Chapter Forty Two:
"You have to hide him."
"No way!"
"He's in danger."
I groaned, removing myself from Godric's protective arms to glance over my shoulder at where Pam and Sookie stood across from one another on the porch. "What's going on now?"
Godric just sighed, shaking his head as he slipped his hand into mine and led me back towards the porch where the two fiery blondes were exchanging words.
"And I'm sure you'll be able to protect him much better than I can." Sookie insisted. Eric still stood behind her looking lost, like he didn't know what he should do. He just stood there, his shoulders hunched forward, looking so unlike himself. It was like he had a lobotomy or something. He was just so different. This wasn't Eric Northman at all. "You're his progeny. And you're his maker." She shot Godric a look. "You can look after him."
"We'll be the first place they look." Pam argued.
"I'm tired of getting dragged into your messes." Sookie crossed her arms and shook her head.
"You found him for a reason. You need to hide him." Pam looked seconds away from leaping at her.
"No, not my problem."
"Actually, it is your problem. You're living in his house after all." Pam narrowed her eyes, planting a hand firmly on her hip.
"Don't remind me." I muttered to myself bitterly, hating the fact that Eric had indeed bought Sookie's house and then insisted it meant absolutely nothing. But I couldn't think about that now. I couldn't let what happened in the past bog me down. We had a real problem on our hands. When Eric could remember the fact that he bought this house, then we'd sit down and hash it all out.
"What?" I barely even recognized Eric's own voice anymore. His words were usually spoken with confidence, not with wonder and confusion. "This is my house?"
Sookie sent him a glare, a look that sent him back cowering against the doorway. A low growl sounded from the back of my throat as I went to move towards him, only for the movement to send Eric back towards Sookie as if he feared me. That stopped me in my place, a lump of emotions rising in my throat. It was bad enough that I knew I was losing the old Eric to Sookie; but to see this new version of him rather her too, it stung like a thousand bees.
"I'll just go to Bill." Sookie threatened.
Before Godric could stop her, Pam flashed before Sookie, looking ready to snap her head right off her body. And I wouldn't have minded one bit.
"Tell Bill and I will rip you to pieces." Pam threatened in a low voice, her hand itching closer to Sookie's throat.
In a surprising turn of events, it was Eric who put himself between Sookie and Pam, merely reaching a hand out and shoving Pam right off of the porch and into the front yard. My eyes grew wide as my head snapped to the side, looking to where Pam was stumbling to her feet, wiping the dirt from her legs and arms. There was an unsettled look on her face and I could tell that she wasn't used to Eric using physical force on her. She may have annoyed him from time to time, but they had a loving maker/progeny bond, much like Eric and Godric did.
"Eric, control yourself." Godric sent his progeny a leveled look. Eric, though not even understand who Godric truly was to him, knew enough, or was just too shy, to argue with him. He just bowed his head, put himself back behind Sookie and tried to look invisible once more.
"You can't tell Bill." Pam slowly stepped back up onto the porch, making sure to keep a distance between Eric and her.
"Why not?" Sookie demanded to know.
"Because he'll just love for a chance to get rid of Eric once and for all." Pam tried to explain as calmly as she could. "It wouldn't be the first time."
"Yeah because Eric tasted me." Sookie reminded, and that fact alone bothered me. I knew Eric had been with other women, both to take their blood and to sleep with, but I still hated having it thrown into my face. Especially by Sookie Stackhouse of all people.
"Oh I did?" Eric sounded gleeful as he spoke, his eyes lighting up as he stared down at the shorter blonde.
"Yeah, against my will. So technically you fang raped me." Sookie spat with pursed lips.
I wanted to slap her for speaking to Eric like that, and from the look on Pam's face, she seemed to feel the same way.
"Oh, sorry." Eric's shoulders slumped forward as his eyes lowered to the ground. Did Eric Northman actually just apologize? Sure, I had heard those words leave his lips before, but it was hardly ever willing, and never for some trivial reason. Eric of the old would have been proud that he had tasted Sookie, even against her will.
Sookie looked up at Eric oddly before shooting the quiet Godric a glance. "What's your take on all of this?"
I too turned to Godric. He had been far too quiet during this all. It was like he was trying to process all that had happened tonight. Either that or he was trying to figure out this new Eric, this new progeny of his. He was like a newborn puppy, lost and new to the big scary world. He wasn't the ruthless monster we were all used to. He didn't know a single one of us and he didn't remember a single thing. It was hard to digest in only a matter of minutes.
"Perhaps we should take this inside." Godric suggested, looking over his shoulder and in the direction of the tree line surrounding Sookie's house.
