I had been high once in my life. When I was sixteen I smoked pot with a kid from work. It was great for a while, then I was really hungry and ended up asleep on gran's couch with cheetos in my hair. Nothing could compare to what I felt with Eric it seemed. The only bad thing about it, was that it was over to quickly.
We were lying in my bed I was staring at Eric's lips, the lips that had kissed me so gently, the lips that were stained with my blood only hours ago. They were beautiful and I loved them. I kissed him and collapsed again next to him like a lifeless body. "If only it could be this way forever." I whispered into the air above me. I could only wish for that. "Let's run away together." Eric said. I giggled and took his hand in mine. When I looked at him and found the seriousness in his face I kissed his hand and sat up to look evenly at him.
"Eric, I can't run away. I did once, and I wish I hadn't." I said quietly watching his smile turn down slowly. I placed another small kiss on his hand before I went on. "We are going to stay right here, and we'll face whatever comes at us." I said. Eric sat up next to me with a quickness only he could master. "But we still have time, we can go now and I'll never have to remember I can always be this way." He said holding my hand against his chest. I only thought about Sookie and Jason, instead of marveling at the silly but beautiful notion that Eric could stay this way. Sookie and Jason needed me, or I needed them at least.
The last time I ran away I lost gran. I wouldn't let something like that happen to me again. "Eric, I can't go." I said on the verge of tears, thinking of gran always made me faint of heart. Eric gripped my hand that was cradling his and squeezed it gently. "I only want to be with you, forever." He said bringing my hand to his face. I was all but forced to look deep into his smoldering eyes, as beautiful as his lips but more accusing than anything. I wanted to be with Eric, and he wanted to leave. He knew as much as I did that when we dealt with Marnie he'd get his memory back and we wouldn't be like this afterwards.
Only an hour later I found myself sitting in Bill's house between Sookie and Eric. They were both on edge about going to war at Bill's side while I was rolling my eyes at the whole shebang. They were being so serious when I knew that Bill wouldn't let us help him, his pride was way to overwhelming for anything like that. Eric was holding my hand which he hadn't released since I demanded he let me go long enough for me to dress myself. Sookie didn't dare let her skin touch mine, that only led me to believe she was thinking about things that she didn't want me to know. I could've touched her, but I didn't need to because everything she felt was displayed so prominently on her pale face. Bill came in the room and looked at the three of us, he didn't even try to hide his exhausted glare while he stepped forward and zipped up his well fitted leather jacket.
"What a pleasant surprise." He lied quite badly which wasn't his usual demeanor. "We are here to fight with you." Sookie said with a smile. I leaned my head against Eric's shoulder and watched as Bill turned on his charming smile. "Fight with me?" He asked trying to play coy with her. "Against the witches." Sookie said bluntly. Bill's face fell with exhaustion once again. "Sookie, this is not your battle." Bill said. "No, it's not and I tried to explain that to her, but she insisted." I said, my tone mirrored Bill's exhausted expression. Sookie elbowed me and I shot her a smug smirk.
"I want to fight for you my majesty." Eric said and I struggled to keep my face clear of the grimace I was about to give him. "I want peace." Bill said. I looked at him for a long moment, he seemed honest. "But you're prepared for war." Eric assumed. "Of course, but I'm not convinced we will win." Bill was honest about that too. "War isn't about believing you can win, it's about being willing to die for something you believe is worth dying for." Eric said proudly. "Maybe I'm a little less inclined to gamble with people's lives than you are." Bill retorted bitterly starring daggers at Eric. "Bill we are offering to help, so I think you should just accept instead of being a-"
"What Ella is trying to say is that we can help. We have powers, now granted we are not in perfect control of those powers but they have saved us and others from some pretty dire circumstances." Sookie said cutting me off. "Sookie, you both could die." Bill said seeming nearly on his last straw. "Call me crazy, but I'm willing to die if it means keeping a group of people I know and love from being eradicated in the name of hate." She replied strongly. Bill sighed and looked over at me. "What she said." I muttered with a slight shrug. "Thank you." Bill said with a sarcastic smile, he knew all to well he wasn't going to be rid of us that easy. "My liege." Eric breathed next to me. "My…Bill." Sookie said awkwardly. "What they said." I muttered with an amused grin.
