CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I was standing in blackness, I couldn't remember how I had gotten here nor why I was here. Had I been dreaming? Or perhaps I had died? Didn't everyone say that when you died your soul went on to Heaven to be with God? This couldn't be Heaven, not a place so dark and devoid of positivity. I looked around me and saw nothing, only the continued dark. Then far off the distance I saw a pale white glow that was obviously light. I started to walk toward the light. It was too far away and I was desperate to get to it.

I started to jog, my bare feet slapping the ground as I went. I frowned as it seemed that the more distance I made the farther away the light got. I had to get to the light, my very soul depended on it. I sped up the pace and soon I was running, but still the light got farther away. On I went, running as fast as my legs would allow. I noticed now that the walls were expanding, closing in on me. I was not one for claustrophobia but I was starting to become nervous, what would happen to me if the walls continued to expand?

I opened my mouth to scream, to gasp in air but for some unknown reason I got a strange taste in my mouth and down the back of my throat. It was something I recalled tasting once as a child by accident. When had I tasted it? When I had slipped on some wet grass, playing under the sprinkler? Was that dirt? Or mud? I tried to reach out my arms in front of me but they seemed heavy, like they were pinned down.

I tried to claw my way to freedom, working at my surroundings, inch by frantic inch. Soon I felt air on my face. I spat and coughed out the mud from my mouth and throat and then I wiped the mud off my face. I opened my eyes to see a hand reaching out for me. I glanced up into the eyes of Eric... ERIC! It all came flooding back to me and made perfect sense. I looked down to see myself sitting in the muddy hole we had both spent the day.

I placed my hand in Eric's and allowed him to pull me to my feet. I smiled as my newly acquired diamond ring sparkled and blinked in the moonlight. Eric pulled me into his arms and simply held me for a time. I finally pulled away and ran my hands over his well muscled chest. "You're not cold." I mused.

"I'm the same temperature as before Sookie, you're colder." He said and I nodded.

"So... it's done then?"

"Yes." Eric answered. I opened my mouth to say more when I heard sobbing, Eric rolled his eyes and let me go.

"Sook!" Jason cried as he threw his arms around me and held me tight. I got a whiff of some strange smell on the wind and scrunched up my face.

"Geez, Jason, what the hell is that smell?"

"What smell?"

"You smell like dirty socks." I said, holding him at arms length. Jason blushed and looked uncomfortable.

"You can... smell that?" He asked and I nodded.

"Oh, yes, just as clear as if there were mouldy cheese in the fridge." I pinched my nose with my thumb and forfinger.

"I don't know what the smell is." He lied. I didn't have to be a mind reader to know he was lying to me.

"It's because he's a were panther." Eric said. "Each supe has its own distinct smell and we vampire's have heightened senses so we can smell them all VERY accutely."

'We' vampires Eric had said. It was true, it hadn't been a dream. Eric had drained me, replaced my blood with his, gone to ground with me and at some point during the day I had been changed... I was no longer Sookie Stackhouse, small town waitress and part fairy, I was Sookie Stackhouse, vampire... soon to be Sookie Northman.

The idea both thrilled and terrified me. I looked at Eric and he raised his eyebrow. "Do I still smell fairy?" I asked. Eric walked to stand close to me. He took a strand of my hair in his fingers and bent down to smell my hair. I closed my eyes at the feeling of Eric running his nose just above my neck, smelling me. Eric pulled away and shook his head.

"No Sookie... you smell like mud." He chuckled and I glared at him.

"Oh yes, very funny."

"Here Sook, are you hungry?" Jason asked, handing me a bottle of true blood. Eric rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue. He folded his arms as I took the bottle. I unscrewed the top and smelt the contents. I hissed and pulled it away from me closing my eyes.

"That smells awful."

"Tastes even worse." Eric said. I frowned at him. "Go on, try some. Later tonight I will take you to Fangtasia and teach you how to hunt."

"You're gonna make her eat some poor person?" Jason asked incredulously. Eric glared at Jason impatiently.

