Hello! Here's chapter 31. I hope you'll enjoy it. And don't forget to review, if you can. Oh, and happy 4th of July to those who celebrate it ("Portugal's day", our national holiday, is the 10th of June). Cheers from Portugal, Célia

Sookie "Why Aren't You Dead?"

It had been one week and one day and still no Eric. Okay, I got it, his maker/sire/dad/mentor was in town… but geez Louise! He had texted me back the night he had left with Alexei and Ocella, asking me to be patient and calling me his wife. I was both very angry and extremely scared that night, and for a few seconds I felt the urge to text him back saying that giving a knife to a person didn't constitute a marriage or else I'd be married to most patrons of Merlotte's Bar and Brown's Rest and Grill; but instead I just focused on the "I love you" part of his message. And then, on the following night, he texted me again: "Do not go to the bars. Just stay at home at night. And do not call me. I will call as soon as I can. EN" And I could immediately see that I really had to do what he was saying, because he really meant it.

And how did I know that? Well, firstly by the lack of contractions on his text message. Whenever he was stressed out or nervous about something, Eric usually dropped the contractions when he spoke. But he hardly ever did that when he was texting. And secondly, he had signed EN. Whenever he wrote to me, he usually didn't sign anything at all or instead he would only write an 'E' like he had done the night before. So yeah, that was serious, and I really had to do what he was saying.

So, of course, I didn't go to the bars and I didn't call him. But the thing was: he didn't call me either. And other than those two text messages, there had been no more contact. Absolutely no contact. At all.

And even Pam hadn't had news from Eric either since that night. But then, all of a sudden, she called me to say that she had been with him in Monroe (I wondered quickly what the hell was Eric doing in Monroe, but I let it be) and that she was leaving to England. "It's an order from Eric", she said.

"But why?" I asked her.

"Because Eric told me to."

Arght! Oh. My. God. I breathed deeply and I tried to stay calm. Sometimes Pam really took my patience away. She really was just a female, younger version of Eric. They both took everything too damn literally. Too. Damn. Literally. Of course if it was an order from Eric, he had told her so. Dah! What I had meant was the reason behind the order. Obviously.

"But why? I mean: what made him send you away? Are you in some kind of danger?" Oh, my... Was I?

"I'm not sure. Maybe it was because apparently Ocella suggested that he might take me with him and leave Alexei with Eric."

She wasn't sure? Maybe? Apparently? Jesus. If Ocella wanted to take her with him, of course Eric would send her away. To me that sounded a very legitimate reason for his reaction. And a pretty obvious one. There was no "maybe" there.

And… My God! Could Ocella really force Pam to leave with him? Jesus Christ! I kind of understood that he could force Alexei to stay, being his maker and all… But Pam was Eric's child. Could "grandpa-makers" force commandments as well? Or would he force Eric to make Pam do what Eric himself didn't want her to be doing? Good God! All these vampires were crazy. They were completely crazy! We humans just had to wait until we're 18 to start thinking by our own head and making our own decisions (and mistakes). But there he was: Eric, a more than 1000-years old vampire, still obliged to do what his "dad" told him to do! For Heaven's sake…! That was crazy. That was absolutely and utterly crazy!

I tried to put myself in a place where someone else had utter control over me. I tried to feel what he must feel. But I simply couldn't do it. I couldn't imagine that, say, my grandmother had decided something life-changing for me without my opinion being taken into consideration. And then, fully expect me to carry out her wishes. And not even non life-changing choices… I loved to be autonomous and even though I frequently asked for other people's opinion, ultimately, I was the one deciding what I'd do with my life.

And Appius had this sort of always-there manipulation instrument. Poor Eric. Well, Eric himself had it too with Pam even though I've never seen him use it … Jesus. Poor Pam, as well.

