All Hell Breaks Loose
Chapter 42: It's Magic
Eric walked around the chapel having to pull his feet out of one gooey pile after another. He knew he was going to have to have a shower when he returned back to the hotel and he was going to have to have another outfit to be cleaned by the hotel staff.
"Eric?" Sookie asked as she walked over to him. "Do we know who on our side died and how many?"
"Isabel will keep count of those she had lost," Eric said as several of the humans who were hiding were now crawling out. "Travis will know how many wolves he had lost."
"Are they taking any prisoners?"
Eric held out his arms in a shrug. "Not my place to say. For the vampires I would give them the True Death. I do not know how the local wolf pack is run."
"This is going to take a while to clean," Steve said as he waded through the mess. "I hope these wastes of immortality realize they do not attack my church." He shook his head. "Didn't we just get the vestibule re-carpeted a year ago?"
"A year and two months ago," one of the parishioners said.
"Right," Steve said as he counted down on his fingers. "Wade, I need you to find out who else is calm and get everyone outside. We need some ambulances here and we need to pray for those who had lost their lives." He turned to where the body of his replacement was sprawled out. "Oh Thomas." He kneeled down beside him. "You were a good man. You did not deserve this."
"He shouldn't be doing that," Eric said softly.
"They were close," Sookie said. "Let him grieve."
Steve wasn't just grieving but he also had his hands folded in prayer fashion. Anya was also praying and even some of the church members had lowered their heads.
"Joseph are you here?" Steve asked. He had small pools of blood under his eyes.
"I am," Joseph said and took a step towards him and paused when he saw the blood. "Your eyes."
"Do not worry about that," Steve said. "I want you to lead my flock for me. Show them what is right and listen to not only God and your mind but also what is in your heart." He wiped away the blood and looked up. "Look at that sky. All of those stars are suns so far away and yet we can still see them. All example of the Lord's holy light." He did not see one of the parishioners sneak up behind him with a sharp piece of wood.
"What are you doing?" Jason asked as he grabbed that man and wrenched the wood away from him.
"What the former reverend wanted," the parishioner said.
"I don't think he wanted you to kill him," Jason said.
"He wanted us to kill all subhuman abominations," the man said. "Now he is one of them."
"You piece of shit. He still cares about your sorry ass. He was insistent we help you. He doesn't care if you see him as a monster or not but I do."
"No more bloodshed," Sookie said and held up her hands. "You need to make sure everyone is cleaned up, calmed down and checked out by a doctor. We'll take care of our own."
Eric sought out Bill who did not move from where he was pushed and hauled him up by the neck. He pulled his hands away from the burn. He crouched down and tugged down at the bottom of the turtleneck of the sweater and found a collar of silver, wrapped around the younger vampire's neck.
"Collared," Eric gasped as he helped Bill to his feet. "I hope you will be able to move your feet and legs. I'm not carrying you."
Eric was the last inside the nest and he brought Bill inside with him. He shoved Bill down onto one of the chairs.
"You," Steve snarled as his fangs came out. "You were their prisoner. Your friends were worried about you. You know what they are capable of and knew what they have done to me and your own progeny and yet you still side with them?" He gave Bill a large kick in the shins.
"Stop," Eric said and held up his hand while both Ismene and Jason dragged Steve away. "Before anyone passes judgment I wish to show you this." He pulled down the collar, revealing the silver band.
Ismene and a few other vampires gasped at the collar.
"What is that?" Jason asked. "Some sort of mind control device?"
"Not quite," Eric explained. "This collar will tighten if he is disobedient to his master and it will keep on getting tighter and tighter until it decapitates him."
"When the authority was set up we outlawed such forms of torture," Ismene said and shook her head. "Fiachra thought they could be necessary but I told him they were barbaric. He refused to listen."
"Why didn't he say anything?" Sookie asked. "Is it constricting his vocal cords?"
"No," Bill said and looked up at Eric.
"Whoever is monitoring the collar would know if he told anyone and would cause the collar to tighten."
"Do you know how to remove it?" Sookie asked. Her eyes widened. "Is there a way to remove it?"
"We can," Ismene said and nodded towards Isabel who was on the phone. "We need the help of a witch or three witches."
"How much longer do we have to wait?" Sookie asked.
"They will be here when they get here," Anya said. She had a bottle of Tru Blood in her hands. "You do not look well." She handed it to Bill.
"Thank you," Bill said before he greedily drank down the contents in less than two minutes."
"They starved him," Anya said.
"They didn't make me starve," Steve said. "I guess in a way I was lucky."
"No one was lucky if they were their prisoner," Jason said and placed a hand on the former reverend's back.
"They are on their way," Isabel said once she had hung up. "We will deal with the prisoners now."
"Are you delivering the True Death to all of them?" Ismene asked.
"Part of a case by case basis," Isabel said.
"Many of them were quite weak," Ismene said. "Anya had also noticed they were easy to defeat."