"It's her nature... she's a vampire now."

"But she can drink true blood."

"Bet you she will hate the taste. She wants blood, human blood, real blood." Eric smiled at me and motioned the bottle. "Go on, drink it."

I sucked in a breath and put the bottle to my lips, tipping it ever so slowly. A few drops fell into my mouth and down my throat. I gagged and spat it all back out. It tasted like I had just licked an old rusted spoon. It was metallic and tangy. "Oh, it's awful." Eric laughed and took the bottle off me.

"Come on Sookie, we have much to do tonight, the first of which is we need to have you showered. Sookie, run to your house I will meet you there."

"I can't it's too far."

"Not run as in human run, vampire speed."

"I don't know how." I snapped and Eric took my hand in his.

"Yes you do, it's natural."

"I can't!" I tried to impress. Eric narrowed his eyes.

"SOOKIE!" Eric snapped and I felt an odd sensation. It was like some unseen power was taking over me. "RUN TO YOUR HOUSE." He ordered. It was almost like I couldn't control my actions, whatever force had taken over my body was controlling me. It was like Eric had some power that ran in my blood, in my veins and in my body. I had to do what he told me.

I stepped away from Eric and Jason. Eric got a satisfied look on his face as I turned and bolted away from them. I saw trees flicker past, I seemed to know where they were and managed to manouver around them. I could smell Eric's scent in the air and knew he was nearby. I could also smell dirty socks and knew a panther streaked close by also.

I only stopped when I reached my house. I saw Eric stop beside me and I smiled at him. He held out his hand and helped me up the stairs. I smiled to myself as I wondered what it would actually feel like to stand in front of someone's house unable to enter until they invited me in. Would it feel like there was a barrier? An impeneterable wall, stopping me from entering? I was curious to see.

Eric unlocked the door and I walked into the old house. It was bittersweet to be in here. My suitcases were still in the foyer but evidently someone had come in while I had been to ground as there were boxes of stuff and white sheets were draped over all the furniture. I turned a questioning gaze at Eric.

"I did it." Jason said from behind me. I spun around to face him. "You're goin away an' I didn' know for how long so I want everything just the way it is for when you get back. I was about to reply when I heard Nan's voice.

"I'm busy so let's get this over with Sheriff." It was reaction but I hissed and spun on my heel fast. I felt a tingle in my gums and heard the distinct sound of fangs dropping. I gasped and put my hand to my mouth... I had not been expecting that. Eric slipped his arm around my shoulder and Jason laughed.

"I'm so sorry." I mumbled past my hand to Nan. She lifted her eyebrow and I wonderd if maybe that was something all vampires learned to do after time. "I got startled."

"Sheriff have fun with your new protege'." She sighed. "So I don't have all day, I need to fly back to D.C to have a press conference." She pulled out a few pieces of paper that were stapled together and she laid it down on the table. Eric pulled me over to the table and I retracted my fangs. It was strange that I seemed to know instinctively how to do it. "Sign here." Nan motioned to Eric and he signed. "You, here." Nan nodded to me and pointed on a line.

I signed it and Nan slipped the paper back in her briefcase and shut the lid and locked the locks with a snap. "Congratulation's Mrs. Northman. You're already one very rich vampire."

"Wait! What?" I said, confused. "Mrs. Northman?" I noticed Eric pull two gold rings out of his pocket and he handed me the smaller of the two before slipping his own on. "What the hell? What about a wedding... and ceremony?" Nan turned back to face me.

"Vampire laws are a bit more laid back then human ones." Nan said. "By all our laws you two are married. If you want a ceremony, a human one, that is between the two of you. Welcome to the other side Mrs. Northman." Then she was gone. I turned to Eric.

"We're married?"

"I told you the sooner we changed you the safer you'd be. What? You don't want to be married to me now?" Eric asked as he slipped his arms around me.

"Of coarse I do. I guess I just expected something different. You know like a real wedding."

"We can have one at a later stage if you would like. When we've settled in at our new home."