I tried again but I just couldn't picture myself in that position. I couldn't. And that was actually one of the reasons why I hadn't enjoyed nor did I want to blood bond again – just the fact that Eric would, to a certain extent, be able to feel and maybe even manipulate my emotions was something I had told Eric several times during the last few months that I didn't want to experience again. Let alone, having to do someone else's bidding.

Anyway, there was something else I needed to know, so I forced myself out of my thoughts so I could talk to Pam. "And what else did Eric say to you?" Or, as my mind wanted my mouth to scream: did she have any message to me?

I was silently praying that she had something from Eric to tell me, and so I could only be disappointed when she answered: "Nothing more. He just told me to leave to London and to not call or come back until I heard from him. And that's what I'm doing."

Damn the maker-child bond! Pam hardly ever questioned an Eric's order. She just accepted it and did as she was told. I knew I wouldn't get anything more from Pam, so we ended the call. She still had to pack (she was leaving the next morning, so she had to arrive at Anubis Terminal that same night) and she also still had to deal with a few more problems regarding the bars.

So, after Pam's phone call, I just stayed at home (as I had been told), and I thought about that entire situation. I wondered who would be responsible for the bars since none of us was there (with me at home, Pam in England and Eric… well, with Eric somewhere unknown, doing only God knew what with that… family of his). And I also wondered about myself and what should I do.

My daughter was spending three weeks with her father in Tennessee, Eric was MIA and then he had asked me to stay at home. So: no daughter, no boyfriend and no job. And no news from Eric since that second text message. I was going insane.

As a result, during those days, I just tried to keep myself busy during the day… I tripled my gym's classes, I cleaned the house with extreme detail (even the garage), I went to the hair dresser twice (twice in one week was something unheard of)… Yes, I just tried to stay busy during the day so I would sleep better at night. But I didn't. I'd wake up four, five times each night because I was worried sick about Eric. And that had even made me think about something else. Something I didn't like to think about. Our bond. Or lack there off.

We had been together for almost a year and a half now and we were still bond-free. Once in a while he would talk about it but he never insisted too much when I answered him "not yet". The thing was: being able to feel all his emotions, knowing that he could feel all my sentiments too and that we would be able to send feelings to each other… Well, it was just too much (way too much) and it still frightened me. And I sure didn't want to run scared again. Ever again.

But during those days? Well, not knowing how Eric was or how he was dealing with all that "Ocella being in town" issue was tough. And strangely, I found myself thinking that maybe I'd like to be blood-bonded with him again.

A couple of days later, Pam called me from the UK and I asked her what she had been feeling from Eric in the last week. And she just answered that it was a good thing I couldn't feel him anymore because Eric had been extremely mad and angry in those last few days. Without much hope, I asked her again if she knew anything else. And, surprisingly, she did. And Pam even told me what she knew. And it was not good. Not good at all.

Appius Livius had indeed been having some problems with Alexei. "He still can't control his impulses, it's like he's only a few years old, a decade at most… And in Europe, Alexei had been hurting and killing humans with too much frequency and no matter Ocella's damage control, the city officials were starting to notice it," she said.

"Too much frequency?" as opposed to "once in a while it's okay to hurt and kill humans?" Jesus. What a bucket of cold water. Good God. Pam was my friend (actually, I'd been seeing her as one of my best friends for a while) but the way she was talking (so at-ease) about the "normal" time between human deaths was just creepy. And scaring. But I let her continue talking. She was never one who talked very much, so I should let her speak. And so, she kept explaining how Ocella really wanted Eric to help him dealing with Alexei's "problem", the can't-stop-killing problem (what a psychopath!). Or better yet: Ocella wanted Eric to "babysit" his younger murderer brother (and he wanted him to deal with all the problems Alexei meant) while Ocella "played" with Pam.

