Chapter Twenty-Eight:
"Are you sure you looked everywhere?" Pam raised an eyebrow as she watched her maker's hurried search throughout the house. She stood in the front hallway, barely taking more than two steps into the house. "She couldn't have just disappeared."
"If you're not going to help me look for her then you can leave," Eric came to a sudden stop before her, hissing in her face before taking off in a fury for the living room.
Pam rolled her eyes but followed her maker into the room. She stifled a laugh at the state it was in. Couch cushions had been torn apart, the couch overturned and on top of what was once a coffee table. Books were scattered along the floor while the TV now lay in a heap of pieces.
"I do hope you realize Mackenzie wouldn't have been hiding in this," Pam snorted as she lifted a mangled pillow before tossing it to the side. "You're being ridiculous, Eric."
"She's gone, Pamela. Mackenzie is gone," Eric stood in the middle of the room, his eyes darting to every corner, to every nook and cranny. "She's nowhere."
"She's five. She couldn't have just disappeared with a poof," Pam tried to reason. She had never seen her maker so frazzled before in her life. He would lose his temper; she had seen his anger on more than one occasion. But Eric hadn't just lost his temper tonight; he had lost his entire mind! "You need to calm down."
"Do not tell me to calm down!" he roared, his fangs extending with a sharp click. "I didn't call you to give me attitude."
"Well then what would you like me to do then?" she planted her hands firmly on her hips. "Don't give me attitude when you were the one who lost her. Just wait until Godric hears about this."
Eric was before her in a flash, baring his fangs in her face. "He will not know of this. Understood?"
She couldn't help but smirk at the state her maker was in. He would never admit it out loud, but he had come to care for the girl he insisted was nothing more than a burden. In only a handful of months Mackenzie had somehow wrapped Eric around her tiny human fingers. It was both amusing and disgusting for Pam to watch.
"Eric, calm down. I won't utter a word of this to Godric, alright?" Pam's expression softened as she reached a hand up to cup his cheek. "She's likely just being a brat and hiding."
"Then why can't I find her?" his shoulders sagged in defeat. "Where is she?"
"Are you sure you checked everywhere? Her bedroom? The kitchen? Your office?"
"I've checked every room," what Pam could only describe as fear crossed his face. "She's gone,"
"She couldn't have just walked out the front door," she pointed out, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to think of where Mackenzie could possibly be. "Are you sure you…"
"Ask me that again, Pamela," he warned in a low tone. "She's not here."
He looked helpless. He, Eric Northman, looked like an absolute nervous wreck. It was a struggle for Pam to see her maker in such a way. He was usually so strong, so eerily calm. He wasn't acting like the thousand year old ruthless Viking that he was. And all because of some human child.
"We'll find her, Eric," she promised him, offering the smallest of smiles. She may not approve of the brat or the fact they were now stuck with her for the next thirteen years at the very least, but she would do whatever she could to ease her maker's worry. "You check upstairs again, and I'll check down here."
"I've already…"
"It won't hurt to look again," Pam ushered him out of the room. "It's either check again or we really will have to call Godric."
Apprehension filled Eric's usually stone cold orbs. "He'd take her away if he knew."
Pam didn't voice her belief that it would be better for them all if Godric cared for the girl and instead simply nodded and motioned for them to begin. She had had plenty of arguments with Eric over Mackenzie; now was not the time for another.
They spent nearly an hour tearing the house apart, checking every single room, every closet, under every bed in search of the small child. Pam had begun to understand Eric's frustration; the girl may have been tiny, but she was infuriating. They should have been able to find her. But there were no traces of the girl. Not even a pair of shoes was missing.
"I take it back; she has disappeared with a poof," Pam muttered to herself, dusting herself off as she rose gracefully onto her feet. She had discarded her pumps after breaking a heel looking for the brat and she was beginning to grow annoyed that she would need to have the wrinkles steamed from her outfit. "I swear when I find that little brat…"
She froze as her gaze caught sight of the back door as she exited Eric's office for the third time. Her eyebrows shot up into her hairline as a thought struck her.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me," she growled, storming over to the door that was ever so slightly propped open. Tearing it open, Pam was greeted with a sight she was both relieved and annoyed to find. "You are in so much trouble, rug rat."
