Hello hello! At last a part two :) I hope you guys like it. I wrote and rewrote and changed it again and again. I don't know if the result is satisfactory but I guess your reviews will tell me! Btw sorry for being such a poor updater these past weeks. I had midterms and then I worked on another story I published called Hell Around the Corner which you might or might not like to read as well (it's about Eric meeting Pam and eventually changing her!) Anyhow, I haven't abandonned my other stories (Concrete in your Hair and Fresh Blood)... My muses have just been bitches LOL hopefully your wonderful reviews will inspire me!
Criticism welcome! Please please review, it makes me real happy and inspires me!
A couple songs that I've been listening to writing this:
Psychotic Girl - The Black Keys
In Your Hands - Charlie Winston
I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need To Be Nicer - The Cardigans
The Passenger - Iggy Pop & The Stooges
Eclectic, I know but I'm eclectic :P Have fun!
Eric's POV
I awoke next to her. She was still dead to the world. She was too young to be able to stay awake during daytime. I'd had hundreds of years to train to do so and I rarely slept till sundown anymore.
Usually I woke an hour or two before dusk and I'd rest in bed, lazily tossing and turning. There wasn't any point really to go about my home until the sun went down unless I had stuff to do. Which I now did, but then again the sight of her sleeping peacefully was fascinating. She lay on her side, her hand clasped in mine, the sheets carelessly tossed around her hips, exposing her back. The sheets were quite accessorial really. Neither she nor I needed them for warmth, but I liked satin for comfort. The texture on our supersensitive skin was simply blissful. I took in the sight of her golden mane She had a beauty sign on her right shoulder. I passed a lazy finger on it. Her skin was cool and smooth. I bent to smell her hair. It had kept this soft sugary smell that was typically hers.
I smiled. It was quite amusing really thinking this innocent looking woman-child had the power to control both humans and vampires, to make them do anything she wished. And she could read their thoughts. I had created a dangerous weapon, a weapon only I could control. But then again I liked her strong will, her edge, how stubborn and determined she was. I wouldn't give her orders unless needed. I waited patiently. A few minutes before sunset, I was still caressing her skin softly and I felt her shudder.
'Why aren't you always like this?' She asked softly, rolling on her back.
'Like what?' I asked, puzzled.
'Tender.' She replied, her lids fluttering open slowly. The room was still very dark but with our acute sight, it was easy for us to see. I didn't answer to her comment. Yes, of course, I could be tender, but life hadn't allowed me to be in the last hundreds of years. Life in my human days had been violent and harsh and fast. And it hadn't changed all that much when I thought about it.
'Tell me about life when you were young…' She said, rolling over once more to face me. Ah right, she could read my thoughts.
You can't just probe in there when you feel like it. I thought at her, frowning. She sighed.
'We're touching.' She simply said. I gave her a puzzled look as if to say So what?
'I hear better when I touch people…' she explained. I didn't remove my hand from hers. She felt better when we touched. And I liked touching her.
'We'll have plenty of time for me to tell you about my human days. For now you have to feed and I bet you'll want to talk to your brother and your friends…' I said, cupping her chin in my hand. I saw her gaze grow stormy. Through the bond I could feel her frustration, but I had no idea what it was directed at.
'I'm not hungry.' She muttered, leaning her face in my palm so that her cheek was pressed against it. I caressed her smooth skin and growled softly.
'Sookie, you have to feed.'
'I don't want to drink from innocent people…'
'Some are paid for that.' I answered, pragmatic.
'That's degrading…' She said, slumping back in the sheets. Her hair was spread on the black satin pillow, a pale gold halo around her face. I looked at her, fascinated.
'Why do you keep staring at me?' she asked, pouting.
'Better get used to it. Beautiful as you are, humans and vampires will be staring…' I said, playfully twirling one of her golden curls around my finger. Had she still been human, I bet she would have blushed. She obviously wasn't used to being paid compliments and it was quite amusing to watch her.
I bent towards her and kissed her softly. It felt natural and all together great. The next thing I knew, she'd spun us around and she was straddling me, her nails digging in my pectorals as she pressed her fangs to my throat. I growled and spun us around, looming over her, my fangs bared. She giggled.
'Control yourself, Sookie. You must learn.' I hissed, annoyed equally by the fact it was necessary I stop her and the fact I absolutely did not feel like stopping her. Hell I wanted her to eat me whole if she'd try.
'A vampire is never at the mercy of his emotions. He dominates them. Godric taught me that. I'm going to teach you too.' I said, remembering the hundreds of times Godric had had to remind me of that. I'd been a most impulsive vampire and it had gotten me in trouble a good few many times. Sookie gazed at me, an amused twinkle in her eyes.
'Sookie I'm serious. You can't just act like a child and take whatever you want and refuse what is good for you.' I murmured.
'In what category do you place yourself? Want or need?' She said, clearly toying with me. I frowned.
'We need to find you someone to feed from.' I said, sitting in the bed.
'I won't feed from innocent people.' She said, categorically.
'Fine. Than we'll find you someone that isn't innocent.' I said, darkly.
She gave me a weird look and sat up, resting her head on my chest.
'What do you mean?' she asked, her hand trailing down my stomach. I caught it and pulled her up to look at her.
'Take your pick. Rapist? Murderer? Drug dealer? Child molester?' I enumerated, studying her face. She blanched a bit if that was possible and she swallowed hard, her eyes filled with dread.
'If you won't feed from the innocent, we'll get you the best Shreveport has to offer in another kind of monster.' I said.