And that was when, as Pam kept telling me, Eric lied to Ocella (I didn't even know that a vampire could lie to his maker) and told him that they were going to export the Fangtasia concept and that Pam was needed in England for a while to help him businesswise. "Lots of money can be earned" was apparently a valid-enough argument for Ocella, and he let her leave. So, "YAY" for Pam. However, the fact that Pam had left, only made Appius Livius change the "lets swap Pam and Alexei" plan to the "Ocella just leaves Alexei with Eric" arrangement.

Okay. So now I understood a little better why Eric had been angry. His maker wanted to take Pam away and instead give Eric a young vampire and a ton of problems attached to him. Nevertheless, that was not a reason for him to stay away from me (and not calling) for so long. If Ocella's only demand was for Pam, Eric would have been able to contact me. Right? I was sure that there was something else. And I feared that it had to do with me.

But meanwhile, I just kept trying my best to stay busy during the day, so I'd sleep better at night. But my thoughts and my worries for Eric kept preventing me from sleeping. And so, exactly thirteen days after the last night I had seen Eric (yes, I was counting the days), I finally made up my mind. I decided that I'd go back to Tennessee and stay there with Liz for a while – her time with her dad was about to end, and he'd send her back soon because he'd be back to the restaurant full-time. And I sure didn't want her in Shreveport. So I decided I'd go back to Cleveland. Liz and I would stay at a close by B&B or some other place like that, and she would be able to extend her time with her cousins and her father.

Besides, I knew Eric would understand that I wanted to keep her away and that I wanted to be away from all those vampires myself. Okay, call me racist if you must, but Liz would only be friends with Eric, Pam and Bill. No one else of the vampire kind. Well, maybe Dahlia and Clancy too... or Maxwell and Indira as well (and only because they were deadly scared of Eric). But no one else!

And so, decision made, I texted Eric saying that I was leaving to Tennessee (I specified that I was temporarily leaving to Tennessee) and I started to pack a few things that I would need for my trip. Eric didn't answer to my text message, but after almost two weeks without contact, I didn't expect him to.

I was just wondering if clothes for a week would be enough, when I heard a male, accented voice behind me, by the door of our bedroom. "Are you going somewhere?"

The voice scared me and I dropped the hair drier that I was holding with my hands and started to turn around. But then, out of the blue, I realized that I hadn't heard the sound of the hair device hitting the floor. Instead, I had heard steps. And then, when I finished turning around, I saw him. I saw the young, teenage-looking vampire. Alexei. He was there. And I suddenly saw the hair drier in his hands. He had moved close to me and grabbed it, preventing the hair drier from falling to the floor. Or better yet: he had vampire-quickly moved close to me. And he was right there, next to me, sniffing my neck.

I had only two thoughts in my mind. The first thought was "What the hell?" I mean: I wondered why Alexei was there. Why was he there and without Eric? And in my bedroom? And the second thought was "shit". Because he was there, without Eric and in my bedroom.

"Alexei, you startled me," I managed to say in spite of my fear. His eyes moved from my neck to my own eyes and I kept questioning, "What are you doing here? Where are Eric and Appius Livius?"

But he didn't answer me that. Instead, he just said: "I glamoured those weres that you had here, the five of them. You know, I really hate double-natured blood and I wasn't in the mood for killing, so I took the liberty of sending your bodyguards away. I hope you don't mind this."

Alexei's accent was clearly Russian (I had already figured out his birth country just by his name – Alexei was clearly a Russian, or at least East European, name), with him saying "zis" instead of "this" and "vasn't" as an alternative of "wasn't". And, if possible, that Russian accent made him even more scaring. But I switched my focus from his accent to his words. His words… Weres? Bodyguards? What the hell was he talking about? Who the hell was he talking about? But then I decided that I wouldn't focus on that either. Instead, I repeated my previous questions: "What are you doing here? Where are Eric and Appius Livius?"

Alexei's small, cold hand brushed my hair and then he kept touching me with his fingers through my jaw line, and then my neck, while he answered me: "Master's hurt and recovering somewhere, I guess."

