling him what I thought of it. Sorry for alarming you."
"It's ok." He says moving and standing beside her so that his shoulders touching hers. "It was just unexpected. Pam and Godric are waiting for you to come down, they want to talk about what happened some more."
"Ok. Let's go then."
I felt like my head was going to explode. It was ten at night and I was already exhausted. I didn't know what the hell I was doing but every time I saw Eric I just wanted to be close to him. Why was I letting him hold me? Why was I even listening to anything he said about saving me, or rather coming to save me? I had learned just after I turned that I was on my own. It had been a shock to learn that Andre had had the bond open and was looking for my side to reopen but I had no doubt it was only so he could retrieve me and once again place me in my golden cage. When Eric had told me that he could teach me to close my side of the bond with Andre I had almost cried. Andre had made it seem like it would be impossible, but really maybe I had been stupid to believe him. Hell I knew that you could erect shields on almost anything. Why had I never experimented with my side of the bond that I had with Andre?
Maybe it was because I wanted deep down a maker that cared. Hell I knew I did. I had felt so very alone all those years in the palace and I knew I had wanted that feeling of closeness that I saw Andre and Sophie-Anne had. I had yearned for it, but realistically I knew it was never going to happen. Andre had only made me because Sophie-Anne wanted me, he probably would have never made a vampire, or if he ever did again I didn't think it would be for many years. At first I had thought that I and Hadley could reconnect, but no, it hadn't happened. Feeling abandoned had probably been one of the large contributing factors for my rebellion, hell it had been it all. I had never had many friends when I was a human but the ones I had had meant a lot to me. When I had been yanked out of my world and thrust into one where I had no one, I had been devastated. Sure Sophie-Anne was nice to me sometimes, but it wasn't a real niceness, more like how you'd treat a pet, and really that was what I was. She would pull me out and play with me for a few hours; it was the same with Andre. I only knew enough not to embarrass Sophie-Anne or him, and other than he didn't care. He had never taught me anything about my nature really; I had had to feel around blindly.
As I followed Hunter down the stairs I inspected our bond, he was happy, delighted really. I couldn't tell why he was so pleased so I asked him. What's got you so happy?
I'm just happy you're OK.
Me too. I'm sorry I scared you.
It wasn't your fault. And hey we're out of the palace, maybe we can run away together. He said turning to grin at me. I couldn't help return it even if I doubted we could.
Maybe.
When I had seen how he had reacted in his head, I hadn't let myself react. I couldn't I had been stunned speechless. What had pissed me off more was the fact that Andre had ordered him restrained and dumped in his room, like a pet, like me. I had always been treated that way. Whenever he found me surrounded by bodies, some dead, some almost dead, some just fucked and sleeping he hadn't ever reprimanded me. No he had just ordered the room to be cleaned and for more donors to be brought in for my use. I had lost any good reputation I had with the Palace staff that knew me before I was turned. Hell I had like Rasul but when he saw the way I acted he hadn't spoken to me anymore. If I had even one friend, one true friend I might have been able to get my act together faster than I had. Hell if I'd had a maker that cared I wouldn't have ever done half the shit I did.
We reached the living room and no sooner had I stepped through the door than Pam was up with her arms around my neck. I hugged her back, and felt my bones creak as she squeezed me. "I'm so happy you're OK." She whispered right beside my ear and I squeezed her extra hard.
"Hello Sookie." Godric said once Pam had released me. I smiled at him as I took a seat on the couch, Hunter sitting on my right and Eric sitting on my left. He hadn't said a word since we'd left the room, and really what was I expecting him to say? I had totally gone off the deep end, and I couldn't help remembering all our other encounters, it seemed he brought out the worst in me. I knew any relationship a vampire had with a human, the human was considered property, Andre had told me that much at least, and I still went off on him. It was embarrassing; I didn't understand how he could take me from feeling affectionate to completely crazy in about two seconds flat. He made me want to pull my hair out.
"So, you told us who and where you were taken, but not why you thought Hadley would really take you." Godric said, looking at me. "I gather that your relationship was rather rocky…" He trailed off.
"It always has been, she never liked me when we were kids and was always closer to Jason, and she thought I was freak. She didn't like me because Sophie-Anne would take me places with her that she wouldn't bring Hadley. Mostly it was because of my ability, but I swear sometimes the Queen regretted making my cousin. She spoiled her rotten and I think she knows she messed up." I paused, thinking. It was true that Sophie-Anne had brought me places she didn't bring Hadley, like the summit for instance, but the summit was the only place I was allowed to be seen. Most of the time I had been stuffed in rooms with two way mirrors doing my thing and speaking in a microphone with voice distortion on it. "Still, she's not smart enough to have planned this herself. The only thing I could think of is that she got an offer for me. You might know that my ability was just revealed at the summit, we did a telepathy clinic. Anyways, I'm thinking that someone might have contacted Hadley about me, and that maybe she was happy to take them up on the offer."