Mackenzie's head snapped up, her eyes growing wide. Her futile attempt at swinging on the rickety swing their day man had struggled to put up stilled as she slowly turned her head towards the door.
"I found the little brat, Eric," Pam called into the house, her hands planting firmly on her hips as she glared at the girl. A small whimper escaped the girl's lips as she clutched onto the swing chains in fright. She knew better than to anger her guardians.
Eric was beside Pam in only a blink of an eye, his hair sticking in every direction, his shirt wrinkled beyond belief. Pam snorted at his appearance, but was quieted by his dark glare.
"Mackenzie," his voice was low, so low that even Pam hesitated before following her maker across the yard to the swing set. Mackenzie was off the swing in seconds, darting in the opposite direction. Even without their great speed, Eric was able to catch her around the waist, raising her into his arms with ease. "What the hell do you think you're doing out here?"
She was shaking in his arms, her bottom lip quivering.
"Mackenzie," his eyes narrowed into slits. "Do you know how long I have been looking for you? You're supposed to be in your room."
"I-I…" she began, only for her eyes to water.
"You know you're not supposed to be out here alone. How many times do I have to tell you that? Huh? Do you enjoy disobeying me? Do you find my rules a joke, Mackenzie?"
Not a word was uttered as a single tear slipped down her rounded cheeks. Eric struggled not to crack at the sight; She was just a bratty child that needed to learn a lesson. But as another whimpered escaped her lips, his hardened expression crumbled. He hated that after a thousand years of killing humans without a second thought, one mere girl was able to break him.
"She has you wrapped around her little finger," Pam shook her head with an eye roll. She knew it the moment Mackenzie began to shake in fear that Eric wouldn't be able to punish the girl. Tears of a human seemed to have become his weakness. This time, Pam did feel disgust. "The little brat needs to be punished, Eric. She ruined my shoes!"
"I'll buy you a new pair," Eric murmured, brushing Mackenzie's tears away with the pad of his thumb.
"That isn't the point!" she huffed.
Eric ignored her as he lowered himself to the ground, placing Mackenzie on her tiny feet. He caught her chin, forcing her cowering gaze to meet his. "Mackenzie, would you like to explain to me why you left your room and came outside without asking?"
She shook her head, her blonde curls flying over her dainty shoulders.
"Mackenzie," he warned. "You're supposed to be in your room, not outside. You know you're not allowed out here without supervision."
"But I…I wanted to swing!" her voice was tiny as she tried to reason with him. She glanced between Eric and the swing set before dropping her gaze to her feet.
"That does not excuse the fact that you were not supposed to be out here in the first place," Eric shook his head. "I don't enjoy punishing you, Mackenzie."
Her bottom lip jutted out as she began to shift her weight from foot to foot. "I've never…I've never been on one before."
Eric's eyebrows furrowed, trying to understand her excuse. As realization dawned, his chest tightened. He gazed over at the swing set and cursed Mackenzie's parents. He shouldn't have been surprised at their lack of interest in their own daughter, at their disregard for her, but yet he was. She was only a little girl. She was their flesh and bone. How could they treat her so terribly?
"I'm sorry," Mackenzie mumbled, swaying back and forth.
Eric sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I still have to punish you, Mackenzie. You disobeyed my order."
"I know," he was surprised when she accepted defeat so quickly. She had always challenged him, ever since the first night she had come to live with them. She was a spitfire, and he could only imagine how she would turn out to be as a teenager. Eric was shocked that she so willingly agreed with him.
"Next time you want to come outside to play, you will ask either Pam or I first, is that understood?" he sent her a pointed look, catching her gaze again.
Her round cheeks flushed a deep shade of red as she slowly nodded. "Yes."
"Good girl," he lifted her back up into his arms, his lips twitching as a small squeal sounded from her lips. "I'll see to it that Karen teaches you how to swing after your punishment is over."
