Author's Note:

1. I join Tumblr now. I don't post much for the moment; I just started. But if you want to see pictures, songs, or anything that inspire me during my writing, please visit : serenadeyoursilence dot tumblr dot com/ (replace the dot with . please). I'll post pictures of places I describe in this story and others.

2. Pressure Saucepan... or you know it as Pressure Cooker. But back then, at the beginning (1938/1939) according to the information that I had, they were called 'pressure saucepan'. Since my setting is on 1939, I choose to use Pressure saucepan.

3. Early this year, a new snake species was found in Tanzania. They name it 'Mathilda's horned viper'. It's black and yellow and has a kind of black horned above the eyes, and it's fascinated me (nerd alert). A little history, Tanzania was occupied by German, I think until 1914, before English, Belgium and Portuguese took over (as the result of slicing the cake action by League of Nations (former United Nations). Tanzania is located on East Africa.

4. The German words:

- Missgeburt: Freak

- Schwesterherz: Sister

- Geh = imperative form of Gehen (go).

- zu ihm = to him.

- unseren Park : our park

- Wo ist sie? : Where is she?

- Was : What

- Nein : No.

Chapter Ten

Different Paths

"Where are we going?" asked Sookie, as she entered the car.

"Oberst's office," said the man Eric called 'Bob'.

"Will Eric come with us?"

"No."

"I have to tell my friends where I am going," said Sookie. "Could we stop by at...,"

"Sorry, Miss," Bob started the car. "Herr Oberst's order is clear. We have to go straight to the office."

"No," Sookie opened the door. "I can't leave without telling them anything."

Bob leaned over the seat and stopped her from doing it. "Listen, Miss. It's unusual that Eric wants me to take his women along. Normally, he would simply make them forget...," he looked at her. She knew,he thought. She knew about Eric."Since you seem to know him well, I suggest you follow his order. The situation is much worse than you thought."

"Who are they?" asked Sookie. "You said, 'They are coming'. Who are they?"

"The Werewolves," he said.

"Which ones?" Sookie felt, she didn't have any reason to hide anymore. Bob seemed to be Eric's day-helper. He must have known what happened.

She knew about them, too. Bob lifted his hand. Who is she? "The other ones."

"Why does he have to go? He can handle them, can't he?"

"They may not know Eric's human connection. If they find Eric there...,"

"They won't be able to sense him," Sookie interrupted him. "He's too old for them." Or, she hoped so.

"So you know. Then, you'd better do what he said," he turned around and started the car. "Because if they find you at Heidi-Marie's place, you will be dead. I'll take care of your friends. By tomorrow, they will know you're with us."

Sookie looked at Heidi-Marie's apartment. At the window, Eric's pale figure stood still. His blood-red robe was like the red linen the matadors waved around in front of an angry bull. It's just, there was no angry bull but the lurking vampires' slaves werewolves. She turned her view to Bob, who was driving the car away slowly. "You trust him, don't you, Bob?"

"With my life, Miss. And I suggest you to do the same."

Trusting a vampire with her life would be like a lamb trusts a wolf not to eat him. But it seemed she didn't have any choice. Whether to face the Nazi werewolves or to trust Eric with her life was no choice at all. She was the lamb now, and somehow she had to find a way to get away from the wolf.

A block away from Heidi-Marie's apartment, the car stopped. A man, dressed up in gray trench coat, a black hat and thick framed glasses opened the door and sat beside Sookie.

"Reuben," said Bob.

"Bob."

Reuben... Eric sent Reuben...this must be more urgent than I thought, said Bob in his mind.

The new man looked at her. His mind was as blank as the look in his eyes. "Good evening, Miss," he said.

Sookie nodded.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," that man reached out his hand. However, before Sookie was able to answer him, his hand grabbed her mouth and soon, a strange smell reached her nose.

"B...," was the last thing she remember coming out of her mouth. Everything was black afterwards, and somewhere at the back of her mind, she cursed Eric.

x

The four ram statues stood still at each end of the bridge that crossed over the river, watching the flow of the water, which was like following every inch of the soil curve, and made it look like a snake.

Wikingufer – The Viking's Shore as Sookie had translated, is a river bank. It is a quite nice place, actually. It has a four-foot path to walk and banks for sitting. Trees – willows, apples and trees which remind him of maples, are planted on each side of the river. A line of hedges separated the path from the main road. In a way, they all make the place a nice place to sit or to watch the sun set.

Sam Merlotte looked at the ram statue across from him. It was as gray as some soldier's uniform, who had passed by him some time ago. The snow that landed on its head now looked like a kind of halo. An imagination of a strange horned figure flashed in front of him, and without being able to help himself, he shuddered.