"You think someone is watching us?" I asked worriedly, looking in the direction I knew Bill's house to be.
"I think we shouldn't be foolish to believe otherwise." he turned his attention back to Sookie. "Miss Stackhouse, if you don't mind..."
"I don't have much of a choice." she sighed heavily, rolling her eyes as she nodded to the house. "Godric, please come in."
Sookie led the way into the house, Eric following after her like the lost little puppy he had become. Pam was next, not wanting to leave her maker's side it seemed. Godric, however, pulled me aside before either of us could enter the house.
"I need you to have an open mind, Savannah. This is not an ideal situation, and I'm sorry for all you've had to go through tonight. But we need cooperation, from everyone." Godric was giving me that knowing look of his. He knew very well that I was on the edge of dragging Eric away from Sookie, whether it was a good idea or not.
"I'll be on my best behaviour." I promised.
"I know this is difficult..."
"Godric, I just want to get this figured out so we can go home; all of us." I assured him, squeezing his hand and leaning forward to brush his lips with mine. "I'll behave."
He rewarded me with a sweet kiss of his own before leading me into the house by the hand. The others stood in the entry way of the simple southern home. I gazed around, trying to find a speck of dirt or some horrid design scheme. But from what I could see, the house looked perfect in every way. Damn Sookie and her damn house.
"Why don't we go into the kitchen and I can explain in more depth what happened tonight." Godric suggested to Sookie. "And Pam can fill me in on what happened prior to Eric showing up at Moon Goddess. You were the last in contact with him, correct"
Pam nodded.
"Why can't we talk about it here?" I questioned.
"Because you and Eric should...spend some time together." Godric nudged me towards the living room.
"But..." I tried to argue, only for him to cut me off.
"You promised to behave."
"When I thought I wasn't going to be treated like a child and be sent to the kids table with the amnesia puppy." I grumbled in a huff.
Godric sighed and clasped a finger under my chin, looking me dead in the eye. "You know how this triumvirate works, Savannah. We may not feel connected to him now, but perhaps being close to you, the key to all of this, it'll help."
"You really think it could?" I wondered curiously.
"It can't hurt." he caressed my cheek with the pad of his thumb.
I hated him for knowing all the right things to say and do to make me do things. "Fine, alright. Go talk, we'll play."
"Nicely." Godric kindly warned, his hand dropping to his side before motioning everyone into the other room.
Once Eric and I were alone, awkward tension littered the air. I didn't know what to say to him. I didn't know how to act around a man I knew so well, and yet at the same time, I now knew nothing about. He was a whole different person. That was evident in the way he was awed by a few photos mounted on the wall. He was fascinated, and scared, by everything.
And that seemed to include me too.
"Why do you smell different?" he asked curiously, his eyebrows furrowed and a frown settled on his lips.
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. Here we go again. "Because, Eric, I'm not an ordinary human. you know that."
"I do?"
"Yes, you do. Just like you know me. Love me actually." I attempted to take a step closer to the vampire, only to stop at the fear that suddenly swept across his face.
"I do?"
"Mhmm." I nodded.
"But...what about Sookie?" he said this as if he was appalled that it wasn't Sookie declaring that he loved her and instead me. I tried not to let his words hurt me. This wasn't him talking, it wasn't him at all. But in some way, it had to be him. Deep down inside, this was a part of the Eric I knew and loved that he had just shuffled this emotional mess far away from the surface. And with good reason.
"I don't really know how to answer that." I admitted with a shrug. "Do you feel any different when we're together as oppose to her?"
Maybe if he could feel that connection, maybe if we could rebuild that bond we shared, we could fix this.
But he, once again, seemed lost and confused.
"Should I?" he tilted his head to the side.
"Yes." I closed my eyes with a sigh.
"I'm sorry." he added, speaking two words that just seemed foreign to hear coming from his mouth.
"Stop saying that." I couldn't stop myself from snapping. "Stop apologizing. Eric Northman does not apologize."
"I'm sorry..." he pouted, his big blue eyes slicing right through my heart.
"I said stop it!" I was letting my anger get the better of me.
Maybe I accidentally slashed at him with that fury, maybe our connection wasn't completely severed, but either way, the moment those words left my lips, the moment that anger rose to the surface, Eric grew scared. He backed up until he was met with the stairs before flashing out of the room all together. I had to blink a few times before realizing he was no longer standing in front of me. I cursed, mentally slapping myself for letting my emotions rule me. I was a necromancer; after all, this was who I was. And Eric, new and old, was connected to that gift in a way that I would never understand. Even if I couldn't feel him there, he was still always going to be a part of me. And with this new timid vampire, anything unknown was going to scare him away.