Sookie's POV
Eric had had Pam bring me some clothes at some point the previous night. It was the dress I'd worn on my first visit to Fangtasia, white with little flowers on it. When I'd been human, it had been appropriate. Now I felt like the wolf dressed up as a sheep.
I'd taken a long shower in Eric's bathroom. He really had the most wonderful bathtub and the biggest shower I'd ever seen in my life. Fitted for two people. At least. I'd had a hard time concentrating on just enjoying the shower without imagining Eric joining me. He did have a beautiful body. He was just overall beautiful. Anyhow, I felt disgusted with myself for wanting him in such a way. It felt wrong to desire anyone but my Bill. But then again I had no idea when I'd see him again. I'd have to ask Eric about that later.
I was very slowly getting accustomed to feeling everything so precisely, so acutely. Every drop of water on my skin, the difference of temperature between the steam and the air, the numerous scents I could discern in shampoo and shower gel, the rich texture of the tiles under my bare feet, of the cool glass panels on my skin. Everything was sharp and vivid. And there were so many colors, so many of them I'd never noticed. I was also slowly getting used to being away from Eric. Cradled in his arms was where I felt the best. I felt safe and cared for there. But I couldn't spend an eternity in his arms. When I got out of the shower, I wrapped myself in a plush white towel and started combing my hair. And then I felt him approaching. Down to my very core, I felt him.
And then he was behind me, finger combing my hair slowly. He was only wearing his boxers and the rest of his magnificent body was on display. His skin had a golden glow in the soft light of his bathroom and I could see every curve in his skin where the muscles rippled. He'd been a warrior in his human life. I could tell from how built he was. And how nervous he seemed to be, always ready to pounce. Before, when I'd been human, his cool demeanor had fooled me. I'd always thought Eric to be cool marble, a static lake where nothing could create a ripple. I now knew he was no lake at all. He was the sea, impetuous and dangerous, sometimes calm, but never static. And then my gaze slid down to the band of his boxers. Boy, oh boy, I thought.
My fangs popped out before I could do anything. I covered my mouth ashamed.
You're hungry.
I sighed. Not for food, Eric, not for food. What was wrong with me?
Newborns are instinctive. He couldn't read my thoughts but almost. My emotional state probably was as much a giveaway as my eyes roaming his body. And since my mind fluttered between lust, hunger, disgust, self-loathing, lust again, it must have been quite a ride feeling me right now.
'You're really…beautiful.' I said, my eyes locking with his in the mirror. He studied my face before answering.
'Thank you.' He simply said. 'You'll be lethal.' He then said, his fingers still in my hair. 'I've never seen a vampire who looked more human, more…fragile. They'll be drawn to you like bees to honey.' He said his gaze locked on mine. His eyes were a darker blue today. Tonight, I corrected myself. A stormy blue, that of a sea before the storm. I shuddered when his hands slid down to my shoulders, possessively gripping them. It is then I realized I was only wearing a towel. I would have blushed had I still been alive.
'I don't want to be lethal. I just want to be.' I said, putting my brush down on the counter. He took it and started untangling my hair with it. I chuckled and he gave me a lopsided grin.
'What?' he asked.
'You're good with a brush.' I murmured, amused.
This time when he thought at me, it wasn't words. It was images. I closed my eyes and concentrated on them. Images and sounds. Memories.
A woman, as blond as him and I, sitting in front of a wooden table, dressed in a heavy dark blue wool dress. She had a silver hand mirror in her hand and was gazing at someone over her shoulder with a smile. A young boy, maybe eight or nine, he was blond and tall for his age and he had the most beautiful eyes. Eric. The woman spoke some words softly in a language that sounded harsh and foreign.
Old Swede. He supplied me. The memory unfolded before me once more. It was powerful and gripping. It was a happy memory of his. The beautiful woman took a brush made of animal hair and wood and started brushing her hair. And then the tiny hands took the brush from her and the young boy started combing her hair, slowly, delighting in how soft and long it was. I realized then I was watching this from Eric's eyes. He spoke with his mother some more and then another boy joined them. He was older, maybe ten or eleven.
My older brother. He died a few months later of a bad fever.
The woman spoke to the other boy and he sat near her feet. She then started singing softly. And Eric kept on brushing her hair slowly.
'She was beautiful.' I murmured, opening my eyes.
He was studying me in the mirror, his hands still untangling my hair. I had so much of it but for once I was happy about that: his hands would be busy longer.
'Your hair is the exact same shade as hers was.' He finally said, his fingers tunneling in my thick mane. 'But yours is thicker. Hers was fine as a baby's.'
'What was her name?'
'Astrid.' Eric said softly. I saw a shadow pass over his face and turned around to look at him.
'My mother died too. When I was seven. She and my dad were caught in a flood on a bridge. I was closer to my dad though. My mom feared me a bit… because I could read thoughts. My dad was just sad that it set me apart.' I said.
Eric looked at me, silent for a while, pondering on what I'd just told him. I'd never confessed to anyone that I knew my mom didn't like me much. He then spoke, his hands still busy in my hair.
'I was given more time with my family than you. I was unwise though. I only cared about fooling around back then…' Eric said, looking down at me. The air in the room was thick with steam and I felt good just talking with him like that. There was a time when I'd thought Eric was nothing more than muscle
'How were you when you were still human?'
He chuckled.
My father once told me I couldn't spend my entire life between a woman's legs. I told him I would try.
'So you were a pervert even back then.' I teased him, an amused twinkle in my eyes. He chuckled once more.
'Hardly. I just knew what was good about life and was prone to claim it as my own.' He replied, mischievous.
'Were you ever married?' I asked, curious. There was so much I didn't know about him.