Slowly he stepped down the stairs made of cement, which led to the river bank.

He had never agreed with this crazy decision to go to Germany and looked for Alcide. None of these decisions was to his liking; neither Herveaux', which put Sookie in such situation, nor King Russel's. That girl owed Herveaux, that's true, but not that much! No girl should be sent straight to hell just because a nosy werewolf managed to get his own tail trapped! And King Russell had made everything possible. He had kind of hoped Kragh would have objected, but Kragh seemed to have his own agenda by agreeing to take them to Berlin.

Sam tightened his jacket and put out the red scarf. After last night, he had even greater angst that whatever they were dealing with was a number too big for them. He told Sookie he would be the one who went to Wikingerufer, and he would appreciate if she stayed put. He couldn't speak German, but it woouldn't stop him. He was a shifter, and like any other shifters, one of his survival tools is a sharp sense to find water. And if it didn't work, there were buses and taxis in the city. They had to know where Wikingerufer was. And they did. Even with his poor English, the taxi driver knew where it was. It lay some minutes away from Thusnelda-Allee.

Debbie would protect her, he assured her. She was weak for the moment, but as soon as she got enough rest, she would be on her feet again before Sookie even realized. He didn't know much about Debbie Pelt. However, her family's reputation as a hunter was quite well known. They had been hired by many, and the results were satisfactory. Whoever hired a Pelt, they got their money's worth, every penny. Still, there was still something he couldn't really put his finger on. Something that bothered him, but he didn't really know what or why. It was just a feeling.

As a shifter, emotions were as clear as water in the mountain springs to him. It was as if he could see it with his bare eyes. Nothing comes between them. The more intense the feelings are, the clearer they will be for him. Some shifters call it a gift, and some call it a curse. He tended to be one of the latter.

Emotions, or feelings as he preferred to call them, are like drizzling rain in Autumn, when the wind is strong, and the air starts to get colder. It will fall on his hair, down to his skin, enter every pore and follows him wherever he goes like a bad smell. He can't get rid of it and it's not worth it to change his clothes either, because they are not wet.

Now, stranded in a land where the sound of its language was as strange as its name, he had to face the only thing he couldn't stand: feelings. Back at home, at least, he was still able to understand what people tried to say. But here, he had to depend completely on his instincts, on understanding emotions, either his own or the ones he met. And it wasn't easy, worse, it made him unable to concentrate on the surrounding people... Especially, Sookie.

Sam sighed. Ah, Sookie. They had met for the first time around eight years ago, when Sookie started working for King Russell. A young girl, fresh from the school – a human girl, worked for a vampire king, not just any vampire king, but one of the strongest and the richest. In the beginning, he thought Sookie was King Russell's blood supply, but then he noticed she never had any vampires' bite marks on her skin. Later on, he also noticed, that The Long Tooth Pack – a werewolf pack, whose members lived around King Russell's mansions, watched and protected her from a distance. Herveaux' s orders, he heard.

Still, it didn't explain why either King Russell or a werewolf pack treated her the way they treated her.

Sam started to observe her. Sookie was a beautiful girl, not the kind of beauty which will turn the head around, but she was beautiful on her own merit: blond hair, blue eyes and tanned skin. She has a full figure with a shape of a pear. It was hard not to watch how she moved every time she passed by. Her round hip would swing, and the skirt she wore would move teasingly. And when they talked to each other, which was rarely and mostly about business, he had to make sure his eyes didn't stray to her voluptuous breasts. He would give anything to be able to caress her figure, but then again, he wasn't the only one.

Then everything changed, as he found out Sookie could listen to people's mind. People's minds to Sookie was like emotions to him. One look, and she would be able to find out your deep, darkest secret in your mind. Sookie must have felt uncomfortable to hear all those thoughts men had every time they looked at her figure.

Sam didn't know how many people had the same ability like Sookie's; however, he was certain she wasn't the only one. It was very unlikely King Russell kept her for that reason only. She must have had something... something that attracted even the most powerful vampire he had ever known. But what?

