Did you guys watch episodes 1 and 2 of TB? Did you? OMG! I managed to find a site online with both episodes (here in Portugal, it will be a while until we can watch it on cable) and I gotta say that I liked it! A lot! Particularly the end of ep.2 with shirtless Eric! On the other hand, I've also finally finished reading DR… And even though I actually enjoyed most of the book, that end almost ruined it for me… What the hell kind of last scene between Eric and Sookie was that? And then the book just ended! WTF? That's it? We'll have to wait another year now? Seriously? P-lease!

Anyhooo, I'm back (from a day and a half of meetings with two of the most boring co-workers ever), and here's chapter 29. I hope you'll like it. Célia

Eric "We Rule the Night"

For the last decade, with De Castro in Nevada and Victor in Arkansas, I've been, as the senior Sheriff (both in age and in time upholding that title), the unofficial King of Louisiana. And even though I've always thought that I'd hate to be a King, I actually liked to have no-one to whom I'd have to bow or do his or her biddings. There were only just a couple of phone calls a month from Filipe asking if everything was okay, plus one visit a year; and obviously, there was also the "transferring to his bank account his share of Louisiana's revenues" part of it. But I was okay with everything.

And because De Castro was still the actual King, I didn't have to have a court nor go to their boring meetings or shit like that. And no one was after me either. Because if I were to be finally killed, the person who'd do the deed wouldn't rule Louisiana because De Castro would still be the King. So no one would even try it. What would be the point? I was just… well… the boss. I'd arbitrate disagreements and I kept everyone in line – which was easy because I was a motherfucker really-old vampire warrior. And I was proud of it.

And having no one to whom I'd have to obey was a reason for my pride too. Except, I had. There was Ocella. And even though I hated to have to do his commands, I was also kind of proud of him too.

Odd? Well, let me explain… pride is one of the most important things to a vampire. It is almost intrinsic to us. And I was proud that Ocella was my maker. He was very old, he was extremely strong, he was dreadfully overconfident and he had all the reasons to support his pride. Ocella was remarkable – he had lived for almost 2000 years and that just meant that he was exceptional and truly out of the ordinary. You don't get to be that old without being an outstanding individual. Besides, he had been the one who had given me the wonderful gift that was being a vampire; he had been the one who had taught me everything I had needed to know about vampirism; he was my father; he eventually became my friend; and I would always care for, respect and owe him.

But do not get me wrong: Ocella was a bad person. He was. And yes, Ocella had been awful during my first couple of centuries. More than awful. He had been terrible, dire and dreadful. And I had really hated him back them. More than hate. I had abhorred and detested him with all my strength. I probably thought and planned to murder him hundreds if not thousands of times during those years, even though I knew I'd never succeed. And I actually tried it; I implemented those plans, 15 or 20 times; but to no avail, obviously. The only thing that would come out of it would be more punishment for me. And Ocella himself was so sure that I'd never succeed in trying to kill him, that he never actually commanded me to not try it; and I understand why – he was already almost 1000 years old when I was turned; there was no way that I'd actually manage to really do it.

And then, suddenly, when I was more or less 200 years old, he just stopped seeing me as a boring and troublesome child he was stuck with and started to see me as a fellow vampire. And that had changed everything. From then on, we had become somewhat friends. And another couple of centuries after that, he had become one of my best friends. Well, "best friends" are the wrong words...

The thing is: vampires don't usually trust each other, unless they are linked by blood. And pre-Great Revelation, we couldn't bloody be ourselves with the humans either (we still can't – but things are different now). And no matter how un-social you are, everyone needs people in their lives. And Ocella was one of my very few "people". We had been there for each other for centuries. Several centuries! And that's a lot of time. And, as they say, time heals everything. So, eventually, I somewhat overcame our harsh first couple of centuries and I too started seeing him as a fellow vampire rather than a cruel Master. Besides, I am me now because of him. And I love being me.

An old, strong and intelligent vampire is an amazing creature. And being a vampire is great. Living forever (unless a stake finds us) is great. And never aging is great. But there is a catch, obviously. And even though it's great to stay at our prime forever, there's also the other side of the coin. I mean, not growing old is awesome, but it can also give you a feeling that no matter what you do, you won't ever evolve or change. And the truth is: not being restricted with time can be as overwhelming and devastating as not having enough time. And this has been real since the beginning of time.