"It's possible. But why would she risk exposing her part in the plan?" Pam asked.
I turned to look at her frowning. "I don't think she thought I would get out." I say simply, because it's true. Not even Hadley was stupid enough to think that I wouldn't say anything. "Like I said, it's weird; her scent was no where but the room I was held in."
"Maybe it's one of her abilities?" Eric asked.
"Her abilities?"
"Yes, her fae abilities. You know like your telepathy." Eric replies. "Maybe she manifested some of her own when she was turned? It would explain why she wasn't at all tired so close to sunrise as well as her only being in the room that you were held."
"The room was silver plated like I said but it also had iron in it. There's no way she'd be able to pop in there." I say shaking my head. "Maybe we have it wrong, maybe it wasn't even Hadley?" I say looking around the room.
"How could it not be Hadley, you saw her in your room, then smelled her where you were held." Eric says frowning.
"We what about a shifter changing into Hadley's shape?" I say not even really believing it myself. I didn't even know if it was possible and from the looks on their faces they don't think it is. "Either way there's no way for me to find out what the hell is going on unless I go back to the palace."
"You're not going back there."
"Eric, I have to go back, I told you. I need to figure out what the hells going on. You know I can't just leave this."
"Sookie, you hated being there why do you want to go back so much?" He asks obviously frustrated with me.
I stop myself before I reach over and grab his hand to smooth my fingers over his own. What is the matter with me? I hadn't been this touchy feely with anyone. "You know I need to know what's going on. I need to go."
"Why though? Hadley's a bitch. I was lucky she didn't pay any attention to me. She wanted to be my mom only after I was turned into a vampire, she doesn't deserve you looking into anything after what she did. Fuck all of them, if they go down who cares?" Hunter says angrily from my side.
"Hunter, you don't mean that. Sophie-Anne was nice to me, and yeah Andre's a shit maker but he's still my maker. Hadley's your mom surely you don't want something bad to happen to her?" I say turning to face him.
"I don't care what the fuck happens to them. Sookie she didn't even care you where gone, she was just upset that her meal was interrupted and she's creepy as all get out."
"Ugh!" I say throwing my hands up over my face and leaning against the couches back. Dropping my hands I look over at Pam and Godric who have remained silent. "Don't you see why I need to find out what's going on?" I ask the both of them.
"Who gives a fuck, if they burn good." Pam says shrugging; I should have known I would get no help from her.
"I understand why you want to know what's going on Sookie, but I believe you going back to the Palace would be a mistake." Godric says and holds up a hand when I open my mouth to protest. "You should find out what's going on, but I think you should stay here and do it. I have contacts and so does Eric, and you were brought here, so maybe there's something we could dig up."
I huff but nod my head. It seems I had escaped one cage only to get into another. I cross my arms and scowl, not moving. Why am I never able to do what I want? No, I always have to listen to someone else. If they hadn't found me I could be looking into this myself, hell if Hunter had been with me I wouldn't have cared one way or another about any of these people. Ok, maybe I was lying to myself. I would care; they could just be so frustrating. Why couldn't they see that I needed to do this for me? I needed to do something myself for once, I needed to see if I could figure this out my own way, but no, they were pulling the 'we're smarter than you so you should listen, and if you don't we'll force you to', they were almost as bad as the Queen and Andre.
"Fine, whatever."
Don't be like this. They want to help. And it's true that you hated it in the Palace, I don't get why you're getting your back up over this.
Because Hunter, I need to do this. They shouldn't have any say in where I go or don't go. It's my life; I should be able to do what I want.
They care about you; they don't want to see you get locked back up in the palace. Hell I don't want to be locked in there. If you had seen how creepy Hadley was you'd be agreeing not to go back there quicker than you could skin a chicken!
I did see Hunter. Also, way to go telling Eric about your ability.
And that's when it hits me. I gasp turning and looking at Hunter wide eyed, we hadn't really experimented with his ability since he'd turned. Not even Sophie-Anne had asked me about his training or when he could work, hell he was a baby. But maybe he could help, he could look forward, or hell even look back maybe? I had no idea what the limit to his talent would be and here I was sitting in the same room as the child of the Ancient Pythoness, and being a stubborn ass when I needed him to set up a meeting between me and his maker. Maybe staying would be OK if he could get a hold of her, and I'd be able to speak with her about Hunter.