Had Alexei hurt his maker? Was that even possible? How? Or had someone else hurt Ocella? But Eric would have prevented that for sure. What if… Oh my God. Eric! "Alexei, where's Eric?" Where was he? Was he hurt or was he alright? Oh my God. Eric…

The vampire moved even closer to me and I realized that he had exactly my height. He then said: "The Viking's locked in silver."

Ah… What? Why? Where? How? But I finally asked: "Who?"

"The Fellowship of the Sun people. And you know something? They are much more organized than the Orthodox Patriarchate Church of God in Russia. They are much better vampire-haters."

Hah? I hadn't realized yet by then that Alexei had been the one that had called them so I started to tell him that we both needed to go there and free Eric. Like: now! But he just looked at me and then started laughing. He laughed for two or three minutes before he talked again. And to insult me.

"Stupid human! You are dim and ignorant. I was the one who called them as soon as Master and his other son were both hurt. And the Fellowship guys got there just in time before Eric had had the time to heal himself."

I sat in my bed. I couldn't believe. But then I looked at Alexei and saw his hatred eyes and I understood everything immediately. Somehow, he had hurt both Eric and Appius Livius and had called the Fellowship of the Sun. The FotS people had managed to grab Eric while he was still recovering from his injuries but Appius had in some way managed to stay free.

But Alexei was so young… I wondered… "How did you do it? I mean: how old are you?"

"I died in 1917. I'm more or less one hundred years old."

I was sure Alexei was there to drink my blood. But for some reason I was more curious than everything else. I was also afraid for me and sad for my daughter, of course, but I was mostly curious. Eric was at least 1000 years old. Appius Livius almost twice Eric's age. And Alexei was "just" 100 years old. I knew that vampire's strength came from their age. So how had he managed it? I really had to know. How was it that he was still alive?

I wanted to ask him why he weren't dead or how he had escaped Eric and Ocella, but instead I just said: "So how did you hurt them?"

"I shot my maker with silver bullets at his back. Your husband", the way he said husband was full of hatred and contempt, "my older brother Eric, saw it but he couldn't do anything. Master had ordered him against fighting and killing me. So he just stood there watching me do it. And then I shot him as well. They were laying there, trying to recover when I used a couple of silver nitrate needles on them. I was told that the way our body expels the silver nitrate is painful and takes at least a few hours if we have access to a lot of blood. Without it… hell, I don't know."

He was laughing again now and for a second he really looked like any American teenager that had been invited by the most popular girl in class to go to the ball. He looked almost happy. But his hatred eyes, again, spoke volumes. And they spoke something entirely different. Alexei was a really bad person (ah… vampire). He wished that others suffered.

When he stopped laughing, he continued: "And then I stayed there watching them both feel the silver burn them inside and bleed by their shot wounds and that was when I called the Fellowship guys. They even have a hot-line. Did you know that? They do! It's 0-800-KILLVAMP." He laughed out loud again before he added: "No, I am just kidding. That is not the number. But they do have a hot line," he said while he kept laughing.

My mouth was completely dry, but I was still able to ask my next question, "Why would you do that?"

"Because I was bored. And I wanted to be either free or finally dead. But Master wouldn't let me go either way. And now I will get my wish granted for sure. If Master doesn't recover, then I will be free. If he does recover, then I am already dead," he paused for a few seconds thinking to himself and then he almost sighed before he said, "But I know that my maker escaped the Fellowship guys. If he manages to pull through this night, he will recover during his sleep tomorrow, and I know that he will finally kill me, as I have wanted him to do for much time. On the other hand, I am sure Eric was caught. So my big brother is now a puddle of blood and guts," he laughed loud again, "internal organs and bowels on the floor." He looked at me from head to toes and then added: "Or he will be soon."

I almost screamed and then I fell from the bed, where I had sat, to my knees on the floor. There was so much pain in my heart that I thought I would die right there because of it. Alexei closed the already short distance between us and he grabbed me, he pulled me up to my feet and then he hugged me. I tried to break free but he didn't let me.