And let me also tell you that it has always been very tough to see the world change all around us while we stayed the same. Absolutely the same! You could go crazy with that. Many vampires did go crazy with that! Imagine the differences between the world where I was born, a small Viking village by the North Sea, and the Italy of Michelangelo and Botticelli, during the Renaissance, and today's New York or Tokyo. Well, I had lived through all that and much more.

And do you think that internet and computers and other IT stuff have been evolving and changing too fast? Imagine instead going from having to walk or ride a donkey, when a 50 miles distance was huge, to being able to fly in an airplane across the ocean in five or six hours. Or thinking that you'd only live until you were 40 or 45 years old if you were really lucky and healthy, but then figuring out that you'd live forever. But that you could only be awake at night. And this was centuries before electricity. Back when the night was really dark and everything was shadowy and indistinguishable. And imagine that from one day to the other you'd have to forget all about your family, because you were sure that your own father and brothers would kill you (or try to kill you) on the spot if they found out the monster you were.

And I'm not even talking about the religious or spiritual features of it. The whole "being a Devil's creature" and the "not having a soul" aspects of it. Yeah, you could go crazy with that. And it had always been a maker's job to prevent that. And Ocella did help me. He taught me everything I needed to know. Everything.

But (and there was always a 'but') besides being great, Ocella had always been a little crazy and unconnected with "the real world" too. And after almost 2000 years, he was even crazier and even less connected to reality. And in today's world, after the "Great Revelation", we had to be extra careful. Before, several years ago, we could almost kill at will because the law enforcers could never find out how, or better yet, by whom, our victims had been killed. But now the police forces were way better than before and there were cameras everywhere – our speed didn't matter anymore because the film could now be stopped frame by frame. And, as Pam used to say, technology took the fun out of being a vampire.

And now humans knew about our existence, they knew about our instincts and, above all else, they knew how to kill us. Yes, we did have to be even more cautious now than ever before. Fanatic groups like the Institute for Time-Honored Human America, the Fellowship of the Sun or the Church of God with Signs and Wonders (and don't get me talking about Russia's Orthodox Patriarchate Church of God – the shit Nat told me about them just meant that they were some crazy motherfuckers…) were everywhere campaigning about how we had to be exterminated because we were what they called of "evil" and the synonym of vice and malevolence. And many humans believed that. In fact, the support (both monetary and in associates) to these extremists groups was raising much more quickly than the support to our rights. The Fellowship of the Sun (the first and biggest of the several "vampire-haters" groups) had even a national TV-channel for crying out loud (and it was an open-channel – everyone could see it if they wanted), as well as free summer camps for children where they were taught, among other things, how wicked vampires were supposed to be.

Yes, it is true: vampires had never been boy scouts doing good deeds every day (I definitively am not a saint), but we weren't necessarily Satan incarnated either. So, yes, we really had to be careful now, more than ever. And Alexei was a time bomb. And Ocella was too weak to kill his own son. Yes, he punished him (quite often and harshly, I might add) but Alexei wouldn't ever change. He was a fucking disaster waiting to happen.

And Sookie was there with me now. And she was "the fucking girl who had broken a Vampire's spirit", in Ocella's words. He actually used to call her that, right before he'd tell me to "get yourself together, break the damn bond and be you again".

And so, when Ocella visited us in Shreveport, I was obviously hoping that he wouldn't make the connection. I consciously hadn't told him her name back when I was with him in Europe. I just spoke about a human girl. But Ocella had seen me at my worst then… I had seriously thought about maybe meeting the sun and there was a time when I first arrived at Lisbon when I truly didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. But now I knew. And I was just really wishing that he wouldn't discover that Sookie was Sookie. Or rather I was just really wishing that he wouldn't discover that Sookie was "the fucking girl". Because she wasn't. I had been the one who was fucked up back then.

But obviously, Ocella did notice that Sookie was part fairy (also something I hadn't wanted him to acknowledge) and then he recognized her importance in my past (he actually did ask me "is she the girl, Eric?")