Her eyes grew wide and bright at the prospect. "Really?"
"Don't get too excited. You're grounded for a week," Eric snorted as he carried the girl inside the house, ignoring Pam's eye roll and look of disgust.
"What does grounded mean?" Mackenzie asked innocently as she glanced over Eric's shoulder at the swing set longingly before the door was slammed shut by Pam. She pouted and turned her attention back onto her guardian.
"It means you're going to become very familiar with your room."
"Eric?" Sookie's voice broke Eric found his thoughts.
The vampire snarled as his chest tightened. Only once before had he ever feared for Mackenzie's well-being like he was in that moment. He had thought he had lost her after only just convincing Godric that he would protect her with his life. She had only been a little girl and she had disappeared right under his nose. He had never felt fear before that moment; not true fear. He had felt like tearing his hair out, like ripping everything and everyone apart just for Mackenzie to be somewhere. Pam had thoroughly enjoyed teasing him over the ordeal weeks later. But Mackenzie hadn't disappeared then; she had simply been in the backyard. She had been innocently trying to swing on her favourite swing all along. He hadn't lost her after all.
But Mackenzie was no longer a five-year-old child and she wasn't innocently playing outside. She was gone.
His rage unleashed, Eric grasped the whimpering blood bag by the throat and shook him roughly. His chains rattled as he screamed for help. But no one would hear him. No one would come to his aid. Eric would make certain he would never step one foot outside of that basement again.
"Where is she?" Eric growled, reaching his hand up to grasp at his wrist, snapping it with ease. Cries of pain filled the basement, followed by a squeak of surprise from the telepath. "Where the fuck is she?"
"Eric!" Sookie called out to him. "I'm not going to hear anything if you keep hurting him."
Her reasoning did nothing to calm the vampire as he squeezed the captive's throat with glee. He would make them all pay for taking Mackenzie away from him.
"Stop it!" Sookie shook off Bill's pleading hands as she grabbed onto Eric's arm and tugged with all that she could. "Let me try again. Please. We won't find her if you just kill him. Let me try."
Eric's hand tightened for only a moment before he let his arm fall to his side. Glaring darkly at the pathetic excuse for a human, Eric took a single step back as Sookie squeezed between the two. She sent the Viking a pointed look before gingerly placing her hands on either side of the whimpering boy's face.
"Just show me where she is," Sookie muttered in plea under her breath. The quicker this boy did, the quicker the pain would go away. She knew Eric would kill him, and while the thought disgusted her, she knew she could not change his fate. But she could hopefully help make it quicker than the torture Eric truly wanted the boy to endure.
Closing her eyes, Sookie concentrated on his thoughts. He was doing everything that he could not to think of the fellowship or of Mackenzie. But as the pain grew unbearable, his focus had begun to waver. Slowly, flashes of thoughts crossed his mind, blurry images appearing. Sookie focused on each one, pushing further into his mind than she had ever gone before. She had never used her gifts to this degree before. She could feel her hands shaking, but she refused to stop. She was so close to finding where Mackenzie was. She only needed to push a little further.
Finally, when hope was beginning to diminish, a gasp sounded from Sookie's lips. Her eyes snapped open, her jaw dropping in shock.
"What? What is it?" Eric stepped forward, hope lacing his words. "Did you see her? Do you know where they took her?"
"Sookie?" Bill questioned hesitantly, worried for her well-being. "Are you…"
"I'm fine, Bill." Sookie's hands remained in place as her gaze raised to meet Eric's. "I know where she is."
"You're certain?"
The moment she nodded, Eric ripped the telepath away from the boy, his hand finding itself settled within his chest. Sookie yelped, scurrying into Bill's arms with wide eyes.
"Eric!"
He ignored her as he tore out the boy's heart, enjoying holding the organ in his hands as the body before him grew limp. He would ensure every single member of the fellowship met the same fate. Her family, however, he would enjoy dragging out their death. They would pay dearly for what they had done to Mackenzie.
