Finally, an update! Sorry this took so long. But hey - just in time for the holiday! So, here's my gift to you guys, the next chapter.

Enjoy. I hope you all have a lovely Christmas(for those who celebrate it)and a wonderful new year! :)

Also, thank you all so much for the favorites/alerts. It means so much to me that you guys take the time to read this. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Every part of me felt weak.

My legs gave out from under me and I collapsed to the floor on my knees in an emotional heap. Alistair's deep blue eyes stared down at me. So many emotions swirled behind them, and I longed to reach out and hold him. Something I have wanted to do for years. My heart ached, a terrible pain, and tears welled in my eyes. So badly I wanted to tell him I loved him. Never had I forgotten about him. My lip quivered at the thought. Sadness washed over me, drowning me, and if it weren't for Sookie squeezing my shoulder gently, I would have lost myself in the sorrow.

"Don't let this distract you, Adrian, you're stronger than this," A look of pity crossed her face, and annoyance on mine. I will not be pitied by a human.

I took a deep breath and stood tall, focusing not on Alistair which I desperately wanted to do, but Riggs. What I had come here for. A smug look settled on his face as his deep, red eyes drifted between the three of us.

"Yes, Adrian, you're better than this," He mocked Sookie's words. She shot him a glare, one that he laughed at. "Please don't let this distract you from what you came here for. And that is to kill me I assume?"

"Your assumptions are correct," I glared, my hands jerking slightly as my nails extended.

His eyes drifted down to my hands. "Ooh, so ready to jump into battle, hmm?"

"More than you know. I've been waiting for this for quite some time, Riggs. I'm sure you know that," I walked toward him and grabbed him by the collar of his t-shirt. "Now, why don't you let these two leave so we can get this over with?"

He chortled. "Oh, the human can leave. I have no business with her. But the vampire…I need him."

"For what?" Alistair asked, his deep voice reverberating off the walls. "You said I could leave once she arrived…you promised."

"You should know better than to trust him," I shook my head at him. "What do you need him for?"

"Let's just say he's something that would add fuel to the fire. The fire being the one burning inside you."

"You're not making much sense to me…but I'm afraid that doesn't matter," My fangs clicked. "You'll be dead in a moment anyway."

He removed my hand from its grip on his shirt after struggling for a few seconds. Riggs straightened up and stood behind the vampire. Alistair's back became rigid as the Hound stood motionless behind him, his intentions unknown to any of us. A barely noticeable movement, Riggs' head nodded, and seconds after, something seared through the flesh of my neck causing me to cry out in pain and fall to my knees.

A metal chain wrapped multiple times around my neck, held at each side by humans, their grip tight. They pulled each end as hard as they could, choking me and burning through my skin. Painfully I craned my head around to stare into the eyes of the frightened girl beside me.

"Anima tua meus est homo," I hissed. "Ego vos occiderem!"

The girl gasped and stumbled backward, but never released the chain.

God dammit, I cursed. I should have expected something like this.

My heart pounded. Hard enough that I thought it might crack a few ribs. I thrashed about, fighting the pain, in the hopes that the iron would be dropped. At least if they aren't holding it, I could somehow shake it off.

"Sir, if she keeps this up, we might not be able to hold her much longer!"

Just what I needed to hear, I grinned. I struggled to my feet. Closing my eyes against the impending pain, with both hands I grabbed the iron links and tried to yank the chain from their hands. The pain was too great.

"Just hold on for a moment, children, it won't be long until you can release the beast," He winked at me from behind Alistair. I glanced at Sookie, panicked.

"See, just like you have been waiting for this moment, so have I," Riggs gripped the vampire's shoulders tightly, his nails digging into his flesh. Blood seeped through the fabric of his shirt. He lifted a finger to his lips and licked the blood from his finger. "Now I see why you used to drink the blood of all the vampires you killed. Such a wonderful taste, really," He nudged Alistair. "You should take that as a compliment."

"What…what moment have you been waiting for?" I asked, swallowing hard. "If it's your death, you won't have to wait much longer."

He smiled. "Oh, I know I won't have to. And neither will he."

His words quickly registered in my brain and I realized just why Alistair was here in the first place.

"No!" I roared, writhing more violently than before. "Let me go. Fucking let me go!"

The Hound tore the fabric of the vampire's shirt, exposing his muscled chest. "A heart for a heart, Adrian. You took mine. And now I'll take his!"

As his hand swung down, I lurched forward, just missing the ball of light erupting from Sookie's palm. The humans flew back into the wall. I raced forward, catching Riggs' hand in time. Violently I swung his thin body across the room. With a loud boom, the wall collapsed around him. Sookie unraveled the chain, allowing me to move faster, and ultimately heal from the wounds it caused.

"You piece of shit!" I yelled, slamming my fist down into his face. The bones cracked and his nose bled profusely. Again I lifted him and tossed him across the room.

He coughed and gagged. I sped over to where he laid and stomped down on his chest, cracking his ribs. Blood spurted from his mouth. My body shuddered, and I shifted, body aflame. My teeth sunk into his throat and tore apart the muscle, blood spraying and leaking from the gaping hole in his throat. I moved down to his chest and ripped apart his skin. His wounds began to heal underneath me.