We stood in the dark brush silently awaiting Marnie. I stood with Eric and Sookie, and Pam stood a few feet away from us. Butterflies were assaulting the walls of my stomach. The cemetery was still and quiet as always, crickets made a symphony close by as I watched Eric's smooth face. He was excited, it was easy to see, his blue eyes were opened wide watching the cemetery ahead of us with great contentment. Pam looked over at me with a smile that looked more like a sneer. Sookie stood as still as a statue next to me, there was no doubt she was as sickened with nervousness as I was.
We waited until Bill called us out. I could feel my stomach twist with worry as I found myself standing behind Bill next to Eric and Sookie in the middle of the graveyard close to midnight. "Tara?" Sookie asked bewildered. I looked at the small army of people Marnie stood in front of. Tara was indeed standing in the middle of them. "I still believe we can achieve a peaceful resolution." Bill said ignoring everyone but the woman who had taken Eric's memory away. Marnie only stood across the small dirt path staring daggers at Bill, she didn't seem to convinced. "Describe this peaceful resolution to me." She said stepping forward with a scowl. She was an older woman, her face holding a tempered expression most of the time. Her eyes were dark and narrowed in hatred. Most of the group around her looked as worried as I felt, I recognized Holly and Tara, the rest of them were strangers to me, and didn't exactly look like witches.
"We will never harm you again, anyone that has done so has been commanded to desist, or they will face the true death." Bill said with a bitter tone. "In return I only ask that you remove the spells from my two subjects here." He added gesturing to Eric and Pam. "You say you are willing to execute those who have harmed me but you bring them to me and you ask me to remove spells I placed on them in self-defense. All for a promise that I'll never be harmed again." Even I who thought she was an awful excuse for a person could see her point. Bill could see her point as well, it was audible in his voice. "Yes." He muttered.
"I have your word for this?" She was merely playing a game with Bill, her smile couldn't fool anyone. "I swear it." Bill replied. When Sookie stumbled forward a few feet I felt my heart fall to me heels. "Bill she's casting a spell." Sookie warned loudly. "Now!" Bill called and out came the cavalry. Heavily armed men in black duds, every single one of their guns trained on Marnie, the sight of it made Marnie's entire group step back in fear, but it didn't budge Marnie herself. "You may have dominion over us, but not over the living. Surrender now and no one will be hurt." Bill said with a stern tone. As red dots gathered on Marnie's chest she looked up and laughed. Eric disappeared from my grasp and after a few seconds I could see him across the way holding a dead woman's heart in his hand. It was the last sight I could see before a dark thick fog covered the whole graveyard.
I reached at my side and caught air. Sookie, where the hell was she? I moved a little bit in the hopes of finding her. Nothing, I was standing in this swarm of thick fog all alone. I reached out again in hopes of finding someone, when I grasped air I began to feel my stomach twist even tighter. "Ella!" I heard Sookie screaming, she was quite far from me. "Sookie!" I yelled stumbling into the fog even more. After at least seventeen steps into the fog I began to panic. Where the hell was everybody? It was me and the ground and thick blinding fog. I stumbled on keeping my hands out in front of me and hoping the fog would recede.
When I heard Sookie again, this time much closer I felt relief, she was only a few feet from me. "I'm not a vampire you idiot!" She yelled. When I saw the bright burst of light I knew it was her and where she was. I ran towards her. "Sook-" My voice was caught in my throat. The soaring pain struck in my ribs, the rest of my body felt numb. I crumbled against a headstone and grabbed at my ribs. The pain drew tears instantly and my breathing grew short and quick. When I saw my hand covered in dark blood I gasped slipping down the tombstone a little more. I felt hands on my shoulders and then I was lying on the cold ground and staring up into Sookie's tear stained face. Her hands were pushing loose strands of hair from my eyes, then I could feel pressure on my wound, the pain grew even more intense and I cried out for Sookie to stop. When the pain engulfed my entire stomach I just held my breath and clutched the dying grass around me. Then it all began to fade almost as if the fog was coming back.