"Was that really necessary?" Sookie shook her head, digging her face into Bill's chest. Her stomach churned as the smell of blood littered the air. She wasn't sure she would ever get used to the smell of blood or the sight of a dead body.
"Yes," Eric stated simply, throwing the heart next to it's lifeless body. He licked his fingers clean of blood as he turned towards Sookie, ignoring Bill's warning glare. "Where is she? What did you see?"
"Do we have to talk of this here?" Bill nodded at the body, his arms tightening possessively around Sookie's shaking form.
"Where. Is. She," Eric demanded to know, his eyes narrowing. He would have no qualm of killing another that night, especially if that was Bill Compton.
"It's okay," Sookie's voice wavered but she bravely shot a glance over her shoulder to the Viking. She shuddered at the blood staining his lips. "You're right; she's with the Fellowship."
"Where?"
"Dallas," her eyes fluttered closed as she remembered she images she had seen. "It's unlike any church I've ever seen. Is it even a church? It was like…well it was like they were preparing for war."
Eric's hands curled into tight fists at his sides. "And they shall have one."
Sookie watched him carefully as the fury raged inside of the Viking. He was truly terrifying in that moment, and yet Sookie couldn't help but want to smile. He would tear apart anyone that stood between him and getting Mackenzie back. There was a time when Sookie wondered what Mackenzie meant to him, if Eric was simply using her for some sick reason. But she saw now just how much he cared about her, the lengths he would go to to protect her.
She never thought she would see the day Eric Northman learned how to love. But it seemed that day had arrived.
"I want to help," she surprised both vampires.
"Sookie!" Bill shook his head, pulling her tightly into his embrace. "No, you've done enough!"
"She's just a girl, Bill!" Sookie argued. "She doesn't deserve any of this."
"And this isn't your problem. This is theirs," Bill shot Eric a scathing glare. "We're done here."
"I want to help!" Sookie squirmed out of his grasp. "And don't you try and talk me out of doing this, Bill Compton."
"But, Sookie…"
"I'm helping," she sent him a pointed look before twisting on her heal to face the enraged Viking. "You're going to need someone on the inside to find out exactly where she is in the church. I can do that."
"It's too risky," Bill refused. "This is all too dangerous. This isn't…"
"Let the girl speak," Eric hissed, baring his fangs at the younger vampire.
"Thank you," Sookie glared up at Bill before shooting Eric a small encouraging smile. "I know you want to run in there guns blazing, but you need to know where Mackenzie is and you need to make sure she's safe. I can do that. I can infiltrate the Fellowship and listen in on where she is."
Eric masked his surprised and nodded in agreement. Sookie continued to impress him, and he made note of discovering whatever he could of Bill's true reason for returning to Louisiana once Mackenzie was safe and back where she belonged. He wouldn't mind keeping this telepath all for himself.
"I can do this," Sookie stated with certainty. "I can find out where they're keeping her so y'all don't have to waste your time when you barge in there. They'll never suspect a thing."
"This is suicide!" Bill argued. "Sookie, you can't honestly think this is a good idea."
"I believe she's made her decision," Eric shot him a glare. "Stand in her way and I will not hesitate to end your existence, William."
Bill looked to want to retort but Sookie quickly stopped him, laying a hand on his chest and shaking her head. "I'll be fine, Bill. Really."
"I'll have Pam call you with the details," Eric began towards the stairs. He didn't want to remain in that basement any longer than he had to. He needed to find Godric and plan the Fellowship's demise. If they wished for a war, then he would give them one. "I want you on the ground in Dallas come sunset tomorrow."
"I'll pack my bags."
A/N: Super sorry for how long this chapter has taken. Life got really busy (still is with college/moving coming up in two weeks, fun fun) and I've been battling with a really bad headache for the past few days. This chapter is nowhere near how I even wanted it, but I knew I would never be able to get it perfect so here you have it. I've been thinking of some cute Mackenzie/Eric flashbacks to help lighten the sadness, so expect some more in the coming chapters. Mostly Eric dealing with a human child is just too amusing not to write.