Up until then we were speaking English but, all of a sudden, he switched to Hindi which he knew I hated because it reminded me my time in India – and those had been two awful decades. Not because of the country (Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi are incredible and the Kashmir region is particularly beautiful) but because Ocella had been the hardest master there.

He then started asking me if I was sure of Sookie and why the hell was I with the same human who had left me before. But the worst was the fact that he kept telling me that I should just take Sookie's life and end all that drama. Those were actually his words: "just murder her and end the drama".

Okay. So killing Sookie was obviously not an option. And so I tried to tell him how important Sookie was to me… but I couldn't just simply tell him I loved her. To love a human would be in Ocella's eyes (and in mine also, before Sookie) something below a vampire. It was the equivalent of a human… I don't know… eating rotten food from a garbage can or something. And whenever I tried to tell him that she was important to me, he kept saying and saying and saying that I should murder her. Even worst: he offered himself to take her life for me if I wanted. "If you like the human and don't want her in pain, I can exterminate her quickly – I promise you she won't even feel a thing. I'll break her neck in less than a second." What a magnanimity and nobility of spirit… Arght! I hated Ocella all over again.

I had to stop all that "killing Sookie" talk, I had to, and so I used the strongest point I could and I told him that I had already spent the day with Sookie many times. And let me tell you: it did the trick.

The thing is: we, vampires, are extremely strong, fast and have keener senses. We are much better than humans or weres. We are the best. Actually, we rule the night. But only at night. Because during the day we are even more helpless than a human child – at least their babies scream and make some kind of noise if someone's hurting them. We do not. We just stay there, dead to the world, completely at the mercy of anything or anyone. The only thing to do is secure our day resting place as best as we can. And that means: no one knows where it is. Or if that's not possible, at least, no one has access to our day resting place. And Ocella had taught me that early on. And believe me: I had learned the lesson.

In my more than a thousand years, only Ocella, Pam and Natércia had shared my bed during the day. Ocella was a vampire and my maker. Pam was a vampire and my child. Natércia was a vampire and a long time friend. And these three people would also be dead to the world at the same time as I was. But now a fourth person had joined that exclusive club: Sookie Stackhouse – a human. Or rather, Sookie Stackhouse – an awake-during-the-day-which-means-she-could-kill-me-easily human. So yes, it did the trick. Telling Ocella I had spent my days with Sookie showed him how much I trusted her and he finally acknowledged her.

But then there was Alexei and his interest in Sookie. And it bothered me to my core. Just by looking at him, I knew that he wanted to taste her. And just the fact that he thought about savoring Sookie made me want to finally kill him. But the worst was that I feared that Ocella wanted to drink her too.

Fuck! They both wanted my Sookie. Fuck. FUCK! I wanted to scream and just grab her and run away to a fucking deserted island. But I didn't, obviously. Instead I just wondered if I should stay with Sookie and never leave her side, not even for a single second, during their whole stay in Louisiana. But then they'd stay next to her too so they'd be close to me. And that was why I decided that the best thing to do was to leave with my maker and my brother and make sure that they would be as far away from Sookie as possible. I silently thanked again the Gods that Lizzie was away in Tennessee. For one, she was safe there. And secondly, how would I ever explain to Ocella that I was helping to raise a half-were kid?

Anyway, Ocella acknowledged Sookie and then introduced Alexei to her. And my fucking little brother got excited over Sookie. Over my Sookie. The little fucker even had the balls to show both her and me his horny fangs. I got possessive immediately and I started to get ready to get up and just kill him if I needed to. But Ocella intervened, first grabbing him and then telling him to stay still and calm down. I could see Alexei fighting the compulsion to obey our maker, but, obviously, he could not, and so everything became kind of tranquil again.

And consequently, we just stayed at our place for a while, talking about Europe and some friends from there. We also spoke about Louisiana and my work as a Sheriff. And we even talked about Adelaide. Still as politically active as she had always been, Lai was already raising problems in Ottawa, demanding changes in their legislation regarding the legally dead Canadian citizens. During this whole time both Sookie and Alexei just sat there in silence listening to our talk.