He had heard rumors that grew stronger among shifters and werewolves about the return of the fairies; strange creatures that used to dwell in the forests until human and vampires had driven them away to exile. He had never seen one, but from the stories that had been told by fathers to sons, fairies were more or less like shifters, but in a different sense. Shifters could change into any animal they had previously seen. It was like a photographic memory; shifters would be able to imprint the animal right to the last details. Fairies, on the other hand, could change into any shape, according to what the encounter wished to see; human, weres and even vampires. They were in their own way, irresistible. Shifters and werewolves wanted to know their secret of powers for there was nothing more a werewolf desired than the ability to change to any kind of animal, or in a higher state – just like what shifters wished – to human. What the vampires wanted from fairies, no shifters or werewolves knew. There were some rumors, which Sam could not tell whether or not they were true, vampires were drawn to fairies for they gave the very thing they desired, the warmth of the sunlight. Some even went further by saying, fairies blood made them able to stay under the sun. Rubbish, Sam would say. No blood could do that. Perhaps it was like the working of fake pills. It made them think they could. Yet, since he never met any fairy, he could not say for certain that it wasn't.

Sam put his hands on the iron fence that separated the path from the river. The water was covered with thin ice. Not yet clearly seen, but thick enough for his eyes to see.

Could it be that Sookie was a fairy? If she was, how could he always see her as Sookie? And if she was a normal human – as normal as Sookie could be, then why did King Russell keep her alive for so long and untouched?

Untouched... wasn't that what the vampire, who attacked Debbie had ordered, the Vampire Eric? 'Don't touch her,' he said. Why? Why wasn't Eric allowed to touch Sookie? Was it because he knew Sookie worked for a vampire king or was it because of something else. Eric...Eric... why was that name familiar to him? Where did he hear that name before?

A rustle in the bush made him turn around. A yellow-black snake came out from the middle of the bush and slowly came to him. Sam stood still. A snake... in the middle of the city...in Germany...and what were those things above its eyes? Horns? Did that snake have horns or was it just his eyes?

Sam rubbed his eyes. Yes, that snake had horns above its eyes. He might not know Germany well, but he didn't think snakes in the city would be something normal. It couldn't be a normal snake – if a horned snake could be called normal by any circumstances anyway. It was a shifter.

The snake touched his boot and then moved away from him.

Somebody was trying to contact him.

He looked at the snake. Should he or should he not follow it? He looked around. The main road behind him was buzzing with traffic. As long as nobody saw him following a snake, or saw the snake itself... there should be no problem. Well, he took a deep breath. "Well, Merlotte," he said to himself. "Now or never."

Some steps forward and he stopped. What if he was wrong? Oh, it was a shifter for sure...but what if that snake was a trap? Who else beside Sookie, Debbie and Kragh knew he was a shifter? Edvard, perhaps? But Edvard wouldn't dare to do anything against him! Or would he?

The snake stopped and turned around. Its forked tongue went out and in. Softly it hissed. It wanted him to continue walking.

Slowly, he followed it. Perhaps it was the one who had given Karl the letter and the scarf. What would he say to it when it asked about Karl? Did it know Karl was dead?

But the snake slithered faster, and he couldn't think anymore. He didn't want anybody else to see either the snake or him following it.

The banks ended with a curve turn to the river on the right side, and a gate on the left side. The snake wasn't there to be seen.

Sam stopped walking. He knew, if he continued walking, he wouldn't see a snake, but a human, either a woman or a man. And whoever it would be, would see him.

Then, he felt a hot wave touch his face; but before he could find the source, that wave hit him again.

His hands formed claws and made himself ready. He was facing an instable shifter. This hot wave wasn't a normal wave either, it was culmination of feelings; feelings, that had been suppressed like water, which was being boiled inside a pressure saucepan. Sooner or later, the maximum pressure would be reached, and then the valve would let out a high screaming voice. And that kind of feeling was the most dangerous of all.

"So be it," he hissed and went through the gate.

A black boot coming out from a black car, and then a Walther, were the first things that he saw. "Mr. Sam Merlotte," a familiar voice greeted him. "Worked as planned."

Mueller. Slowly he came out of the car, pointing the gun at him. Inside the car, a woman was sitting. Her legs, which were not covered by the long black mantel she wore, were bare and pale.

"Mueller," Sam hissed. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon."

"Give me the scarf, Mr. Merlotte, and slowly please. You don't want my hand to become shaky and pull the trigger, do you?"

"Mr. Kragh is not going to like if he finds out what you do, Mueller."

Mueller grinned. "Oh yes, of course. If he finds out, naturally. But what if he never finds out?" he raised his gun and aimed it at Sam's head.

"You are not saying you will kill me and dump my body in the river...,"

"Oh, I will kill you, and I will dump your body in the river; and nobody will even notice you are not there."

Sam looked at the woman who sat in the car. Her face was turned to the other direction and the part he could see was covered with her dirty blond hair. Her hands which were holding the jacket's collar were shaking. "And you trust your lady friend that she would keep her mouth shut after witnessing her kind being murdered?"