What? What are you thinking? Hunter asks me frantically.
Your ability, maybe you could see what's coming, or who's coming if you looked ahead into Hadley's future, or hell maybe you could see into the past. Godric's maker is a seer, but she doesn't have the same kind of thing as you do, I don't think. She's really old; I wanted to ask her for some help with your ability if she was willing.
Why don't you ask Godric then?
While we had been speaking it appeared Godric, Pam and Eric had been planning, either way I hadn't heard a thing. "Godric." I say simply, interjecting myself into whatever they were saying. "Do you think I could speak to you about you maker?"
"My maker?" He asks frowning. "What about her?"
"It's just that I think she could help me out, or rather help Hunter out, with a problem he's having. I know she doesn't travel much, but if we could even meet with her?"
"It's possible. But what's this problem maybe I could do something to help?"
I doubted it but I glanced at Hunter and he nodded at me eagerly. Hell if I could trust anyone it would be the people in the room. "He's a seer, kind of. I don't really know what to call it. He can read peoples minds, but when he connects with the mind he doesn't get their thoughts, he gets their futures. I thought your maker might be able to give him a few hints or tips or whatever."
It was true Hunter could see peoples futures, however he couldn't see my own, and from what I'd glimpsed in Hunter's mind earlier he had seen me with Eric, somewhere in the future, happy together, but I didn't know if his gift was the end all be all or if I could change that. To be honest I didn't want to think about what I'd saw in his head, I had been happy. Really happy, and I couldn't imagine being like that with Eric. We fought, we always had, and it was true I had come to realized I loved him over the time we were apart but the minute I actually saw him again we were fighting. That happiness I had seen didn't seem to be possible.
"Yes, I could probably convince to come for a visit, she'd probably be intrigued to meet again as well as Hunter." Godric says pausing thoughtfully. "She was rather interested in you after the last time to be honest."
I feel my mouth open and quickly close it. There is no way I'm going to stand around gaping like a fish in front of Godric, even if I was sitting. "Why though? If anything I would have thought she thought I was rude to be honest."
"I rather think that's what she liked about you, honestly. She gets tired of the kowtowing she receives I think. I will ask her for a visit and maybe you can find out for yourself." Then a smirk appears a smirk I know very well and I almost can't stop myself from gaping at him because it's the same damned smirk that Eric always wears.
"Thank you." I say, trying to keep my expression in control.
Just then Eric's phone rings and I turn to look at him as he picks it up. He grimaces and raises a finger to his lips before answering. "Your majesty."
"Hello Northman. Tell me have you found Sookie yet?" I can hear Sophie-Anne reply. Vampire hearing is perfect for eavesdropping even though Gran would disapprove of me doing so.
"No your majesty, Hunter is having some trouble honing in on the bond." Eric replies, his voice cool, and not at all betraying the fact that he's lying to his Queen with me sitting right beside him.
"Andre says that her mood is much better." I gaped looking at my bond my Andre, his side still remained closed. Had he opened it at some point and I hadn't noticed or was he able to look into my side of it without him opening it?
"Maybe she has found someone to feed on?" Eric suggests.
"Perhaps. May I speak with Hunter for a moment?"
"Yes of course. One moment your majesty." Eric says turning and handing the phone over to my child. I'm sure my eyes are as large as fishbowls as I stare at him. All he does is wink at me, the gale he has!
"Hello your Majesty." Hunter says.
"Hunter, how are you feeling? Have you fed tonight?" She asks, almost sounding caring.
"Yes, Eric and Pam are looking after me perfectly. I'm sorry it's taking so long to find Sookie."
"It's perfectly understandable, you know little of the way our bonds work, just keep trying and make sure you let me know if you need anymore help. Now where are you staying? Is it comfortable?"
I stare openly at Hunter as he speaks to the Queen, telling her everything's fine, and no he doesn't know the name of the person they're staying with but that he appears to be an old friend of Eric's, no he doesn't know how old he is, no he hasn't read anyone and had been keeping his shields up. I frown as the questions go on and on and on until finally she's says she won't keep him from his search any longer and once again reminds him to call if he needs anything.
"Well that was nice of her." I say as he hangs up the phone. "Sophie-Anne has had a personality change as of late." I mutter more to myself than anyone.
"What lover?" Eric asks leaning forward as if to hear me better.
"I said she's had a personality change. It isn't like her to be so, so, caring I suppose." I frown thinking more about it. "She never cared how Andre treated me, sure she would be nice every now and then, but no way did she ever give him trouble for my training, which was nonexistent, and certainly not in front of anyone else if she ever did."
"Perhaps she is afraid and knows she's in for some trouble in the near future?" He asks smirking.