"Even I was able to subdue them," Steve said. "They were younger than me even. Why would they send an army of young vampires to attack my flock?"
"Because they didn't know we would be there," Eric said. Steve's question did propose one issue that worried him and he had no idea if Bill would answer. He still had to ask. "Bill has Russell's minions created several new vampires?"
"Yes," Bill said and closed his eyes to brace for the pain. The collar did not tighten at all.
"How many are there?" When Bill refused to answer he asked a different question. "Is he building an army?"
"Yes."
"An army of weak vampires would not make sense," one of Isabel's nest said. "They would not be able to overpower most vampires."
"I was able to kill Gerald," Steve said and held up his hands. "And he is much older than me."
"You did use a gun that shot wooden bullets," the same vampire reminded him.
"Exactly," Steve said. "Arm them the same way and teach them how to use them and they will have that edge."
"Not to mention plenty of blood to give to the werewolves," Sookie added.
"There is plenty to discuss," Anya said and brought Bill another bottle. "We will talk about what has happened and try to think about what plans the enemy has and try to provide comfort for Mr. Compton."
The group of witches had arrived around one and were lead by a thin woman in her early sixties who kept her mostly gray hair styled in multi braids. She wore beaded necklaces made out of copper and turquoise, thin bracelets adorned her wrists and clanged into each other and she wore a tie-dye shirt and a bohemian skirt.
"Where do you want us to set up?" She asked showing teeth that were filled with gaps.
"On the floor," Isabel said. "In front of the collard one."
"Oh good," the youngest of the trio said. She had mahogany hued skin and dark loose curls that fell to her shoulders. She did not wear anything that wasn't discreet, modern jeans, boots, t-shirt and jacket. She did wear a pentacle around her neck along with pink framed glasses. "These were getting heavy." She set the bag down.
The third witch was the only male. He was in his thirties and had purple streaks in his light brown hair. He also dressed similarly to the girl and had a tooth like earring dangling from his left earlobe. He was carrying a large leather bound tomb.
"Get everything out of the bag," the old hippy said. "Jay turn to page 382."
"What does this spell do?" Jason asked.
"Two spells," the hippy said and held up two fingers. "The first is to sever the link between the spell castor and the collar and the second is to remove the collar."
Eric watched as the youngest witch pulled out rolled up cloth the color of eggplant and unroll it. She pulled out several kinds of candles, small bottles of liquid and powder, a rose, a spool of thread, pair of scissors, a key made out of iron a bottle of alcohol, a large feather and a few small bowls.
"Jay, Ella, Light the green candles," the hippy instructed.
The other two witches placed the candles in their holders and lit them. The male witch poured a few of the different vials in one of the bowls and the thread.
"Join hands," the hippy witch asked and she and the other witches linked hands while they chanted.
Eric felt a soft and warm hand grab his. He was certain it was Sookie's and he when he looked down he saw that he was right.
Jay lifted the spool out of the bowl and Ella pulled at the free strand and the two of them unraveled it a bit.
"And now for me." The hippy used the scissors to snip the thread.
There was a soft flash surrounding Bill's collar. He smiled weakly at the trio before muttering a thanks.
"We are not done yet," Jay said and used the stone to crush the rose into a pulp before he added some liquid from one vial and powder from another.
"Let me," their leader said as she dipped the barb of the feather into the bowl and looked like she was trying to write on the collar while chanting. She dipped the feather into the bowl several times and continued to write until she was satisfied. "Join again."
The trio linked hands once again and this time as they had chanted several small symbols appeared on the collar and glowed.
Jay opened the large bottle of clear liquid and poured some into the bowl before his leader swiped it away.
"Pure grain alcohol," she explained before she took a sip and set the bottle down. "Now we add a little salt and a little rosemary and this." She pulled off one of her button pins and used the sharp pin to prick her finger. She let a few drops fall into the water.
Ella put in the key and once again they linked hands and chanted.
"Time to unlock," the hippy said and pulled out the key. She placed the end against the collar and the metal seemed to turn into liquid and swallow part of the end.
"No," Sookie gasped and held on tighter to Eric.
"This is a good thing," Eric told her. "Watch."
Glowing slashes appeared in the sides of the collar and smoked before the silver band fell off Bill's neck in two pieces and landed on the floor with a thunk.
"Bill," Sookie parted from Eric and ran up to her ex.
"That was kind of fun to watch," Jason said.
"Always is," Cassidy added.
"How much do we owe you, Chloris?" Isabel asked.
"About three hundred," the hippy said. "That should cover the cost of the supplies and a few other things."
"We will help you clean up," Isabel offered.
"And then return to the hotel," Eric added. He was in the mood for a good long shower.
A/N: I'll leave you on this note. Tomorrow is Pancake Day as well as Mardi Gras. If you live in the states and near an IHOP you can go there tomorrow and score some free pancakes.