"Master really wanted to taste you. And Eric really didn't want that. They've been arguing over it for a week," he licked my neck twice and then moved his head so I was looking at him. "Tell me: are you that sweet?" He didn't wait for me to answer his question and instead he grabbed my chin and moved my head so I was now looking ahead. "Let's see, shall we?" He said. And then he sank his fangs in my neck and started drinking… me. I continued trying to break free from his arms for a couple of minutes but the loss of blood soon took my strength away. And suddenly, I felt really tired and I knew I was about to die. But then he stopped. He licked my neck again and dropped me on the bed. I was really tired by the lack of blood and I just felt asleep instantly.

When I woke up, I guessed that it was close to noon by the light that entered through the opened window. And I realized that I was tied to my bed. I tried to break free from the knots but I didn't manage it. I was still feeling extremely fragile and tired and then I must have dozed off again because when I woke up once more, it was night already and I saw Alexei looking at me with a glass in his hand.

"Now I see why big bro keeps you. You are delicious!"

As soon as he said "big bro" I thought about Eric and I felt the same pain from the day before. Eric was at the mercy of the Fellowship of the Sun. If it weren't for Liz, I would have begged for my death.

Alexei then came to me and told me to drink from the glass. "It's the chocolate milk you have downstairs. At least that's what was written in the bottle." I said that I wouldn't drink but he forced me while he said. "I want to drink more of your blood. And for you to replenish it, you must rehydrate. So drink this now! It's liquid and it's sugary," he looked at me and hen he smiled before he added, "You know, I was going to kill you yesterday, but now I think that I might keep you for a couple of days. I'll let you rest tonight and I'll drink you dry tomorrow night."

And then he left as soon as I had finished drinking the chocolate milk. Just like that. He told me he'd kill me on the next night while giving me a child's beverage (my child's beverage) and walked away. Jesus Christ! This guy was a completely crazy bastard. And I was at his mercy. His inexistent mercy. And so I stayed there, tied to my own bed, thinking about my own murder. I could hear sounds from downstairs. First music and then some movie on the TV. And I just laid there crying for Lizzie, crying for Eric and crying for myself.

Two or three hours later, his void of a brain left the house.

I was terribly sad and I felt completely hopeless. I kept trying to think about the good times in my recent past but that only made me cry harder. I didn't know how much time had passed since Alexei had left the house, but suddenly, I felt a void coming up the stairs. I was afraid that Alexei was back to kill me, but thank God, I heard another voice speaking. A female voice. A friend's voice.

"What the hell happened here? Where's Eric? Why are you like this?" Pam suddenly appeared and asked while breaking my arms free. Thank God! Pam! Pam was there! She'd know what to do. I hugged her and she repeated her questions but I couldn't answer her yet. I had a much more pertinent question to be answered.

"Where's Alexei?"

"Appius Livius' boy? I don't know. Eric sent me away like I told you. And I was supposed to stay there until he called me. But last night I felt him so angry, and then he was weak… I was afraid that he had been hurt somehow and I called him. But he wouldn't answer his phone nor would he tell me through the bond that he was okay, so I came back. Now can you tell me what the hell happened here and where's Eric?"

"And then he was weak" Oh Eric… "Can you feel him Pam? Can you feel Eric now? Right now?" Had I lost the love of my life?

"Of course I can. Why wouldn't I? He's as crazily angry as yesterday. Where is he? Why were you like that?"

"Oh, thank God!"

"Where is he? What happened?" she asked again.

"Alexei hurt Ocella and Eric and then he…"

"He couldn't have. He's too young." Pam said, interrupting me.

"I know. But he did. And then he called the Fellowship. They have Eric," Pam's fangs immediately dropped from her mouth and she looked as deadliest as I had ever seen her. I'd hate to be on the opposite side of her now. And you know what? I was glad for that because she was this way for Eric's sake. They were incredibly protective of each other and I was extremely happy that she was there. Pam would really know what to do.