"I would like that." Eric smiled as he kissed me. He pulled away. "You need to shower Sookie." He said as he gently nudged me toward the stairs. I nodded and took them at super speed, I could get used to this, I thought.

I got to the bathroom and ran the shower, turning the temperature to one that was really warm. Bill had been right once when he said sleeping in the ground was not comfortable... I had an ache in my back, which would probably be worse if I were human. I shed my muddy clothes and stepped up into the shower. I looked down as the spray from the shower hit my head, I watched in dismay at the amount of mud that ran down the drain... poor Nan, I must've looked a real sight. If my Gran were here she would have scolded me til she was blue in the face.

After a few minutes the water was running clear so I grabbed my shower wash and poured some into my hand and washed away the reminants of the mud. Then I grabbed the shampoo and focused on my hair. It took three goes but soon my hair was clean. Feeling refreshed I got out of the shower and saw the bag from the shop in Shreveport. I grinned and pulled out the lengerie.

I dressed and checked myself in the mirror. I looked good, damn good. Even though my skin was slightly more pale I was prettier than I had been yesterday. My hair seemed to be more golden, my eyes bluer and my skin looked more like porcelain. I had to admit I made a pretty good vampire. I walked out of the bathroom to find my new husband stretched on my bed in only his jeans. He had an old book of Grans that had been on the bedside table and was flicking through it with a bored look on his face. He looked up at me and simply stared.

I ran my tongue over my lips and looked down. "What do you think?" Eric chucked to book on the floor and held his hand to me.

"Come." Was all he said. I walked to Eric and stood beside the bed. With a feral growl he pulled me on the bed...

We walked into Fangtasia and I was immediately bowled over by the array of smells. I staggered a moment and Eric tugged me to him. "It might take some getting used to." Eric said and I nodded. I likened it to someone with too much cheap perfume sitting behind you in a movie theatre and it made your head swim. Eric led me over to the stage and he sat in his seat, pulling me down to sit next to him.

I looked around and noticed people gazing at me in wonder and awe. It was almost as though they wanted to approach me but were too scared to. I looked at Eric who was slouched casually in his seat and was playing with his phone. "People seem to be afraid of me." Eric lifted his eyes to me. "More so than normal." Eric ran his eyes over the room and then went back to his phone.

"They know what you are." He said.

"Really?"

"Yes." He nodded. "I wouldn't be suprised if someone offered themself to you."

"Offered themslef to me... how?" I asked. Eric's lip turned up into a lopsided smile.

"They will want you to bite them and fuck them most likely." I sucked in air at that thought and thought I felt myself blush.

"I don't think I'll be doing that."

"Good, I won't let you." Eric said. Suddenly there was a young man standing at the bottom of the stage. He was handsome enough, though he seemed to be far too young to be in a bar. He had short brown hair, brown eyes and tanned skin. He was well toned and muscular. He looked nervous even though Eric payed no attention to the boy whatsoever. He looked up at me and smiled nervously. I smiled back as nice as I could.

"You... you're vampires right?" He asked tentatively and I nodded. Eric remained emotionless and didn't even glance up when he responded.

"You're rather observant aren't you?" The boy looked up at me.

"I... I'm not sure how this works." He admitted and I frowned. "I want you too..." he began. It was only now that Eric glanced up from the phone. "I want to offer myself to you." I felt nervous, embarrassed and excited all at the same time. Eric looked at me then said. "Do you want him?"

I thought about it. I was hungry and I wanted to feed but I hesitated at the thought of feeding off someone. I couldn't stand true blood and I had to eat something seeing as I couldn't digest human food anymore. I knew I would die if I didn't eat something and would it be so bad to feed off someone who offered themself to me? Was it so bad if they wanted it? I nodded to Eric and he nodded back. He stood and walked off the stage, motioning for me to follow. I stood and held out my hand to the boy. He looked to me then at Eric then he took my hand.