"Maybe, but I really doubt she's going to get into trouble. Since I was your property," I grimace as I say the word but I know that's how I was regarded, "and she was your Queen, technically anything you owned would be her property to wouldn't it?"
"No, not really. That's not how our laws working, if it did all my wealth would be her own and that isn't true. A vampire retains his own belongings regardless of his liege lord, so that they can't be exploited while the vampire is still among the living so to say. It's true that if a vampire dies and has no living maker or children that their assets revert to whomever they were pledged to at the time." Eric explains.
"Oh." That's all I can say. In the last minute Eric has explained the way the government in the vampire world worked better than Andre ever had. Andre had only ever told me that I was the one queen's subjects and therefore everything I owned, belonged to her. Apparently that was just another thing he had failed to mention. "Well, whatever, either way I doubt she's going to be brought down."
"No, not brought down as you say, but I'm hoping she will be reprimanded."
"Reprimanded?" I ask frowning. "She's a vampire, it's not like she's going to be sent to the corner or get her toys taken away for Pete's sake!"
"No, not sent to a corner as you say." Eric says laughing. "But she will have to pay a large fine, and Andre may even be ended." He sounds downright gleeful as he says it.
My insides turn cold. I would be lying if I said I never thought of killing Andre, but he was my maker. True he was a shitty one, but I couldn't help but think that if Sophie-Anne had just changed me herself I might have even grown to like him, hell it wasn't his fault he was obsessed with his own maker, if not even in love with her. Yes, if Sophie-Anne had made me I think my life would have been much different; it wasn't really Andre's fault that Sophie-Anne had pushed me on him. Eric must have sensed my mood change because he sent everyone a look and they left, well Hunter didn't, he took my hand and squeezed it. I didn't want to think about what it would be like without Andre's life bumping away in the back of my mind. Our bond had never really been open, but I could always feel him there, just a couple inches away it seemed. Would I be lonely without it? And the queen, she would never forgive me if I somehow had her most prized child killed, Sophie-Anne liked me, true not as a person but she did like me in her own way.
"He'd be ended?" I whisper, looking up from my lap and over at Eric. "Why though? I was an asset, he was doing what he thought was right."
"Sookie he stole you away, he changed you against your will. He ended our bond…" Eric trails off as he sees the despair on my face, reaching over he cups my cheek in his hand. "If that isn't what you wish then I wouldn't ask for it. Just for him to release you so you may go your own way without his having any control over you."
"I don't know what I want honestly. I don't know what I'd do. I have nothing but the Palace…" I pause. It's true I've been working for Sophie-Anne for years, but I have no money, not even the bank accounts I had before I was turned were open anymore. I had looked into it through the computer once when I was lonely; no all my assets had been turned over to Jason as my only living relative. At the time I had been happy that even though I couldn't see him I had helped him in some way.
"What do you mean? Surely you've –"Eric cuts himself off and I can hear his teeth grinding. I search his face, looking for any clue why he's angry. "They didn't pay you for your work all these years?"
I shake my head frowning. "Why would they? I was Andre's child. I lived in the palace, they cleaned up my messes." I stop as he shakes his head.
"You should have been paid, you were a newborn yes, but your ability was an asset that they were using. Them looking after and supplying you with donors is anything a maker should be doing."
"What? What do you mean should be doing? I was horrible, I killed people!" I say not able to believe what he's saying. I shake my head and will the tears back as I feel my throat tighten, knowing that what he just said was true. I had spoken to Pam enough to know what her first years were like, heck if Andre had been a good maker he would have taught me like I was teaching Hunter. I looked at my lap pulling my hand away from Hunters, not able to feel his soft squeeze in sympathy. I had been screwed literally. It wasn't the money no, but I had felt indebted to Andre, and he had made sure to make me feel that way, when really he had been doing everything a normal maker should be doing, less even.
"Sookie, it's not your fault. You weren't taught properly…" I reach over quickly and cover his mouth shaking my head. I don't want to cry and if he says something nice I won't be able to stop myself from doing it. The only times Andre had ever tried to teach me anything had been with pain. Andre liked pain, there was a reason that he was the Queen torturer after all, he loved his makers command. Just thinking about it caused a bolt of pain through me, even though I knew nothing had happened to me I clutched my stomach, bending over my knees and putting my head on them. Andre really had fucked up my life, in more ways than I knew. I gasped again, sucking in air I didn't need, fighting the urge to cry, and sob and scream.