"Eric?" I called out, hoping he hadn't gone far.
Thankfully, he was only in the living room.
Unfortunately, he wasn't in the best shape.
He was afraid of me. He cowered behind the couch, staring at me with those wide, lost puppy eyes and it tore my heart to pieces. How could Eric ever be afraid of me? How could he ever fear me in anyway? Sure, I was a necromancer, but I would never use my gifts for harm. I wasn't Marnie. I wasn't capable of evil. It wasn't like I asked for any of this. It wasn't like I wanted to specialize in the dead. And now the man that I loved, one third of this complicated triumvirate, was deathly afraid of me.
"Eric..." I took a step forwards, reaching out to Eric. "It's okay; I'm not going to hurt you."
"You...you did this." It was Eric Northman in the flesh, but the moment he opened his mouth and spoke, he sounded like a stranger. "You did this to me."
I shook my head, trying to reason with the now timid vampire. "No, Eric, it wasn't me. It was Marnie, remember? I didn't do this. I would never hurt you."
"How do we know that?" Sookie came walking into the room from the kitchen with her arms crossed, her judging eyes boring right through me. "How do we know you didn't do this?"
"I would never hurt him." I snapped at her. I glared over my shoulder at the blonde, my hands itching to wrap themselves around her neck until her head popped off. "I love Eric."
She didn't look like she believed me, and that irked me. Where did she get off accusing me for all of this? I loved Eric; he was mine and I was supposed to be his. She had no right to blame this all on me. It wasn't my fault. Marnie had been channeling my necromancy; it wasn't like I was the one casting the spell on Eric. No matter how pissed off he made me, I could never hurt Eric. I just couldn't. I wanted to rip her a new one just for even thinking it.
"Maybe not intentionally, but you still did this. Godric told me what you are. You're the reason he's like this." She motioned to Eric, whose head was bowed and was standing awkwardly behind the couch. His shoulders were slouched, his hands fidgeting at his sides nervously. It was just so hard to believe that this was the same person from only a few hours ago.
"Look here, you little..." I spun around and would have leapt at the blonde telepath if Godric hadn't of stepped between us, shooting me a sharp look.
"Savannah." He warned with a shake of his head. "This isn't helping anything.
"She's accusing me of doing this!" I argued in exasperation. "I can't believe you told her about me! How could you? She's probably going to run to Bill now and blame this all on me."
"Maybe I should." Sookie muttered to herself, but could be heard by everyone.
Pam was before her again in a flash, her eyes narrowed into slits. Eric, just as he had been on the porch, straightened and was at Sookie's side in milliseconds to defend her honour. I threw my hands up in the air out of frustration, hating this new Eric. I wanted my Eric back, even if he did have a wandering eye. At least that Eric didn't play coy.
"Look, faerie princess." Pam spat. "If you go to Bill, I'll rip that pretty little head of yours off and put it on my mantle as a trophy."
Eric growled, his fangs descending, looking more like the Eric I was used to than this new little puppy dog version we were cursed with.
"You will be nice to her." Eric demanded, glaring down at his progeny warningly.
Pam glared right on back at him, not standing down. She was fiercely loyal; she loved Eric like a girl would love a father or brother. But she had never taken flack from her maker. She had always stood her ground, no matter what frame of mind Eric was in, and this amnesia wasn't going to change that.
"How about you stop eye fucking the faerie princess and give your human the time of day." She snarled back, her own fangs extending as she planted her hands firmly on her hips. "She's the one you should be defending right now, not blondie."
"Enough." Godric sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he pushed himself between Pam and Eric, sending them both looks that would make even the toughest squirm. "This isn't solving anything."
As much as I hated to admit it, and as much as I would love to hear whatever insults Pam had next for Sookie, I knew Godric was right. This arguing wasn't going to fix Eric; it wasn't going to solve any of our problems. We needed to put our differences aside for the moment and all get on the same page.
"Godric's right." I wrapped my arms around myself and stepped forward. That act sent Eric flying back into his self conscious behaviour, his eyes growing wide as his fangs suddenly retracted. He quickly stepped behind Sookie, using her as some sort of shield that caused my anger to bubble furiously. I clenched my hands into tight fists, gritting my teeth together as I tried to battle passed that anger. "We can't fight right now. We need to figure out what the witch did to Eric and fix it."
Pam didn't look happy about it, but she took a handful of steps back until she was standing on the other side of the room, far away from Sookie and Eric.