But soon Ocella decided that he wanted to leave. And so, three hours later, I too got up to leave our house with my maker and his younger child. I told Sookie I would stay with them at their hotel room and that I would see her in a few days. She didn't answer right away, but she nodded and then for a minute or two she just stared at me.

It was obvious. Especially to me. I could tell Sookie hated the idea. Really hated it. She was probably afraid for me and afraid that I would fuck some fangbangers or even my maker and his new son. But the Sookie-today was not the Sookie-from-12-years-ago. And so, after that minute staring at me, Sookie just kissed me goodbye and asked that I call her whenever I could.

Wow. I was really impressed. I was expecting at least a "why are you going?" or a "what are you going to be doing?" or perhaps even a "when are you coming back?" But she didn't ask me anything. Yes, I was really impressed with her. Her eyes told me "please be careful and behave", but the rest of her face, her body language and the words she spoke just said that she was subservient. And for the hundredth time that night I wished that I had (before that night, obviously) talked to her about my maker, his personality and how I had to obey him (I had intended to talk to her soon, maybe that weekend, but I hadn't had the time). But somehow, she almost looked like she knew it. And then I remembered that she had already gone through the "maker's in town" routine with Bill and Lorena. I hoped that she remembered that I was not like William Compton. Not even close.

And so I packed clothes for a week and left with them. It was already 3 am and Ocella decided that he wanted to go to the hotel. They drove their rented Cadillac CTS and I drove the Porsche I had bought two months before. As soon as I turned on the engine, I called Sookie's cell-phone and used the fifteen-minute drive when I was just by myself to explain to her that I had been planning to talk to her about Ocella but that I had thought that we still had a few days ahead of us to do it. I said over and over again that I was sorry for not talking to her about my maker earlier. I knew she was probably freaking out and silently calling me high-handed, but she only told me to take care. Without giving her much details on the why or how, I also told her in plain words how I had to do absolutely anything that Ocella would command me to do. "It's a compulsion of sorts," I said. She gasped, but she only told me to take care yet again.

"And I meant what I said yesterday, I love you. I've loved you for over a decade Sookie." I truthfully told her.

I heard her sight and then she answered me, "And I love you."

"I have got to go now. I'll call whenever I can, alright?" I said when I could already see the hotel's signs. She told me to take care once more and we ended the phone call.

Ocella and Alexei were staying at a new vampire-friendly hotel at the other side of town. We both parked close the front door, and then moved towards the hotel. There were still a dozen or so willing donors at the door, and I wondered for a brief moment if Ocella would be choosing someone for the night. But he walked inside without a second look at them.

"They have this wonderful menu here," he said while choosing the photos of three young, tall and dark-haired males for our dinner as soon as we got near the clerk, "very exotic and they are all alcohol-free. You remember how I hate to drink any drugs, right?" I nodded and then we all walked to the elevators.

Ocella had checked into this big suite with a living room and two bedrooms. And when we arrived upstairs, I immediately tensed, wondering how Ocella would define the sleeping arrangements. Ten minutes later the three of us were all sitting on the couch (Ocella and I talking about my business and the bars' franchising and Alexei in silence), when someone knocked on our door. Appius opened the door and introduced us to the three young men before glamouring our meals. The hotel had a strict "no glamouring the donors" policy but Ocella just didn't care. He then grabbed two of the boys and went to the biggest room with them while saying something to Alexei in some Russian dialect that I didn't quite understand. But I knew enough regular Russian to understand that those two boys wouldn't be feeling very well tomorrow. The young vampire immediately started laughing and followed the two blood bags into the bigger room, followed by Ocella.

When both Alexei and the humans were already inside the bedroom, Ocella turned around to close its door. He had a genuine smile in his lips when he said to me: "Eric, I am very glad to see you are well. Please, feel free to enjoy your dinner as you see fit. Tomorrow, you will show me your businesses and we will talk again." Relieved, I just thanked him and told him goodnight.

And then, I faced my problem: the blood donor.

When Sookie had come back last year we had decided that we really needed to talk more about everything and, obviously, that meant the creation of some rules. Sookie's (and my) main rule was, obviously, no sex with others. And since she was usually as interested in sex as I was, I didn't felt cock-blocked at all, so that was an easy to follow rule.