"Her kind...yes... the cursed Missgeburt...Freaks...," Mueller continued his sentence in German. Sam didn't understand what he was saying, but from the woman's reaction by coiling herself, he guessed it wasn't exactly a compliment.

"She would not say anything, would you, Schwesterherz?"

"Schwesterherz...she's your sister...?"

Mueller spat on the ground. "Born and raised in Tanzania...but yes, she is my sister. Enough about me, Mr. Merlotte. Give me the scarf, and everything will be faster for you. NOW!"

Sam opened the scarf and gave it to Mueller. That man meant business, he'd better play along before Mueller got angrier and shot him. "What about … what is his name...Schulz?"

"Ah, Schulz," Mueller snatched the scarf. "...he will drive us today."

What? But there was nobody else in the car.

"Hanna!" Mueller said, almost yelling.

That woman shook her head frantically. "Nein...," she said. "Nein...,"

"Ha...NNA," Mueller's voice was getting louder.

"Nein...," Hanna's voice sounded broken.

Bang! The heatwave hit him again. Sam felt his heart race faster. That woman was on the edge of losing her control. He didn't know what she could do. However, if she could change herself into that strange looking snake, honest to himself, Sam didn't want to imagine what she was capable of. "Hey, Mister...," he said, trying to cool down the situation. "I gave you the scarf; I wouldn't force your sister to do something she didn't want if I were you."

"But you are not me," Mueller's eyes flashed dangerously. "AND NEVER EVER COMPARE YOURSELF TO ME, YOU FREAK! HANNA! DO AS I SAY OR YOU WON'T GET YOUR BLOOD!"

Sam looked at Hanna. What did Mueller say with 'her blood'?

"Nein...," Hanna whimpered. "Nein...," She trembled. And slowly, right before his eyes, her body was shifting. Her dirty blond hair changed into dark brown...her face features became more and more masculine... and...

"Jesus!" Sam moved backward. "Jesus Christ!"

Hanna wasn't there anymore. Instead, sitting, wearing nothing but black jacket was Schulz.

"She...she... he...," Sam pointed at Hanna, opened his mouth, but no word left.

"Yes, Mr. Merlotte. My sister Hanna is Schulz, for more than a year. You want to know how she can do that?" Mueller's face was covered with anger and disgust. "She had killed our mother...," he spat on the ground. "Not that I missed her. She is just another Missgeburt, just like you."

"But...no,...that's not possible...you are not a fairy...,"

"No," said Schulz. His voice was Hanna's. "To be able to change into human, you only have to kill your brother, sister or parents with... a high prize...," tears ran down on his face. "You have to sell your soul to the Devil...,"

"Enough with all this nonsense! Get in the car, Mr. Merlotte. Hanna, you drive!"

Hanna got out, opened the driver's door and slammed it as she sat inside.

"Hanna, shift yourself and leave," Sam said. "You don't have to be a part of this killing. Leave, Hanna. Save yourself."

Mueller pushed him into the car. "She is safe as long as she stays with me, and she knows it." He closed the door. "Drive, Hanna!"

"You won't get away with this, Mueller. My friends will recognize the difference between your sister and me. Besides, she won't be able to hold the shape forever!"

"Wo gehen wir hin?" asked Hanna. Sam cringed. He knew the man, who sat on the front was not a man, but still his appearance was. And hearing a big man like Schulz talking with a high-pitch tone of voice was too surreal, even for him.

"Unseren Park."

Sam looked at the mirror. "Please, Hanna... take the chance and leave," he said, as he saw Hanna's right eye was slit like a snake's. The woman was changing... possibly she wasn't able to keep the shape too long. "We work for a powerful vampire. And he is coming to Berlin. If he knows you are not me, you'll put yourself in a dangerous situation."

Mueller snorted. "You think Mr. Kragh didn't know anything about this?"

"What?" Sam looked at Mueller.

"Whom do you think we work for, Mr. Merlotte, if not for Mr. Kragh and his kind?"

"Jesus!" Blood rushed to his head. Kragh knew about this...did it mean King Russell knew about this?

"My hands are tied," the gun in Mueller's hand was shaking. "I can't hide the Freak forever, and certainly I don't want to be stuck in this rank...and I can't kill her either...," a smile was on his face, bitter. "Whatever you think about me, Mr. Merlotte, I am not a monster. I love my sister... but I can't have her forever... until one day, Edvard came to me and gave me a solution, which turned out to be beneficial for both of us."

"What did he offer you?" Sam grabbed his own hands, which started trembling uncontrollably. Sookie and Debbie were still in Kragh's place. He had to get out of this car alive and as soon as possible. The girls had to know, they had to get out of there!