'Never got a chance. At first I had no interest in settling down. And then, when my… when my father died, I became King.'
'You were King? So the throne in Fangtasia is what, a private joke?'
'Of sorts.' He said, biting his bottom lip. I watched, captivated by the mere sight of his lips. 'But there was nothing glamorous about being King back in my days.' He added. 'We lived in small tribes and we weren't so rich. Every day we fought for survival. When my father died, our clan went at war with another one and all available men went to battle. It was my duty as King to lead my men. We'd been gone for a few weeks when I was seriously wounded. I was dying but my men refused to abandon me. So they helped me all the way back to our camp where I lay awaiting death…'
'Godric.' I simply said.
Eric's POV
Sharing that memory with her was very special. I could feel her in there, watching with me, as if she was another half of me, which she sort of was when I thought about it. I didn't know why I felt so prone to sharing with her. I'd never told Pam about my human life, even though she'd asked numerous times. I'd always felt like my human life was something I had to shelter, to keep from others so as to make sure it remained intact, virginal of any outside influence.
When you've lived a thousand years or so, many memories tend to go and you just keep a general idea of what's happened to you. It's like watching a very long movie in fast forward. You get the general picture but the small moments just blur by. Certain memories are more vivid then others, such as my turning of Pam. That was one of my fondest memories. In Pam I'd found what I'd been searching for nine hundred years: a companion, a friend, and surprisingly, a child. Surprisingly because she'd been older than my human age when I'd turned her. Surprisingly also because the love we have had not been platonic at first. Hell, we'd been fucking rabbits the first few years. She had an appetite for life and its pleasures I shared. And then she'd taken other interests. But I'd taught Pam all I knew, as you would a child. And I would kill anyone who'd lay a hand on her. She was mine and mine alone.
And now I had Sookie. And there was absolutely nothing platonic about the way I felt for her. I desired her like I'd only desired once or twice in my hundreds of years roaming the earth. I wanted her, entirely and completely. I wanted her whole or not at all. And I'd never had a woman refuse herself to me the way Sookie did. She was attracted to me, that I knew for sure. But she refused to give in even with her basic instincts taking over. She had a control over herself that was quite stunning. And feeling her every emotion was a bloody roller coaster. A maelstrom. A human maelstrom, at that. Physically, she was no human. Mentally, however, she was no vampire. She was a human trapped in a lethal body. And I had no idea how I'd protect her from our harsh ways.
'Godric.' She simply said when I finished telling her about how I'd been wounded and dying.
Godric.
Godric, death in the form of a young man, a boy, really. Godric had been turned when he'd been half my human age and yet he'd been more of a father to me than my own.
Godric would have been swept away by Sookie. He'd have been fascinated by her, just as I was. I missed him a lot. Mourning was not usually part of a vampire's life. We never got close enough to humans to endear ourselves to them and see them die and mourn them. Vampires were not confronted to loss. It was not part of our paradigm to lose anyone or anything: we were the most powerful race on this planet and we were there to take and consume and enjoy for eternity if we so wished. Close to nothing could end us, except, ironically, the source of life itself, the sun. Losing Godric had wounded me and Pam had not been with me. Sookie had. We'd never spoken about it since that morning when Godric had met the True Death.
'Yes, Godric.' I said, softly. I loved brushing her hair. It was a somehow trivial activity, yet it held an intimacy not a lot of married couples even shared. Having been there for the last millennium, I'd had plenty of time to observe human nature, to be disappointed by it, to be bored by how repetitive it was all.
Greed, Lust, Wrath, Gluttony, Pride, Sloth and Envy. They were not cardinal sins, but a study of human nature. Humans were driven by them, just as us, Vampires. The only difference was how hypocrite humans really were whereas we were forward about it. But Sookie was not like that. Hell, she wasn't even human to begin with. And somehow that made her more humane than most.
'Eric?' she murmured, craning her neck to look at me. I'd been lost in my thoughts and I hadn't noticed just how close she was. I could see the smooth curve of her breasts bulging out of the fluffy white towel she'd wrapped her naked body in. I could have ripped off the offending material and taken her there and then. I wanted it. She wanted it too.
But no. She had to feed first. I couldn't let my lust guide me. Not now. Not when she depended on me. I gazed into her beautiful dark eyes.
Sookie's POV
He gazed at me with such intensity I felt as if I was melting I a puddle at his feet. His eyes were intelligent and probing my very soul. I felt a sharp pang in my chest. I'd never felt like this with Bill. Eric was the exact opposite of Bill. Where Bill was dark somber, Eric was radiant, a morsel of sun in the never-ending night that was a vampire's life. Eric had a joie de vivre Bill did not share. Sure, Bill tried to fit in society, but it was all a fraud. He was not part of society, he'd never be. Eric didn't bother with the masquerade. He embraced his nature fully. And for that, I was grateful he'd been the one to turn me.
I wanted him. I had a desire for him I'd never felt for anyone before. He smelled so good, felt so good. And my throat was parched. I was hungrier than I'd been the night before. I needed blood. His. Or someone else's.
Suddenly he was naked. His boxer briefs were gone and he strolled casually towards the shower. I gasped and stood there my mouth gaping. I actually had to refrain from jumping on him. He gazed at me over his shoulder.
'Do you mind?' I croaked, shading my eyes.
'You've seen me naked before…' He said, a slight smirk on his face.
'Not because I wanted to!' I snapped.
'But now you do. I can feel it.' He said, turning back to face me. I shut my eyes and tried to think about something absolutely repulsive to keep from thinking about him. In all his naked glory. And glorious it was, you can trust me on that. He was the pinnacle of manly perfection. Every single inch of him was swoon worthy.