I led him out after Eric who was in his office. He motioned to the leather couch and the boy sat down on it. Eric shut and locked the door. "Sit down." Eric told me and I sat next to the boy, nervously. I saw the vein in his neck throb in time to his heartbeat as his blood was pumped through it. I felt that tingle in my gums and my fangs dropped. Instinct took over and I reached up to grab his neck. I pulled him closer to me and then I struck.

I bent into his neck, right where the vein was. It was like biting into a piece of fruit. The skin broke under my fangs and blood burst into my mouth and throat. It was warm and tasted nothing like the true blood. It wasn't metallic or tart like the true blood was. It was hard to describe what it tasted like. I held the boy tightly as I drank, holding myself to his neck. I felt his heart start to slow and felt Eric's hand on my shoulder.

"Stop Sookie." He ordered. I pulled my head away at Eric's words, I had to obey him as that strange sensation took over me. "Heal the wound." Eric demanded and I licked it closed. I was amazed to watch the skin close and it stopped bleeding. Eric smiled and taught me how to glamour him. He was a little dazed as he left the office but was no worse for wear.

Taking my hand in his, Eric led me back to the stage where we sat. I looked around the club, taking it all in with vampire acute awareness. The smells, sounds and coulours were brighter, more vibrant than they had been two day ago. It took me some time but soon a thought struck me. I hadn't been conciously aware of holding up a barrier to hold people's thoughts at bay and still none had come to me. I closed my eyes and opened my mind, trying to stretch it out to everyone else in the room. My eyes flew open and I snapped my head around to Eric.

He casually lifted his eyes from his phone. (That blasted phone was gonna have an intimate meeting with the wall soon) "What's wrong?"

"I can't hear people's thoughts!" I declared. Eric looked around the room briefly before returning his attention to me.

"And that's bad because...?"

"I didn't say it was bad, I'm just really suprised. I haven't even had to try and block anyone out because nothing was coming to me."

"I see." Eric replied.

"Oh, my stars." I breathed.

"Is it really a wonder?" Eric asked and I frowned at him. "I suspect the fact you could hear people's thoughts was because of the fairy blood." Eric looked down at the phone when it beeped. "You don't have much fairy left at all."

"I know that, I just didn't expect this." I said. It was bittersweet. I couldn't hear people's thoughts anymore but I knew this would be a hard adjustment. There were times when hearing people's thoughts came in handy. Like the time at the fellowship of the sun. It helped me find out that Godric was there, helped me realise what the fellowship had planned in regard to meeting the sun and even helped me call Barry the bellboy who called Bill for help.

BILL. I frowned at the thought. How I was so in love with him. So wrapped in the man. I wondered what it was exactly that I had loved about him. I had loved the fact that there was silence when I was around him. I loved that he was strong and could look out for me. I had to admit it but I loved that he was there when I needed him. I couldn't trust him now that I knew it all. Why he had walked into Merlotte's that night. I was certain that the point of no forgiveness for me was the fact that he stood by somewhere in the night and let the Rattrays beat me within an inch of my life so he could feed me his blood. Come to think of it where the hell was Claudine that night?

I was startled when Eric touched my cheek. "You look concerned, my wife. What's wrong?"

Wife. I smiled at the word. "I was thinking about that night in Merlotte's parking lot with the Rattrays." Eric gritted his teeth, I could see it in his jaw. "I just sat here thinking how could Bill sit there and let them beat me. Couldn't he tell how much pain I was in? Not only that but where was Claudine? If she was meant to be some fairy protector of mine why the hell didn't she step in?"

"I don't know Sookie, I really don't." Eric replied and I sighed, lacing my fingers through his.

"I didn't expect you to have those answers, how could you?" I sighed.

"All I know," Eric contiued, bring my hand up to kiss it, "is that were it me, I would've stopped them."

"Really?" I asked and he nodded. "So if you saw an opening to give me your blood, you wouldn't have done exactly the same?" Eric didn't respond and I knew I had him. "Afterall didn't you trick me into sucking those bullets out of your chest in the vampire lair in Dallas?"

"After Bill tricked you." He interjected.

"You still tricked me!"