"Oh my g-" I saw a bright light, beautiful and teasing. "Ell stay with me! You've got to sta-" It flickered against the drops of dew on the thick blades of grass close to my face. I could smell a sweet scent of wild flowers close by. "Alcide, help me she was sho-" I could feel the warmth on my skin, and no pain at all. "Ella you have to stay with me pl-" Alcide's voice boomed in my ears. "Ella." Bill's voice came a brief second later. The light and sweet smells came once more only to be shifted with pain and darkness just a moment later. "Please don't die." Sookie sobbed close to my ear. With that it all stopped and I was lying in the bed of flowers that I used to braid into my hair when I was a child. The sun was blazing and I could hear gran calling us home.
"Ella come on!" Sookie called. Jason was always the first to get home, it was because he was the fastest. Sookie and I ran together, hands tight and feet moving almost in unison. When we reached the porch I could see gran sitting on her rocking chair. Her hair in a neat bun and a pleasant smile on her face. I went to her and slid onto her lap. She rocked for a while letting the soft wind speak their lovely whispers through the tall trees. "Ella, you know you have to go back." She murmured running her fingers through my hair. "I know gran, I just want to stay a while." I said smiling up at her. "Oh, but you've stayed long enough my dear."
As I opened my eyes I could see a ceiling, the ceiling to the living room in my gran's house. Alcide came into view and I smiled at him. "You made it." He breathed. My fingers traced the line of his jaw, I had to make sure this was real. "I did?" I murmured, it seemed real, but feeling five years old again seemed just as real as this. I gave the world a few more seconds to settle in around me. When I sat up I felt my whole body was fine, no pain at all. I looked around and found Alcide's eyes again. "Where's Sookie?" I asked. He sat down beside me. "Bill took her in the other room, he's trying to calm her down." Alcide said quietly.
"What the hell happened?" I lifted my bloody shirt and found my whole stomach clear of any wound. "You were shot." Alcide said curtly almost as if it was him that was shot. "Oh." I muttered. After a few moments I thought of Eric, I knew he could protect himself, but why the hell wasn't he here? Bill and Sookie came into the room. Sookie looked a real mess, her hands were covered in dried blood and her face was red and puffy from crying.
"Where is Eric?" I asked her. She ignored my question and took me into a very violent hug. I looked wide-eyed at Bill and Alcide both and they shrugged. What a big help they were. Sookie only wanted to crush the life out of me while Bill and Alcide stared. "Well, I'll go look for him." I said, trying to get out of the chokehold Sookie had me in. "No, Ella I will go look for him. I have my men on it already but-" Alcide jumped from the couch and stared at me with anger.
"Am I the only one who thinks this is batshit crazy? You just came this close to dying and because of fucking fangers." I didn't know how to reply to that, I just wanted to hit Alcide, but since I was still being manhandled by Sook I couldn't. I looked at Bill who was giving me a remorseful smile. "Like I said, I will go look for him." Bill said turning from me. Alcide sighed and gave me a stressed glance. "Ella." He said, his tone cutting through me. "What?" I asked Alcide. He shook his head, his expression filled with to many emotions to decipher. "Nothing, I'm done." He muttered and left without so much as another glance in my direction. Sookie let me loose tears still pooling in her puffed eyes.
As I sat on the couch I realized who had saved my life, the same man that was going to look for Eric. I ran out of the front door and found Bill standing on the porch looking at the dirt drive that was still filled with a haze of kicked up dirt from Alcide's hasty leave. "Bill." I said. He turned to me with the tired look he always gave Sookie. "Thank you, for everything." I said. He nodded with a smile. "Anytime." He murmured, and then like Alcide he left. I sat on the steps in the cool night air thinking over the last hour of my life, Bill was possibly not that bad after all.