"Miss Stackhouse, I understand this is the last thing you wish to deal with, and I apologize for involving you..."
"Again." she surly pointed out.
"Again." Godric nodded, her comment not fazing him at all. "But Eric's in trouble -we all are - and you're the only one we can trust to protect him."
"I'm sorry, what?" I raised an eyebrow in surprise. What was Godric talking about? What had been going on in that kitchen? Maybe I shouldn't have let them discuss things while I wasn't there. Because this sounded like the worst Idea ever. "No. Just no. She doesn't even like Eric, she made that perfectly clear last night when she came barging into Fangtasia."
"No one will suspect to search for Eric here." Godric reasoned, shooting me a glance.
"We can protect him." I shook my head. "He doesn't even need protection. The witches were just pissed off that he attacked Marnie, that's it."
"And what about Bill?" Pam spoke up. "Who is he going to blame for all of this?"
"Me, I'm the necromancer, not Eric."
"He was the one who defended you." Pam pointed out. "He threatened to kill Bill himself for just looking at you the wrong way, cupcake. Bill would gladly kill you both if he had the chance. And this is one hell of a perfect chance."
"Then we'll protect him." I insisted. "We'll be safe."
"Bill will look for Eric, and you, where he'll expect him to be. And that's with Pam and me. Eric needs to be here." Godric turned towards me, a look of apology in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Savannah, but this is what needs to happen."
"No!" I stomped my foot on the ground like a child. I didn't care how immature I sounded or looked. This just wasn't fair. I hated every minute of this. We should have been enough; I should have been enough. But instead the bane of my existence, Sookie friggin Stackhouse, would be the one caring for Eric, protecting him. And that drove me absolutely insane. "No, Godric."
"He'll be safer here."
"But..."
"No buts, Savannah." Godric shook his head. "Sookie and I have already discussed the details. Eric built himself a light tight room here in her home and it must have been for a reason; he felt safe. Perhaps he knew something we didn't, either way, he'll remain here until we can..."
"What about his safe house? You said only you and Pam know its whereabouts other than Eric. Why can't we just take him there?" I was grasping at straws now, ignoring for the moment the fact that Eric had built himself a room here in Sookie's house. I just couldn't let myself stray on that thought. Not right now anyways.
"It will be safer to keep him here." Godric stepped forward, his voice calm and soothing, his attempt at calming me down.
"No."
"Savannah."
"I said no." I marched passed Godric, not thinking straight as I stormed to Eric's side and grasped onto his arm. "Eric, it's time to go. You're coming with us. We're who you belong with."
Instead of complying, instead of moving towards me with any hint of recognition or love, Eric back peddled, nearly stumbling over his own two feet as he tried to get away from me.
"I-I don't know you." he whispered, his eyes so lost and full of fear. "You did this. You did this to me. I don't like you."
"But I didn't do this." I tried to make him believe. "It was Marnie, not me."
"Witch." he accused, still moving backwards until his back was met with the wall. He pressed himself against the solid wall, looking as if he wished he could slip right through it like a ghost.
It brought tears to my eyes to see him like this, to see him rather Sookie over me, to see him afraid of me and what I was.
"Eric, please..." I pleaded with him. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"I think it's time you leave." Sookie stepped in, placing herself in front of Eric. Her lips were pursed together and she stared at me as if I was the worst person in the world. And that should have angered me. I should have wanted to hit her. But instead, I felt the beast inside of me whine, curling into a tight ball just as I wished to be doing in that moment.
"Let's go." Godric was behind me, laying his hand on my shoulder. "The longer we stay, the more suspicious Bill and his spies will get. We need to leave, to protect both Erica and you. Once Bill hears of what happened, he'll come looking for you. We need to keep you safe as well, my love."
I couldn't even argue. I knew the next words that came out of my mouth would be a sob, or desperate plea to Eric. My heart felt empty and void and I wanted more than anything to grasp onto that bond that Eric and I shared. I missed our link. I missed feeling him, even when he was a raging lunatic. I wanted my Eric back.
And this vampire before me, he wasn't my Eric at all. Not really.
So I let Godric lead me out of the house. I shot Eric one last glance before Godric swept me up into his arms and took off into the night sky, leaving behind our third, our missing piece. And it felt like a part of myself was missing, was torn away from me. Because that's exactly what Eric was; he was a part of me now. The moment this triumvirate had been formed, we had all become one. How could you function with a chunk of yourself missing? You couldn't. You just couldn't.
"We'll fix this, Savannah. We have to." Godric assured me as we flew.
But was this new Eric fixable?