"Are you picking a fight with me Mrs. Northman?" Eric asked and I blushed.

"No." I shook my head and Eric stood. "Where are you goin'?" I asked and he smiled.

"To feed." Eric said. "Will you be alright here for a few minutes?" He asked and I nodded. "Good. When I come back we'll go to ground." He kissed me and then turned and disappeared somewhere in the club. I sat back in the seat. Being a vampire wasn't nearly as terrible as I had originally thought. I felt the same and I could hear people's thoughts. I had Eric to teach me everything I needed to know and I was married to him and would be for a very long time to come. I knew I was strong enough to take on werewolves, witches and maybe in time a fairy.

I wondered if that meant I wouldn't have the light anymore. I raised my hand to study it. I would have to see about that at a later stage, I didn't think attempting to blow a hole through my husbands club was the best way to start out a marriage. Eric walked back onto the stage and held out his hand to me. "Time to go to home, it will be dawn in an hour or so." I took Eric's hand and allowed him to pull me to my feet.

"Where are we goin' to ground?" I asked.

"You're place."

"Why not yours?" I asked.

"Mine is... not appropriate at this time." Eric replied.

"What do you.." I started but Eric glared at me.

"Pam sleeps there. Want to have primal sex lying next to her?" He asked and I flushed at the words.

"No." I murmured.

"I didn't think so. Pam would probably want to join in and I am not sharing you, my wife. Especially not on our wedding night." With that Eric scooped me into his arms and swept out into the night. I was disappointed to see it was raining again, at least moving at vampire speed we barely got wet. Another perk of the condition. Eric helped me into the passenger side of my car and then he got into the drivers side. He drove back to Bon Temps.

"I hate this car." I said after a while. Eric looked at me then back at the road.

"You're joking, right?" He asked. "Do you know how much this thing is worth?"

"I hate it because its so quiet. I am so used to me old car that I try to start this one twice." Eric lip twitched. "It's happened to me at least four times." I pouted. That was too much for Eric. He roared with laughter.

"So that's why you hate the car? Don't worry, you'll get used to it." I gazed out the window then, letting Eric laugh it out. Finally we pulled into my drive. I sighed as I gazed up at the old place. How much longer would I be able to gaze upon and relive all the memories that this house had given me? Eric came and opened my door for me. I held his hand as I got out and felt a pin prick in my eye. I would not cry! I scolded myself.

"What's wrong?" Eric asked.

"I will miss this place." I answered.

"It will be here for you when we get back." Eric promised.

"The question is how long will it be until I see this place again?" I asked with a sigh. I looked back up at the house. "This is where I grew up, my whole life is invested in this place."

"Sookie, look at me." Eric said gently. I tore my gaze from the house to settle on Eric. "It can be hard sometimes to be away from home but I promise, wherever we are I will make it our home. I will do whatever it takes."

I leant up on my toes and kissed Eric. "I love you." I finally spoke the words that I couldn't admit to myself for such a long time. A look crossed Eric's face that I couldn't put my finger on.

"I love you." He responded as he crushed his lips to mine. I put my arms around Eric and pressed myself against him, wanting to get lost in this moment and it to never end. Finally I started to feel heavy, like my body was made of lead. Eric pulled away and put his forehead against mine. "It's time to go to ground." He said, leading me into the house. Eric took me up the stairs and opened the cupboard door to the hidey hole. "Ladies, first." He said and I climbed down.

Eric jumped down a moment after me, landing with almost cat-like grace. "You need to teach me that." I said, awestruck.

"I will." He promised. Eric pulled off his clothes until he stood before me in nothing more than boxer shorts. He came over to me and gently removed my clothes. It was slow and sensual. I closed my eyes, simply feeling every touch of Eric's fingers on my skin. I felt Eric move away from me and I opened my eyes to see him, pull back the black satin covers of the bed. He held his hand out to me and I went to him. He got under the covers and I followed.

Just before the sun came up, after some extremely primal sex, Eric and I curled up together and fell asleep.