"Something to release her from pain.. you see, Mr. Merlotte," Mueller raised his gun to Sam's head. "Being able to change into human destroy her bones and her mind. She needs a strong medication to survive."

"Morphine...are you talking about morphine?"

"Stronger than morphine, but works just the same."

"Jörg...," said Schulz, then he continued in German. Mueller looked at the road behind them. Sam followed his gazing, and saw two cars not so far from them, running with the same speed as theirs. Somebody was following them.

Schulz said something again, which was answered by a loud yell from Mueller. Then, Schulz hit the gas. The car ran faster; Mueller yelled louder. The gun in his hand was waved wildly. Sam took the chance and grabbed the gun. Mueller yelled again. His face was red and full of anger as he fought Sam. The car swung to the left and right, but none of them cared. They kicked, pushed each other's head, trying to take control over the gun. And then...bang! The gun made a loud noise. The smell of burning metal filled the air, and the screech of tires broke the silence on the road.

Sam lost. Mueller still had his gun and now he was cocking it. Hanna returned to her own shape, shaking and murmuring some words. "I should've done this the first time I saw you," he said. "I knew the three of you would only cause problems. I just never thought how far you would go. Now that I know you are involved with the Red Chapel, the easier it will be for us to destroy those sons of bitches...,"

Red Chapel?

"Auf wiedersehen, Mr. Merlotte...," Mueller raised the gun. But before he was able to do anything, two hands grabbed him, and dragged him out of the car.

"Geh, Hanna!" he yelled. "Geh! Zu ihm!"

Sam looked at Hanna. "Go, Hanna! Now!"

Hanna looked at Sam. Her brown eyes got big and watery... and puff, she disappeared. Vaguely Sam heard something buzzing and then...

"Wo ist sie?"

Sam turned to the voice. A man popped up at the window. "I don't understand...," he said. "I don't speak German."

"The driver... where is she?" He sniffed. "You're a shifter."

"Yes, I am." he said and went out of the car. Mueller was on the ground. Three man were surrounding him and a woman stood some steps away from him with the red scarf in her hand.

"That's my scarf," Sam said.

"No, it isn't," said the woman with Canadian accent. "I gave it to Karl. Where is he now?"

"You're the Mackenzie," said Sam.

"Maybe I am, maybe I am not."

"You and your friend saved my friend."

"The Fox," said the man who stood beside him.

"Yes, the Fox. And now you save me." Sam looked around. They were at a road surrounded by trees...they were at some kind of forest. Was there any forest in Berlin? "Thank you," he forced himself to concentrate. "But I have to go, now. I have to warn my friends... we have to get out of that house...,"

"Too late," said the man. "You can't return to that house."

"Why not?"

"Didn't your friend tell you? The vampires' slaves are already in Berlin. Rumors has it, their master will arrive anytime soon, recruiting and sealing a pact with the devil himself."

King Russell...

"I have to go."

"Sorry, my friend, but we can't allow you. The only way you can contact Herveaux is through us. He doesn't trust anybody else."

"Not before he tells us Karl's whereabouts," said the Mackenzie woman.

"He's dead," said Sam. "Killed by Reichard's father."

"And you happened to have the scarf...," she went to him. Her eyes were yellowish. "Give me one reason why I should not kill you...," her hands were spread. Slowly, her nails were changing into black.

Sam moved backward. "I found the letter and the scarf... my friend told me it was important to contact Herveaux...,"

"Karl wouldn't tell anybody," now her arms were covered with long golden brown fur.

"My friend... she can read minds...," Sam bit his lower lips and prayed that Sookie would understand the reason he did it.

Silence. Nobody said or moved. Even Mueller, who had been lying on the ground, cursing, now was quiet with his mouth open.

"She can read minds?" The Mackenzie woman looked at Sam, then at her friend. "Human minds?"

"Any mind," said Sam. "Yours, mine... even vampire's." Sookie never told him whose minds she could read; but Sam could only guess that she did.

"You have to come with us," said the man.

"I can't. I have to reach my friends."

"There's another way than to let yourself fall into traps," said the man. "Trust me, my friend. You'll be safe with us."

"What about him?" he pointed at Mueller.

"He'll be taken care of," the man looked at Mueller and spat. "It's about the time that he tastes his works."

"Was? Nein!" Mueller tried to get up, but soon he was on the ground again. One of the men kicked him in the stomach and then put his boots on it.

"Come, Shifter!" the man said, walking to one of the cars. "The sooner we leave this place, the better it will be. We can't risk the chance his woman will return with aid."

"What about my friends... how will you contact them?"

That man smiled. "We will. But for the moment, you have to take the different path, my friend, if you want to survive."