'Why are you naked anyways?' I yelped, keeping my eyes shut.
'I don't usually shower with my clothes on.' He simply said, closing the space between us. I didn't need to see him, hell I could feel him, every single freaking inch of him pressed on my fluffy towel. I opened my eyes a slit and frowned at him.
'I wasn't finished with the bathroom!' I hissed.
'Oh don't mind me. I'll just take a quick shower. You can do whatever you want, I don't exactly mind.' He said, his hand trailing down my towel to rest on my hip. I tried to move away from him but I was trapped between the counter and his very naked body. Naked and… Oh damn I'd just looked down. What the hell was wrong with me? He chuckled.
'Well I mind!' I scoffed, jutting my chin up to look at something else than that. All I could say was that it was most definitely proportional. And the man was tall…
'Better get used to it. Makers and their progenies have very little secrets for one another. You could lose the towel, I wouldn't mind.' He teased, his hand trailing up towards my breasts between which the towel was tucked on itself. I slapped his hand away.
'Just take your goddamned shower and don't you dare and try to take my towel.' I muttered, turning away from him to do my makeup. I couldn't help but watch him as he strolled back to the shower, his backside reflected in the mirror.
'Nice ass.' I whispered, teasing him. Nice was vastly inadequate an adjective to describe his backside. The man had a sculptural ass. Trophy worthy. He looked over his shoulder and had the nerve to wink at me.
I'm sure yours is quite something too. Pity you're selfish and prude…If you ask me I'd also love to see your breasts. Your silly little dresses put them on display yet I've never seen the real thing…
'I'm not prude. I'm just not an exhibitionist. There's a difference, you mongrel. And you can dream on.' I muttered.
He laughed and entered the shower, the water cascading down his perfect body.
You could always join me instead of staring… He thought at me his eyes closed as he put his face under the warm jet. I almost moaned. He was just… Wow.
Self control, Sookie, I reminded myself. I turned back to the mirror and grabbed my blush compact.
'In your dreams.' I whispered at him.
You are very stubborn. We don't have to fuck we can just…play if you like. Like we did last night…
'How old are you? Twelve?' I hissed at him. Why was I so tempted to join him and do whatever it is he wanted us to be doing. I'd been weak the night before. I wouldn't allow that again.
I was finished doing my makeup by the time he walked out of the shower and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around his hips. The next thing I knew, he was pressed against me, his mouth ghosting over the skin of my shoulder.
'You're beautiful.' He said, looking at me in the mirror. I could feel his erection pressed against my butt and I had to concentrate to keep from jumping on him.
At some point you won't be able to resist. Trust me.
He was almost purring.
I slid out of his hold and grabbed my dress and lingerie, which were lying on the counter and stormed out of the bathroom. I dressed quickly and he was gentleman enough not to barge in the room. I sat on the bed and looked around his bedroom. It was dark and classy, like Eric. Manly too. Obviously he'd never had a woman live here otherwise it would have been different. He was very neat for a man though. Nothing was lying around, everything was in order. Except for the bed. I smiled. The sheets smelled of him and now a bit of me, too. He walked out of the bathroom, his hair a wet mess. I stood instinctively closing the space between us. He was wearing just a pair of jeans and nothing else.
'Your skin is warm.' I murmured, pressing my cheek to his chest.
He pressed his lips to my forehead softly. I liked him like that, caring and tender.
You are such a tempting little thing for me, you have no idea.
'I'm hungry.' I said.
He pulled away from me and put on a black tank top that hugged his muscular frame. He then took my hand in his.
'Come.'
Eric's POV
We were back in the dark alleys of downtown Shreveport. And the monster was there, following Sookie. Only he had no idea she wasn't the prey tonight. He was. He suddenly accelerated and grabbed her by the neck, trying to knock her down. I let her take care of him. She was strong enough. She spun around so fast he almost toppled over.
'You fucking whore.' He growled at her as she pinned him to the wall. I could feel her anger, her disgust at him, and something else. Something I'd never suspected I'd feel in her.
'You're a monster.' She hissed at him. 'But I'm not here to punish you. I just refuse to feed from innocents.' She murmured, to herself more than to him.
'You're a vampire.' He whimpered. Her hand was at his throat and she seemed lost I thought.
'He killed seven of them. He raped them and beat them to death.' She murmured to me. I stepped out of the shadows where I'd been standing, watching the whole scene, ready to pounce if she lost control. But she hadn't.
'Who the fuck are you!' The man roared at me. I gave him a bored and disgusted look. I hated rapists. He was a predator for the human race for those feeble women who strolled the streets at night to make a living. I had no pity for this kind of a monster. But Sookie, yes.
'Do you want me to kill him?' I asked her. She gave me a scared look and shook her head.
'I'm no God. I don't get to pick who lives and dies.' She said, her gaze locking with the man's. He was moaning and yelping and begging for her mercy. He was lucky he was her snack and not mine. I'd have drained him dry. He didn't deserve to live.
'God might or might not forgive you. I won't kill you. I'll just feed from you because I must. I'm not sorry.' Sookie told him softly, bending his neck and bringing her fangs to it.
'When his heartbeat slows…' I murmured. She nodded and brought her lips to the man's neck. She sank her fangs and started sucking at his wound. He went limp in her arms but he continued wailing and begging for mercy.
'Slow.' I advised her, looking at the rivulets of blood that slid down the man's throat. Her eyes were closed and she was concentrating, sipping at his blood carefully. I wanted both to make love to her and to feed off the repulsive man. I refrained and concentrated on making sure she wouldn't do anything wrong. His heartbeat began to slow down and she dropped him to the ground.