"The Fellowship?" She asked and growled. The hair in my arms rose at the coolness of her voice and growl. She was definitely a killing machine now. And not all the light and pastel colors in her soccer-mom clothes would be able to contradict her eyes and her fangs. She was, effectively, a cold-blooded murderer then.

"Yes. And we have to go there and get him back. I was afraid Eric was dead already. Are you sure you can feel him at this moment?" I had to be sure that he was okay. It was the most important thing now. Eric had to be okay. He had to.

"Yes, I am." Thank God. Thank God. At her second assurance that she could feel him, I felt an immense relief. Eric was still alive (well, not finally dead). I felt immediately better. And Pam, in the meantime, had also finished breaking me free from my bed-prison.

I got up while she continued talking: "And now I'm as angry as he is. I'm so gonna kill the little son of a bitch as soon as we get Eric back. I'll make sure Alexei pays dearly for this." And I knew she was. She looked exactly like Eric when he was in "berserk-fight" mode.

Now: do you know the saying? The "talk about the devil" saying? Something about how when you talk about him, he shows up? Well, it really is a nice saying. And true too, because then we were interrupted. And by the devil himself.

"What are you talking about? What am I to pay?" Alexei's accented voice asked.

Pam got up and she was in "battle mode" instantly.

"You motherfucker," she said to him, "I'll kill you. Right now."

She then started walking towards him in her murderess way. Good. Very good. But then she stopped. Not good. So not good. And I just wondered why was she stopping and when would she start the "killing Alexei" part. Yes, I know. It was not very Christian of me. But Alexei really had to die. He just… had to die.

"I… I… I can't." Pam whispered in a voice so low that I almost didn't hear her. She couldn't? I didn't understand… Did she have scruples about killing her… uuhh… "uncle"?

Alexei laughed again. As loud as before. "You are Eric's child. He was told by Master not to hurt me. It was an order. So you can't hurt me either. You can't kill me. Hell, you can't even fight me. Not even to defend yourself."

Oh. My. God. Pam couldn't fight Alexei. Pam physically couldn't fight him. He'd attack her and she would have to stay there receiving pacifically his assaults. She'd have to let him kill her without even being able to do a thing about it. And all because of what Ocella had told Eric. Pam had been in England but she was still forced to obey Ocella's command through Eric… And now Alexei would kill us both and Eric would stay with the Fellowship people. And my daughter would lose her mother. Ohh God.

Alexei then put a leather glove on his right hand and after that he took a knife from his back pocket. The lamp's light made it almost sparkle. And I was pretty sure that it was a silver knife. His left hand grabbed a stake from the same back pocket. I looked at Pam and she looked back at me.

I saw defeat in her eyes.

And fear.

Ohh God!

So? What did you think about the chapter? I'm not so sure about chapter 31 as I usually am when I update. I tried to make it better, but this was all I managed to write. I guess I wasn't into a writing-mode when I wrote this. But I wanted to add a new chapter, and I still hope you've enjoyed it.

Anyway, Eric's locked by the Fellowship, Ocella's in pain trying to recover somewhere, and Pam can't do a bloody thing. How will they get out of it? Oh, and I took some liberties about the "grandpa-maker" orders. I hope you won't mind it. In my head, it makes sense that a vampire would be able to command his/her children's children. And I think that Charlaine Harris never told us about this, right? If you remember something about it on the books, please tell me so. Célia

"Why Aren't You Dead?" is a song performed by Bon Jovi and appears on the album "100,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong..." (2004). Its lyrics are crazy and the chorus goes like this: "You said you couldn't live without me / So why aren't you dead? / Instead of six feet under you're in someone else's bed / There's just one thing that I can't get through my head / You said you couldn't live without me so why aren't you dead? / Ashes to ashes, dust to dust / If you can't trust the livin' baby who can you trust?"