Why had he done it? Maybe he did deserve to die, but no. I didn't want his death on my hands. Yes he had abused me, but he maybe that's all he knew? Even as I thought it I rejected the idea, Sophie-Anne was a hard ass but I doubted she would have taught him with pain. She didn't like abusers, but yet she had let Andre abuse me. True he didn't beat me bloody every night, but wasn't neglect almost as bad or maybe even worse? I was completely in the dark in the way my world worked, in the politics that made it dark and he had kept me there on purpose, so that I wouldn't know my rights and try to stand up for myself. I had never been selfish, and it's true that I got everything I ordered, but I didn't have any of my own money, I never had anything that was my own, because I never bought it for myself. I had always been independent and as I sat thinking about it, I wasn't anymore. Oh sure I could sometimes delude myself into thinking I deserved this or that and it would be given to me when I asked for it, but I never went out and got something for myself. Hell I didn't even leave the palace, and really where was I to go?
I would probably be brought down by the first pair of drainers that saw me. But no, I had taken out all those werewolves hadn't I? I had but that had been luck mostly, they hadn't expected me to fight back. No Andre had truly crippled my growth, I still felt like a newborn and I should have been getting my footing by now. I couldn't stop the sob that ripped its self from my throat and I felt Hunter get up and leave although he sent me strength and love through the bond I couldn't respond to it. I was hurt, terribly hurt. Why would someone want to keep me so much in the dark? I had complied after the first two times I had tried to escape, I hadn't tried to run. Really what he had done was rip away the one aspect I had been proud of in my life, the ability to say I was independent. I relied on him and Sophie-Anne for all my needs, and here Eric was telling me that I shouldn't have had too. That every vampire had their own assets and that I should have been given a pay check for all the work I had done. I don't think he expected me to have reacted so strongly but it hurt to know someone that should have looked after me hadn't.
I wasn't startled when Eric picked me up and cradled me in his arms. I turned and burrowed into his neck, sobbing.
I wanted to hit myself as I held her against my chest. Her pain was so heart breaking I could do nothing but run my hand over her head, I didn't even care that she was ruining my shirt, I needed to go shopping soon anyways, I was running out of clothes. I hadn't expected this to be her reaction; I thought she might be shocked yes, when I learned that she had nothing to her name, so when I told her that she should I hadn't expected her to break down. I should have. I had seen a lot of shitty makers over the years, ones that treated they're child like shit, or ones that were indifferent, but those vampires had been cold withdrawn, almost as if they were in thrall of their maker, wanting to do whatever they could that pleased them. Sookie hadn't seemed to care that Andre was a waste of blood, and that was exactly what he was, but I should have known differently.
I had sent Hunter from the room when I saw him tearing up, thinking that perhaps distance might help him differentiate between his emotions and Sookie's but I doubted it would help, also Sookie probably wouldn't want him to see her like this, hell she probably wouldn't want me to see her like this. I made soothing noises as I rocked her. She had always been so strong and it made something in my chest clench to see her so distraught over that piece of shit. She had always had a big heart and I should have known something was up when she said she didn't want him to die, or rather when she looked upset when I said I could ask for the final death for him. Obviously she had grown attached to Andre and the Queen while she was in the palace, hell if anything she probably had Stockholm syndrome, I knew she hadn't liked or disliked the queen, but she hadn't felt all sunshine and roses after Andre had tried to force the bond on her.
"I'm sorry Sookie. I shouldn't have said anything." I whisper into her hair.
She whips her head from my chest so quickly that I'm startled. "No, you definitely should have. I needed to know how little I mattered to him really. I'm sorry I'm being such an idiot I just never realized how little he cared." By the time she's finished speaking she's whispering. I reach up and wipe the blood off her cheeks and I can't resist tasting them.
It's like ambrosia when the taste hits my tongue, if anything she tastes more like a fairy than she did before she was turned. Still that isn't the startling thing, what I feel inside, it's as if warmth spreads over, but with it a sorrow so deep it makes my bones ache. My eyes are wide as I stare at Sookie and so are hers. I feel startled true, but it isn't only my own feeling of surprise that I'm getting. I close my eyes and look inside. It's as if I had another bond, one that's been waiting to reopen. It's golden, or at least that's how I see it, sparkling weakly and shot through with red.
"Eric?" Her voice comes out so low that I open my eyes and look at her. "Eric, is that you?"
Sookie's voice is revenant and I can't help sharing her feeling as I touch the bond in my mind. It feels as if I have finally come home as I look at it, as if I've finally returned from a long journey and finally I can rest. I push wonder at it and she gasps from my lap, hearing a lap of flesh against flesh I open my eyes again, not even realizing I'd closed them until then.
"Oh my god." Sookie says; hand over her mouth, her eyes wide as saucers. "The bond, the bonds back!"