She was panting and she leaned her forehead on the wall, her fangs popping back in. She had an amazing control on herself.
'You did good.' I said, my hand on her back. She wiped her bloodied lips and turned to look at me.
'What are we going to do with him?' She asked. She was deeply troubled by what she'd read in that man's mind.
'You choose. He's a monster. I wouldn't let him live.' She bent down to the man and closed his neck wounds with a drop of her blood she'd drawn by scratching her thumb on a shard of glass, probably from a broken beer bottle on the ground. The man whined and turned to look at her.
'You slut. I should kill you.' He hissed, hatred painted in his eyes. She gazed at him, disgusted by him and his thoughts. I tensed. I didn't like him being so disrespectful of her.
'You will turn yourself in to the police and tell them where you hid the corpses. All of them. And you will never, ever again touch a woman or a child.' She murmured, her gaze in his. He looked hypnotized. She'd glamoured him. He crawled away from her and then stood, walking like a sleepwalking person would towards his destination.
I bent down to help her up. She gazed at me. She looked lost and hurt and I could feel reminiscence through the bond, she was remembering something of her life. I suddenly understood.
'Who hurt you?' I asked, rage coursing my veins like a dangerous poison.
'No one.' She said, turning away from me.
'Don't lie to me, Sookie.' I hissed. She turned slowly towards me and sighed.
'My great-uncle… when I was younger. I could read his thoughts and trust me it wasn't all that pretty. He only touched me, never did more.'
'Did you tell anyone at all?' I asked. I was torn between hatred towards that repulsive man that had laid hands on her and concern for her.
'My grandmother Adele. She never spoke to him again and never allowed him near me and Jason again.' Sookie answered.
Fucking bastard, where is he? I'll kill him…
'Bill already has…' She murmured.
My eyes went wide. For once I had to agree with the prick. He'd done the right thing killing that monster who'd hurt her.
'Please let's just forget about this. I want to go see Jason and Tara and Sam and Arlene and…' She said, softly. She didn't end her sentence.
And Bill…
'Why won't you let me see him? He's my boyfriend…' She pleaded.
'Was. You died, remember?' I snapped, angered more than I should have been by the fact she still considered herself his.
'You don't have to be so harsh about it…' She murmured, closing her eyes and resting her forehead at the crook of my neck. I wrapped my arms around her, already regretting my words.
'I can't allow him to see you. He'd be irrational.'
'But he's bound to know you've turned me?' She said, her lips ghosting over my skin. I pressed her closer to me. It felt good to have her there, in my arms.
'Still. You're lucky I'm allowing you to see your human friends and your brother at all. Newborns are uncontrollable…'
'Am I?' I looked down at her and almost lost it once more. She could look so fragile and human any other vampire could have been fooled momentarily.
'You're a very fast learner. But I can't let you see Bill…' I replied. 'You'll see Pam, though.' I added, already amused by the mere idea of Pam meeting Sookie in her vampire form. Sookie sighed and finally seemed to understand I was doing this for her own good because she tied her arms around my waist and murmured 'Okay'. And we flew off.
It was incredibly frustrating that he wouldn't allow me to see Bill but then again I dreaded that meeting just as much as I wanted it. I had no idea how Bill would react to me being like him. He'd always told me he loved my humanity, but was any of it left? I was equally afraid of my friends' reaction. Jason, I knew, would understand. He wouldn't approve, but he'd come to see I had chosen life over death, even if this life meant never seeing the sun again. We landed near Merlotte's and I started trembling like a leaf.
'Sookie…' Eric breathed in my ear, cradling me in his arms. 'Relax. It will be okay.' And through the bond he calmed me with, soothed me. He took my hand in his and pulled me after him towards the employee door. He left me there and went in and a few minutes later, he came out followed by Sam, Tara and Jason. All three of them looked relieved.
'Sis, where the hell have you been? We were worried sick!' And then he pulled me in his arms to hug me. And tensed.
'Oh shit.' He whispered. He pulled back and gazed at me. My skin did run a few degrees colder than human skin.
'I'm sorry…' I muttered. Tara and Sam were exchanging worried looks. Sam breathed in and his eyes went wide.
'You're one of them.' He whispered. Tara looked from him to Jason and then she understood.
Her friends had been surprisingly tolerant of her new state. They genuinely cared for her, I noticed. Her friend Tara had made a fuss about it at first but then again she preferred a spooky Sookie than no Sookie at all. Her brother had been the most affected emotionally. She was after all the only kin he had left in the world apart from their cousin Hadley who was probably currently amusing the Queen of Louisiana. Still he understood. He preferred her like this than not at all.
Sookie had explained them she'd been dying and I had offered her this choice. It was putting it rather mildly when I thought about it. I hadn't really given her a choice. I'd asked her if she wanted to live and she'd said yes, but even if she'd said no, I'd have turned her. I was selfish and I couldn't stand the mere idea of a world where she wouldn't be. Which was pretty damn ironic because she hadn't been part of my world for the last thousand years, but the moment she'd arrived in it, there was no turning back for me. I wanted her, needed her by my side. She was a drug of some sort to me. And that was bad, real bad. Vampires couldn't afford depending on any outside factor other then themselves. No one could ever know how much I cared for her or they'd attack her to get to me.
The meeting with her friends and brother had been long and tiring for her. She was now lying on the carpet in front of my fireplace, lost in thought. I took my shirt off as I loved feeling the warmth radiating from the fire on my bare skin. She looked at me with sad eyes and I sat behind her, my back leaning against the foot of the sofa. I gestured for her to come sit with me and she pressed her back against my chest, sitting between my thighs.
