A/N: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews and support. Oh, and a special shout out to Dee MM, who is a resident of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. How crazy is that?! I hope you were all satisfied with why she got on the plane. I love the total lack of sympathy for Craig! You guys are beautifully, cruelly, awesomely pitiless! LOL!

On a completely unrelated note . . . *squick* Seeing someone you personally know doing a Cialis commercial is just . . . wrong! GAH! *bleaches her eyes*

Once again my thanks and love go out to Kristin for beta-ing, the girls of the Sookieverse, and the folks at the wiki. I hope you guys enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 17

We all agreed that as soon as the plane landed, Amelia would coordinate getting everyone, including the vampires in their coffins, aboard the plane and to the wherever Sookie was.

Everyone stood up and, Amelia and the two-natured were perusing the room service menu. No one, it seemed, wished to actually leave the group. Sandy and Bill decided to go out to find their meals, while Ian, Pam and I chose bottled blood from the room service menu.

I turned to the bathroom, intending to take a shower, when I was slammed by a wave of pain and emotion across the bond. Clearly the block had failed and, what Sookie was experiencing brought me to my knees with its suddenness and ferocity.

"Herre gud. Nej! Låt det inte hända. Hur ska hon stå ut? Min älskade! Jag måste hitta dig. Håll ut! Bara lite till. Håll ut. Jag kommer min älskade, jag kommer."

When my eyes refocused, I realized the room was silent and Pam was at my side. Amelia was on one of the sofas, crying and being comforted by Sam. Calvin and Alcide stood off to the side, their faces clearly showing what everyone was thinking: if it could do this to Eric, what is happening to her?

Even with my thousand or so years on this earth, I could not fathom what was happening to her. All I knew was that her terror and pain were so palpable across the bond, that I could taste her fear in my mouth. I have inflicted great pain in my many years, on both humans and vampires alike. I have also experienced great pain, both as a human and vampire. I am not sure any of it can compare. I have no idea how she is still alive. For now though, she is not conscious and for that, I'm eternally grateful.

I shrugged Pam off, instructing her to see to everyone's dinner. Personally, I no longer had a taste for anything. A moment later I felt Ian's presence at my side. He said nothing. After a few minutes I looked at him, and he indicated the balcony outside. I nodded and we stepped out.

After another minute of silence, he spoke.

"I was born in Scotland in the year of our lord one thousand eighty. When I was seventeen, I fought with William Wallace at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. War was all I knew and, at thirty four, I fought with Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn. For seventeen years I knew nothing but war and blood. What I knew of the fairer sex I learned from whores.

Three nights after Bannockburn, as we all celebrated the defeat of England, I was turned. My maker needed a warrior, someone to protect her. She was strong of course, but at that time, a woman traveling alone . . . well, I'm sure you understand. Lillith taught me many things, both as a woman and a vampire and, I stayed with her for thirty years until she released me to find my own way. She was not a cruel maker as some are, but we did not share the obvious regard for each other that you and your child do. She was finally killed a few decades later.

I returned to Scotland in 1603, in time for the coronation of James VI. While celebrating in one of the castles, I met Ciara and, she was as beautifully dark as her name. Her hair was as black as the night, as were her eyes, but they sparkled with life. I was drawn to her like no other human I had ever met.

When I approached her later that night, she knew what I was, but she was not afraid of me. She spoke to me like a man, not a monster and, I found I had no desire to glamour her or, take from her. I wanted her to want me of her own volition. I spent the next two months courting a human woman. Every dawn as I fell asleep, I swore to myself that that night I would do as my nature demanded, and every night she enthralled me again.

Finally, she was mine and she was glorious. To lie with her was to scale the heights of heaven itself and to taste her was to sip from the Lord's cup. The first time she drank from me was when a bout of plague swept through the countryside. I would not let her die. The next time was after she was trampled by a horse at market. I killed the careless nobleman who did it, but without my blood she would have died.

I knew what the next time would mean. I discussed it with her. She agreed to become bonded to me, on the condition that we marry first. I could deny her nothing. We were married and, that night we bonded, exchanging blood for the third time.

We spent the next fifteen years in happiness. I showed her the world and we traveled from country to country. In September 1618, we were in Plurs, Switzerland. It was famous then for the silk trade and Ciara needed new dresses. On September 4th, Mount Conto partially collapsed causing a slide that buried the town. At least fifteen hundred were killed. Some estimates are higher. I left her in our room, and went to feed off the shepherds in the mountains.

I raced back to find her. I dug in the dirt the entire night. I could feel her terror as she slowly suffocated under the weight of that mountain. I felt her pain as her bones cracked under the weight of the boulders. I felt her life slowly ebb away as I dug helplessly to reach her until there was nothing left; nothing to even guide me to where she lay. I never even found her body. It is something I would not wish on anyone.

For the next five years I roamed the earth as Death itself. I fed and I fucked, but I took pleasure in neither. I took pleasure in nothing. Everything reminded me of her. I even contemplated meeting the sun. I ended up in Asia and, over time, began to study the various philosophies. There I found something to live for again. I came to believe, as many do, that we are all reborn. So, now I have purpose. I walk this earth to find Ciara reborn. I do not know if it is true or, if I will ever find her again but, it gives me a reason to seek the dark every dawn and, for now, that is enough."

We older vampires do not often share the details of our lives. We tend to guard such information jealously. We rarely discuss any emotional attachments. They are seen as a sign of weakness. Ian's willingness to share this with me is monumental and, only confirms the instant bond of brotherhood I shared with him just a few days ago. He understands as no one else here does.

"Thank you."

It was all I could say. What else is there?

A few hours later as the dawn approached, the others were all in their coffins or beds already. I could feel the pull of the sun, but I was resisting it. Finally, as I lay down and pulled the lid shut, I heard Amelia.

"London. We're going to London."

A/N: I need to give a special, super big shout out to Kamikaze Parrot, my lovely Swedish parrot for her translation of Eric's outburst. Here's the English: Dear god! No! Do not let this happen. How can she stand it? My love! I will find you. Please hold on. Just a little longer. Hold on. I'm coming my love. I'm coming.