I looked up as Sookie dropped the chain over his neck, pinning him to the floor. And halting the healing process. Angered, she delivered a blow to the side of his bloodied head with her foot.

I returned my attention to his ailing body, driving my hand into his chest, fingers worming their way through his warm insides.

"Die!" I roared, and crushed his heart in my hand, the heavy organ exploding in my palm.

Riggs' back arched, and with one final breath, his life was extinguished. I reverted back to human form and collapsed onto the floor, covered in blood.

Blood belonging to an old friend. An old lover. One that had betrayed me and sold me out. That had me bound and abused in the pits of hell for just over a century.

An now he is dead.

"It's all over," Sookie said quietly. Relieved. She approached me and extended a hand, offering to help me stand. Wiping some of the blood off of my hand, I reached up and grabbed hold of her small hand and stood.

"Finally," I sighed, eyes glued to the mutilated corpse laying on the floor. I glanced over in the corner. Alistair sat on the floor, his eyes open wide. He looked horrified.

Slowly I approached him, smiling warmly at him as I had many years ago, offering a familiar face. One that I thought would calm him.

With vampire speed, he rushed past me and grabbed hold of Sookie, pushing her head back to expose her neck. His fangs dropped.

"Stay the fuck away from me," He warned, voice shaking.

"Alistair…" I trailed off, puzzled. "Let Sookie go."

He shook his head feverishly. "No. Get away from me or I'll drain her to the very last drop, Adrian. Leave me alone."

I felt as if someone had ripped my heart right from my chest. Why would he say that? I was certain he would want to be close…after all this time.

"I've had enough of you damned Hounds. All you bring is trouble. Ever since they took you, my life has been hell. Tortured day after day, year after year. And for what? So I can watch you and that psychopath fight to the death? Ridiculous!" He cried. "I would rather die than have to be in the company of any of you."

His words stung. "I'm not like them…look at what we had-"

"What we had was short lived. A lie. You were only going to kill me in the end."

I stepped forward slowly. "It wasn't a lie. I promised you I would never harm you. I tried to protect you!"

"And look at what a good fucking job you did of that! Yes, you certainly came to my rescue once you were released. Remember you promised me then that you would be back? I held onto that. For years. Years, Adrian," His eyes welled with bloody tears. "I held onto the false hope that you would return and save me. That life would return to normal."

"Life can go back to normal. It's all over now, we can be together-"

"No," He shook his head. "No. The only thing that's over is you and I. The dream of a perfect life. All you brought me was sorrow and pain. It's not worth it to return to you."

"You're bitter, I understand that, so am I," I said, fighting back tears. "I thought you were dead. I was told you were dead."

"I wish I was," He spat, his lips curling back, revealing his fangs as I came closer to him. "Step back, Hound. I'll kill her."

"You wouldn't. You're not like that," I held onto what he once was. A peaceful, happy person, incapable of committing any acts of violence. And as cliché as it might sound, he couldn't even harm a fly….and here he is, threatening to take a humans life.

As much as I want to believe he wouldn't do it, time may well have changed him. Not for the better. And for that, I understand.

"Time changes people."

"I see it does…look, Alistair, just let her go and this will all end. There's nothing to harm you anymore. You're safe." I assured him.

"Please, listen to her," Sookie said, her voice strained.

I must have moved too quickly for Alistair hissed and plunged his fangs deep into Sookie's neck. She screamed in pain and fear, and for a second I couldn't move. Unsure of whether or not to harm him and save her, or harm her and set him free.

I need to keep her safe. I promised no harm would come to her.

I thought of Eric and disappointing him, something I would never want to do. Alistair drank from her voraciously, growling, tearing apart her skin. I leapt forward and sent him flying into the already broken wall. He stared at me, shocked, before regaining composure and attempting to hurt me.

But the vampire is far weaker than I am. His punches and kicks will do nothing. Nothing but annoy me.

"Fucking get off me, you demon," He growled, fighting against my weight. "I'll kill you. I'll kill you and then the human!"

"You'll do no such thing, Alistair," I said quietly.

"You think I won't? I fucking hate you."

"You don't mean that," I mumbled.

"Oh, but I do. I hate you. I never loved you. I wish you'd died so I wouldn't have to have had experienced the pain of waiting on your bullshit promise."

"That's not true, it's not, you loved me," I denied his words. He couldn't mean it. There is no way he could.

"I never did," He said slowly. Each time he became more and more convincing.

"No."

"Yes, Adrian."

"No," I said, my voice becoming louder.

"Yes."

"No," I shook my head faster as he tried to shove me off of him.

"Yes, now get off," His arms worked hard to push me. "Get off!"

"No," I kept repeating the word over and over.

"Yes! How many times do I have to say it?" He growled. "Yes, yes, yes, yes!"

"No!" I screamed in his face, full of rage and sadness, I punched downward. My fist pierced his chest and reached his heart, exploding his body into a pile of blood and guts. I looked down at the floor, at myself, covered in Alistair's blood. "Oh my god…" I shuddered violently and gagged as bile rose in my throat.

"Adrian…" Sookie said tentatively. "I'm so sorry."

I shook my head in disbelief. "I killed him…I fucking killed him."