'Do you miss Godric?' She asked me, breaking the growing silence between us.
'Always.' I said, pushing her mane away from the side of her neck to press my lips on her collarbone. She tensed in my hold and through the bond I felt lust, comfort and desire. She liked me touching her. And at the same time, she felt betrayed by her body for enjoying it that much. She was so puzzling sometimes…
'You won't leave me right?' She murmured. It was my turn to tense.
'Not if I can help it, no. Chances are you'll leave me first anyways.' I said, dreading the day she'd want her freedom and leave me behind.
'How could I? I owe you my life.' She said, turning to look at me. She was so beautiful with her face bathed in the warm glow of the fireplace.
'I hadn't seen Godric in over sixty years when I found out he'd disappeared…' I started. 'Makers and their progenies don't remain together forever, Sookie. One day you'll want to go your own way.'
'No.' She muttered, pressing closer to me. 'I don't want to. To go where? With whom? I know nothing, Eric, I don't even have a college degree…I grew up in Bon Temps and never went further than New Orleans…Until Dallas, that is.'
'Pam is still with me. And it's been a hundred years…' I said, soothing her.
'Why do I want you?' She suddenly asked, candid. I was stunned silent. 'I can't stop thinking about you. All the time. Even before you turned me, but I blamed that on your blood. But I'm not sure anymore if it was just your blood.' She admitted. I caressed her arm softly.
'It's not just the blood. It's never just the blood.' I murmured.
'I don't know how to cope with all this. It's like I'm on sensory overload. There's just so much at the same time and the only thing that feels somewhat stable is you. Bill once told me humans felt much more strongly than vampires, but now that I'm one of you, it sounds like a bunch of bullshit. I've never felt anything as vividly as I do now.' She continued, her hand stroking my thigh mindlessly.
'It's like that at first, but then after twenty, fifty, a hundred years of night, you get used to it.' I said.
'How does it feel to not be part of life anymore? Isn't it dreadful and lonely to see all around you change, die, and disappear? Don't you wish some days you could die and finally rest?' She asked.
And yet again, she surprised me. Sookie might not have been schooled, but she was not stupid. Her depth and maturity sometimes frightened me. And that only served to convince me more strongly of how great a vampire she'd be.
'It is very lonely. I won't lie to you, as much as I enjoy life, I sometimes found that a burden when I was alone to face this whole mess. You need strength of character to keep thriving, to go on, and to adapt. I've had to learn about thirty different languages to survive in this world. Before the revelation we had to move continuously otherwise humans started asking questions and wondering why we never changed. I've had hundreds of homes in the last thousand years and none of them were really a home to me, except my farm in Orland, which I've had for over three hundred years. The land just passed hands but it's still mine. It is terrifying sometimes to see what humans are capable of, how much they change, what they create and what they destroy. This past century especially was dreadful…I know humans fear us, but you have no idea how much we fear humans sometimes, how much we envy them, how much we hate them. We need humans to survive. Whatever bullshit Nan Flanagan feeds America, True Blood doesn't suffice. We can live off it, but it's like asking humans to feed sorely on vitamins and proteins, no food, no substance.' I said, caressing her hair.
'It's the first time in all of history that a specie puts its own survival and that of all other species' on the planet in danger by destroying its environment. Humans are dangerous, predatory, and bloodthirsty. They won't stop until they've sucked the planet dry. You thought vampires were cruel, but vampires didn't invent genocides, religions, terrorism, money, the gas chamber, the atomic bomb, napalm, guns, grenades, landmines… That was all human work. And we've had to adapt. Russell might have been a crazy fucker but her was right about this much. Humans destroy all that's around them. I'm not saying we, vampires, have clean hands, far from it. Especially since the Great Revelation… But yes, it is terrifying to adapt. Just imagine how impossible it seemed to us back in the days when movies were invented. I saw the sun for the first time in nine hundred years in a movie theater about a century or more ago…' I said.
'But humans are capable of good too.' Sookie murmured. 'Some have good hearts, some save lives!' She argued. I smiled bitterly.
Not everyone is good hearted like you. Just look around you. Who in your town ever stopped to give a thought about how hard it must be for you, never being alone in your head, always having to endure everyone's uncensored thoughts and fantasies and hatred?
'My Gran was good and she understood how much of a burden it was for me. As for the others, they can't imagine it. And I don't ask them to. I understand them fearing me, Eric…I'm a freak…' She said.
'No.' I hissed. 'You're not a freak. You're special. It's not the same. And yet, they treat you like dirt when you're infinitely superior to any of them. You think I haven't heard how they call you? How they fear you? How they criticize you as if you were the lesser of them? Well you're not. They're just boring hateful humans who will never rise above what they are. You outshine them, always have and always will, because you're good and humane.' I said, vehemently.
Sookie leaned back and sighed.
'You don't know most of them Eric. Some of them are actually very nice…' She said. I tensed.
'I've spent a thousand years observing human nature, Sookie. Humans fear and tend to destroy anything that is different from them, anything they don't understand or can't explain with that joke they call science… They'd have destroyed you eventually. And even though I hate to admit it, I'm thankful Bill found you. Because it allowed me to meet you and to take you out of that dumpster where they were burying you…' I growled.
'Why won't you let me see Bill?' She asked, yet again.
Because I don't want to. You're mine. You don't belong to him anymore…
I felt her temper flare. Wrong choice of word, Eric… I thought bitterly.