I had even won three bets with Pam concerning that rule. I still remember when I told her that I would only be having sex with Sookie and no one else. "You won't last a month," she said extremely full of herself. And so we bet. And I won 2000 dollars. When she paid me my due, she just said "That's only because this was the honeymoon month". So we did bet again: this time it was for six more months. Obviously, I remained faithful and that got me out of a couple of really boring days of meetings in last winter's summit at Little Rock. Pam went there in my place. But Pam was never one to be outdone so she bet once more: another half a year. I won a third time, of course.

And so, two months ago, she helped me organize a lovely Valentine's evening as my prize for having won the bet. During the whole time, she just kept saying that it was unbecoming of me, that I should be a badass vampire worried about some motherfucker issues rather than what orchid should I buy for my wife and other similar pearls of wisdom.

But I knew that she would have helped me even if she hadn't lost that last bet. Pam was just saying what she thought she should be saying. She was playing her part – the part of a vampire child. But deep down, she was happy for me that I had found Sookie again. And I knew it because I felt it. Besides, Sookie was her friend too. Later, when I asked her if she wanted to bet a fourth time, she just called me a "pussy" and left the room while I laughed out loud.

And so, looking at my donor for the night, I had no doubt that I would try my best to keep a clean sheet. I wouldn't fuck any meal or my maker unless he made me do it. But I believed that he wouldn't. Ocella and I had always had this strange relationship and we had sometimes been really drawn to each other. Well, especially when he commanded me to. But I knew that Ocella would feel that I was not willing to be with him that way now. And I really believed that he would leave me alone. At least, I hoped he would.

However, biting and feeding was another issue all together. And I was not supposed to do it either, especially not in Shreveport. For the past year, I had only drunk twice from others. And both times happened when I was travelling for over a week and away from Sookie. I was old enough that I didn't need to drink every night so I usually abstained from it when I was away just for a couple of nights. And tasty as Sookie's blood was, I never wanted something different. And so, only twice I had tasted other humans (both males, in consideration of my wife) because I had been away in Arkansas for over a week.

Incredibly, Sookie now was the one who was always saying that I was allowed by her to drink from others when I was away. And she actually used that word, allowed – and it always made me smile inside. Who'd have thought that a human would ever be in such a position to tell me what I was allowed or not to do? But, like I said, I usually didn't drink from others. I, more often than not, didn't need to drink from those others due to my age and I definitely did not desire it. Drinking once or twice a week from Sookie was more than enough for me and I hardly ever tasted anyone else, even when I was travelling (and even though Sookie allowed me).

But that was not the case that night. I was definitively in Shreveport, a few miles from my (left alone) wife. But my maker was there too. And even if I thought that he would understand the fact that I was not in the mood to have sex with him or anyone else, he would never, not in a million years, understand my restricted diet. I could already hear his words if he ever found out that I was mainly only drinking from Sookie. He would scream at me "we are vampire; this is our nature". And he would be right. But nothing had ever felt as natural as loving Sookie did. Maybe Pam was right and I was indeed a "pussy".

I then decided that it was better to indulge Ocella in that matter (even though he was "occupied" in the bedroom, I was sure that he would be keeping an ear on my doings in the living room) and I had my dinner before I sent him away and went to my bedroom. After a long bath, I laid on my bed thinking about Sookie and again glad that Lizzie was away.

Almost a couple of hours later, I heard my cell phone buzzing and then I read Sookie's message: "Please be careful. I love you." The sun was almost up and I wondered if she was already awake or if she had she not slept yet that night. I answered her just minutes before I was out for the day: "And you be patient. I love you. You are my wife. E"

-x-

The next night I woke up way before the sun was down but because I was in a light tight suite, I quickly showered, I dressed and then I went to the living room. Alexei was obviously still sleeping but Ocella was already there, reading that day's newspaper.

