A/N: I'm so sorry I have left you all hanging for so long. I have not written much more, but I felt it was just cruel to leave you guys hanging. Once again I want to thank all of you who leave me reviews. I apologize for not responding to each of you, but then I'd never get anything done! That said, please don't stop! You don't know how necessary review crack is to those of us who write! I think it's a sickness really. Maybe we need to start a group? FFAA? FanFicAuthorsAnonymous? Or, RCA? ReviewCrackAnonymous?

Anyway, it is nearly 2 a.m., I've been cooking all day for Passover tomorrow night, and I'll be having a 20 person dinner here. WTF am I thinking? And yet, like a junkie, here I am posting for you guys! Sick I tell you! Sick! Alright, I'll shut up now. I hope you enjoy it. I don't think Sookie will.

Chapter 10

It couldn't be. It just couldn't be. He had not betrayed anything of this to me before and yet, now, I could read the madness in his eyes without even dipping into his head.

"Craig! What the hell is going on? Why is the king doing this?" I tried to read him, but was met with . . . nothing. He was blocking me!

"De Castro has nothing to do with this." He replied. "In fact, I have to say I believe he is quite taken with you. If it weren't for your bond with the Viking, I believe he would try to keep you for himself. I can't say I blame him." Craig's leer was unmistakable.

How had I been fooled so completely?

"Because you are easily fooled." He replied with a smirk on his face.

If I was shocked before, I was completely stunned now.

"I let you see what you wanted to see. A lifetime of seeing into mens' minds and knowing what they wanted from you, so I gave you what you wanted; a peek into a mind that was free of such thoughts. Was I chaste enough for you dear Sookie?"

I realized that Craig was a telepath. Not just a telepath, but an incredibly powerful one. I was a child in comparison.

I began to back away from him. He chuckled and kept coming towards me.

"Why? Why are you doing this to me? If it's not de Castro, then who? Why?" I asked, trying to divert him.

"The Viking was right. You are so very naïve Sookie. Do you really think de Castro is the only vampire with something to offer me? The only one with something to gain from this?"

I frantically sought about the recesses of my mind for the vampires I had met, desperately trying to figure out who was behind this. Wait. He knew Eric called me naïve. Oh god, he'd been listening. This was about Eric! Craig smiled and I knew he was in my head again.

"Get out! Get out of my head!" I screamed at him. His laughter chilled me to the bone.

"I will humor you Sookie and tell you why; because you are a message. A payment if you will. I was chosen because I am good at this. I am very, very good at this and, I accepted for two reasons. First, because he will turn me when this is over, and second, because of you. I want you Sookie, and I do not just mean sex, although that will be an added benefit. I'm going to own you completely Sookie."

I've never been more terrified in my life. Not from Rene, not in Rhodes, not in the middle of the pack fight in Shreveport because I knew deep down that this time it was not just my life in jeopardy, but my soul. Well, I wasn't going down with out a fight. Stackhouses don't go down without a fight. Craig was so sure of himself, he didn't even lock the door. If I could get past him, I had a chance.

I flew at him with my fists balled up. I never even got close. Pain lanced through my body and I hit the ground with a thud.

"Tut, tut, tut Sookie. We can't have that now can we?" Craig's voice teased through the haze of the pain. He picked me up and placed me in the chair. I felt restraints go around my wrists and ankles. Finally, mercifully, the pain stopped and, other than to set me in the chair and place the restraints, Craig had not laid a hand on me.

What the hell had just happened?

My eyes finally focused again and I watched as he went over to the locked cabinet.

"I've learned a lot about the human mind Sookie. Unlike you I was never afraid of my power. From a young age I figured out how to use it to my advantage. I have learned so many things. As you just noticed, I learned where the pain centers of the brain are Sookie. It doesn't take too much to stimulate those."

And as if to prove a point, I felt a whisper light touch in my head just before a sharp pain pierced my leg.

I grunted, but refused to scream. I wasn't going to give him the pleasure of my screams.

"I've also learned what will coerce someone, or change their mind or, help them forget. Do you know what else Sookie? Do you know what is so close to the pain center it is almost laughable? Pleasure."

And for the briefest of moments, I felt a tingle of exquisite pleasure course through my body.

Oh my god. I was so fucked.

"But still, there is nothing like a hands-on approach."

I watched as he unlocked the cabinet. I saw several rows of glittering metal objects and closed my eyes.

This can't be happening. This can't be happening.

"Oh but it is Sookie."

My eyes flew open and I watched him walk towards me with something in his hand.

"And Sookie? You will scream."

My screams started moments later.