'Damn right I don't belong to him. I never belonged to Bill! Nor do I belong to you, you possessive mongrel! I belong to no one! I'm not a goddamned slave or stock you can just trade. I'm a person and if you won't accept it, I don't think this will work out!' she hissed, pulling herself away from me and sitting on the couch. I growled and spun around, kneeling between her thighs, looking up at her as my fingers dug in her smooth skin. She grimaced at how hard I was clutching her bare thighs and I released my grip before answering.
'This is what is left for you, Sookie. There is nothing more than this for you.' I grunted. How ungrateful she sometime sounded. 'I say you are mine because you are. You were meant to be from the start. Why are you so stubborn about this? Why can't you see the subtext? Why can't you understand this isn't about you being stock, it's about us being part of each other!'
'Well excuse me if I don't tolerate being treated like a fucking couch! You're despicable if you can't understand that!' She hissed. Her fangs popped out and I realized just then how truly angry she was for me calling her mine.
My own fangs popped out and I had to breath slowly to keep myself from doing something I'd regret. She was infuriating sometimes.
'Sookie…' I pleaded. She looked down at me and a bloody tear rolled down her cheek.
'Eric, you need to give me time. I can't just change who I am like this. This is hard for me.' She muttered. I pulled her down on me and started kissing her forehead and cheeks whilst my hands dug in her curls.
I hate it when you cry. Makes me feel human.
'Is that so bad?' she murmured, her face in the crook of my neck.
I can't be weak. I never was. And you can't be weak either. We are a dangerous race. We don't tolerate weakness.
'Humans are weak.' She said, a slight smile on her lips. I brushed my thumb on her cheek, wiping the bloody tears away. She sighed. 'I have so many questions to ask you.' She finally said.
'You can ask me anything. If I can tell you, I will.' I said.
I'll never lie to you, Sookie. I might keep some stuff from you but that won't be because I don't trust you, it will be because I cannot tell you for your own safety.
'Physically… I won't change? My hair won't grow any longer? My nails?' She asked.
'No. It won't grow any longer than it was when I drained you. Nor will your nails. But you can cut them, your hair and your nails. They'll grow back eventually, though. At some point you'll be able to control the growth. I can. Pam is working hard on it. She wants a haircut badly.' I said, a grin on my face. Sookie giggled.
'What about hair color? Can I change my hair?' She asked cocking her head to the side. Change her hair color? When her hair was the most perfect shade of gold naturally? Women could be so silly sometimes.
'Well, Pam gives me highlights…' I chuckled. Sookie chuckled too.
'She's good.' She commented, studying my hair. I smirked.
'She can give you a makeover if you like. Though to me, you look perfect.' I said, cocking a flirty eyebrow at her.
'What about injuries?' she asked, ignoring my comment.
'What about them?'
'How long does it take for me to heal?'
'It all depends on the injury. If you're cut, usually it only takes a few seconds or minutes, depending on how bad the cut. Gunshot wounds are different.' I said. She giggled once more. 'They take longer to heal as the bullet has to push itself out.'
'Did it hurt you much when I shot you?' She asked, caressing the spot on my chest where I'd taken the bullet.
'Like a bitch.' I replied, grinning. 'But you'll get used to that kind of pain. It's not nearly intolerable as it would be for a human. Plus I'll make sure you don't get shot.'
'Why did you jump in front of me when the bomb exploded?' she suddenly said, studying my face.
I looked over my shoulder at the flames.
'Because I could not let you die like that.' I replied.
You fascinated me from the start, Sookie. Our life as vampires gets so dull anything that gets our attention or interests us, we tend to hold on to.
'Why do you always say I'm different? I know I read minds and all and the fairy blood but you didn't know any of that when you saw me the first time in Fangtasia.'
I turned back to gaze at her. A slow smile spread on my lips. Of course she wouldn't know about that.
'You were a virgin the first time you came.' I said. I think she would have blushed just then if she could have. Her eyes went wide and she looked down at her hands, which were pressed flat against my chest.
'How could you tell?' She asked.
'Your blood. You smelled so good and pure. You looked innocent and untouched. And I had no fucking idea what you were doing with trash like Compton.' I said, truthful. She frowned.
'Why do you hate him so much?' she asked.
'Because he was your first. And didn't deserve it.' I replied. Her eyes widened and she looked back at her hands.
'Why do you care so much? It's just… sex. I'm not some sort of trophy to put on a mantelpiece.' She muttered. 'Haven't you had like thousands of virgins?' She said, chuckling.
Not like you. You are special. You were like a ray of sunshine in the bar that night. All that black and there was you with your golden hair and white dress. A real southern belle. A feisty one. You have spike and nerve. Usually people grovel in submission.
'Why? Cause you sit on a throne?' She snickered.
'Because I could kill them without batting a lash.' I replied. 'Unlike you, most humans have a deep sense of self preservation.'
'And I don't…' She said, sarcastically.
'You care so much about the people you love you're willing to put yourself in the crossfire to save them. You never think about your own safety. Especially when it concerns Bill. Yet another reason for me to despise him. He's the one that's immortal… that was immortal of the two of you. He should have always been the one to risk his life for you, not the other way around.'
'But he loves me.' She said.
'Surprisingly enough, yes he does. But that's not enough. I still hate him.' I said, wrapping her curls around my fist.
'Is that the only reasons you have to despise him? He never did anything to you… At least not that I know of.'
'Sookie, do you really think he had no idea I'd notice you when he took you to Fangtasia and paraded you around?' I asked her. I'd asked myself the same question that very first night.
'I'm the one who asked him to go.' She reminded me.
I dismissed the idea.