He looked completely at ease and asked if I had slept well. I sat on the sofa opposite from him and I answered that I had. We then talked about the European Champions' Soccer League because Ocella was a fan of the sport and after that we spoke about Louisiana's dry and hot weather for a while. But then, with just a couple of words ("that Sookie") he changed the subject to the last theme I wanted to talk about. However, he did keep talking about Sookie with an even voice tone, as if the was still speaking about the weather and not about my wife.

"That Sookie… She is pleasant to the eye. I mean… for those who like her blond, busty and tanned type, obviously."

"Yes, I think that she is very beautiful indeed."

"But she's not only beautiful, is she? She's also part-Fae Eric. And you know that better than everyone else."

"I know she is part Fae, yes." What else did he want me to answer?

"You did not tell me that detail when you told me about the girl in Europe."

"I do not see how it would matter. I didn't bond with her because she was part Fae."

"Do not insult my intelligence child," I then immediately tried to interrupt him. I had not bonded with her because she was part- Fae. I had wanted to do it. Because of Sookie. Not because of her ancestry. Yes, the fact that she was telepathic had interested me in the beginning, and she smelled great, but ultimately I had fell in love with Sookie herself, and it had nothing to do with her supernatural element. Actually, I had wished over and over again that she was just a regular human because she'd be much safer that way. And Ocella should understand that and I should tell him so. But I just shut up, because he kept talking: "Anyway, yesterday, at your place, I kept thinking that the girl smelled like someone I knew. But I couldn't recall who…"

"Oh…" Fuck.

"And then, I realized something today as soon as I got up."

"You did?" Fuck. Fuck!

"Yes. I finally figured it out…" He paused and I felt myself grew tense at that very second, "it is Brigant, right? She belongs to him."

"She belongs to me!" I screamed at him while getting up from the couch. And for the first time in the last three or four centuries, I growled to him. I actually growled to my maker. But Sookie was mine. She was mine. I wouldn't let anyone else take her away from me again. Not even Ocella.

"And you belong to me." Ocella screamed back at me and got up as well showing me his fangs. Shit! I immediately shut up again. He was my maker and he was almost twice my age. Fuck! So I nodded and I sat again. The fact that I had acknowledged his possession of me calmed him and he sat too. We stayed in silence for a few minutes – the only noise was the one that came from the newspaper each time Ocella turned a page.

But soon, he started with his questions again in a regular voice: "So… Niall Brigant?"

"Yes."

"Explain."

"He is her great grandfather."

"Great grandfather...? Huum… That's not close. Why would Brigant deal with such a lousy part-Fae?" Sookie was not lousy. She was everything but. However, I'd rather that he thought less of Sookie than he had her in too high a consideration. Ocella continued talking: "Unless… her spark? How is it?" Fuck. Fuck! FUCK!

"It's like Niall's." The fucking spark again. Oh, how I wished Sookie had a dark, minuscule, dirty spark.

Ocella continued his questions while I continued saying as little as I could: "Are you the reason why he closed the portals?"

"No."

"Is the girl?"

"She is."

"Why?" he insisted.

"Sookie was attacked by fairies."

"And?"

"Twice."

"I still fail to see why that would matter."

"After the second assault, she asked him to close the portals," I answered.

"And a Sky Fae Prince did what a human girl told him to do?"

"Yes."

"Just like that?"

"Yes."

"Brigant actually closed the portals because a human girl asked him to?" he asked the same thing for a third time. Ocella really was having difficulties in believing it.

"He did."

"Hum… Interesting. Tremendously interesting." Shit! "Tremendously interested" was not what I had hoped for Ocella to think about Sookie. Fuck! Ocella then looked back at his newspaper and continued reading it for a while. Ten minutes or so after that, he said: "You know Eric, I think I'm starting to like your girl," he licked his lips, and then he added, "and I think I want to taste her."

As I've said before, writing Eric is always hard for me. So, I hope that you've enjoyed the chapter and thought that it was character-like. And what about Ocella? Did he talk and behave as you would have thought? And why is he visiting now? Any ideas? One thing's for sure: he does have an ulterior motive! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! See you soon! Célia

"We Rule the Night" is the second song, of the second CD of the "100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong" boxed set, released in 2004. "We rule the night / Only the strong will survive / There's no wrong, there's no right / We rule the night"