'He wanted to show you around. To brag about you. I truly believe Compton wanted to taunt me with you. Picture me surprised when you actually admitted to being his, even though I knew from how you smelled that you clearly weren't. You'd had his blood though.'
'He saved my life!' She pleaded. 'The Rattrays, the worst kind of white trash we have in Bon Temps, they wanted to get back at me for running them off when they were trying to drain Bill. Bill was supposed to meet me that night and he was late so they beat me up pretty bad. Without Bill, I'd have died.' She explained. I frowned. Vampires were never late. Never.
'Bill Compton is also deceitful and a liar. He hasn't told you yet why he came back to Bon Temps in the first place, has he…' I asked her.
She gazed up at me and I physically felt her probing my mind to figure it out. I thought about her breasts and she hit me on the arm.
'Why won't you tell me why I can't trust him? You've told me time and time again he's not trustworthy but you won't tell me why!'
'Because he should be the one to tell you.'
'You won't let him see me.' She replied, frowning.
You'll see him eventually. But I'm not sure it will be pretty, Sookie.
'When will you let him see me?' I didn't reply. I had no idea just yet. I'd have to think about it and prepare her for it.
We remained silent for long minutes, both looking at the dancing flames of the fireplace. It felt good just to be there with her. She suddenly broke the silence.
'When will I see Pam?' she asked. I was surprised at her question.
'I can call her now if you wish to see her.' I said, cocking a surprised eyebrow. Pam had been texting me all night to see Sookie because she wanted to know what kind of a sister she'd have to cope with for the next hundreds of years and I'd ignored most of her demands.
Sookie nodded and I slipped my cell phone out of my pocket, texting Pam to come. She texted me back within a minute and I couldn't help but chuckle.
'She'll be here in twenty minutes. She was at Fangtasia with Chow taking care of the place.' I gazed at Sookie in wonder. She looked so beautiful in the golden light of the fireplace.
Can I kiss you, Miss Stackhouse?
She cocked her head to the side and sighed. Tying her arms around my neck, she rolled her eyes and brought my face closer to hers.
'You are so immature for a thousand year old vampire, Eric.' She teased. I closed the space between our mouths.
'Oh yes, I am.' I breathed against her lips before pressing my lips on her soft ones. I spread them with my tongue and our tongues started dancing. She tasted good and she was quite skilled with the kissing. In fact, she was more than skilled.
I thought Bill was your first…
She giggled against my mouth and pulled back.
'It's not because I didn't sleep with boys my age that I didn't kiss them. There was one in particular, JB, he was quite sweet and not such a big thinker and he liked me. And he's just gorgeous.' She admitted.
'Better looking than me?' I teased, pressing my forehead against her, enjoying her breath on my cheek. She continued breathing, even though she didn't need it. But then again, most of us did because it allowed us to smell and sense everything around us.
'Maybe.' She teased.
'Oh really.' I said. 'A better kisser too?' I muttered, my lips on her jaw, nibbling softly at her smooth skin that the fire had somehow warmed to an almost human temperature.
'I think you'd win a world competition in the kissing department. But then again you're so old…' She admitted teasingly, moaning softly as my mouth found hers again. I smiled against her lips and gave her my best. We continued making out without going any further than that. I wanted more, and she too even though she denied it, but Pam was arriving very soon. I wouldn't exactly mind her seeing us in the act, but Sookie probably would. I rolled us over so that Sookie was on her back on the carpet and I placed myself on top of her, my hand sliding tentatively slowly towards the hem of her dress. She slapped my hand away and roughly grabbed my hair, pulling my mouth closer to hers. We were molded perfectly when I suddenly felt something through my bond with Pam.
Pam was alarmed. I looked over my shoulder at the door. Pam was here. And she wasn't alone. Sookie tensed under me and sat up, still wrapped in my arms, her left leg hooked around my hips.
'What is it?' she murmured, looking all around her. She knew something was wrong too. We both could tell.
The door to the house suddenly burst open and I heard Pam hissing and swearing.
Damn it.
SOOKIE'S POV
His kisses were rendering me about as smart as Ginger. The man was skilled and he knew it only too well. He knew just how good he could make me feel and I suddenly gave up fighting it. I was attracted to him. There was no denying it. And my skin craved his. Over the last few weeks, I'd come to realize there was so much more to Eric than just the cold exterior I'd learned to equally fear and admire. He was roguishly handsome and he knew it. Yes, his ego was big enough to land a couple of planes on, but he was also sweet and caring when he decided to open up. I could understand the loyalty and respect he inspired to Pam and all the others around him. I trusted him. Surprisingly enough, I trusted him, more than I'd ever allowed myself to trust Bill. I loved Bill, but our relationship had been so chaotic. Eric had always been forward about his intentions even though I suspected there was a great deal I didn't know about him, but he wasn't trying to hide the fact he had an agenda, whilst Bill never told me anything and assumed vampire business was too complicated for me. I pushed all thoughts of Bill to the back of my mind. I'd kissed Eric before and it had felt so good I wouldn't poison this moment with my guilt. When I felt his skillful hands sliding down my stomach towards the hem of my dress, I slapped his hand away. He might be the best kisser in the world I was not going to give in to him on his carpet when Pam was on her way here.
Pam. What the fuck is wrong with her? Eric thought, sitting up from our make out session, alert. He wasn't thinking about me. I sat up, equally nervous.
I tensed. There was something bizarre. Something amidst. I could hear thoughts at the door. Vampires. Two of them.
Fucking bastard, hopefully Eric takes him down. That fucker!
Sookie better be alright or I'll rip him apart, the fucker. How could he! She's mine!
Pam. Pam was at the door.
And Bill.