"Fuck!" I repeated, while I was tempted to simply throw the damn phone out the window. I wished not having to deal with Victor was a simple as that. It would have made my life much easier. Not to mention the pleasure I would take from imagining the phone was, in fact, Madden's head might be enough to get me through the rest of the evening.
Maybe.
Pam, taking a pretty good guess at who was calling given my reaction, got my attention and said quietly, "He called once more right before I left. I told him to call your cell just as you said."
One night! All I asked for was one night of not having to deal with Madden and de Castro and their craziness! If I had known it would have been like this, I might have told Pam to run and never pledged fealty to de Castro, or at least I would have gone down fighting, hopefully taking Madden with me. Then I looked at the miniature face in the back seat, and remembered why I did not simply do just that; I was worried about where it would leave Sookie. They would have killed her, but it would not have been a physical kill. No, they would have done worse by killing her sprit, her soul.
That was not something that one recovered from easily.
As I nodded, I acknowledged Pam's words and answered my phone with a simple, "Northman," Sookie's little voice called from the back seat, "You said a very bad word, Eric."
Talk about a bit of a delayed reaction.
I prayed to whatever god would listen to a vampire that Madden had not heard Sookie. I had no idea how I would explain such a little voice to him, let alone the words the little voice had said. It was not often that I surrounded myself with little people who called me out for having said a 'bad word.' Hell, I do not usually spend my time with people of any kind who would call me out for saying any word. However, there must not be one as I heard Victor say, "Yes, Eric, you did say a bad word."
"You are a big boy, Victor," I told him, hoping that he did not question the little voice he had obviously heard. "You have heard worse. You have said even worse."
"So I have," he said with a laugh as if we were talking like old friends. That was definitely not the case. Luck did not appear to be on my side as he continued and said, "What confuses me is why you would have someone with you who would care about that word coming out of your mouth," He paused while I started to think of any response that might take him off this topic of questioning. I didn't know what was wrong with Sookie, but I did know one thing; I needed to make sure that no one, especially Victor Madden, found out that there was anything wrong.
"That little voice did not sound like one that should be frequenting your bar. Or one that should be out this late, never mind one that should not be around vampires," Another pause. "You don't have a liking for small children do you, Eric?" he asked, and I could hear the smile in his voice. Though that was something I would prefer that he believe at the present time rather than the actual truth, I did not need to spend the next few nights dealing with what would surely be excruciating questions if he thought that was my little predilection.
When I looked in the rearview mirror at the tiny human who was currently my wife, I thought that my nights would have to be filled with other, much more important things in the near future. She seemed to have an understanding that she should not say anything else while I was on the phone. Given her sinking back further into the seat, it might have had more to do with the glare that Pam seemed to have given her.
We were really going to have to work on not scaring the tiny Sookie.
"Victor, small children and I just do not see eye to eye," I told him. No lie there with my height; there are not many people who are able to see eye to eye with me. As much as I hated meeting with the vampire, this was the one time I wish I was; I wish we were having this discussion face to face so that I could see how he reacted. With nothing to go on besides his voice, I had no idea what kind of impact my words had on him.
Of course, I wished it were not simply my words that had an impact on him.
He was quiet for a few seconds. "I needed to meet with you tonight," Victor said, and I inwardly cursed. Though I could very well appreciate the change in subject, there was no way that I could meet with Victor tonight.
"I apologize, but that will not be possible," I told him, glancing again in the rearview mirror. Sookie was looking right at it as well and met my eyes when I glanced there. She got a little smile on her face and gave me a little wave.
"You would not be shirking on your duties by chance, Sheriff?" he asked me, which brought my focus back to the conversation.
"Not at all. As a matter of fact I am resolving a situation at the moment," Again, it was not a lie. I was trying to resolve a situation at the moment. I just had no idea how to resolve this particular situation or just what was the cause for it might be. I was not about to tell Victor that.
"What situation?"
"You will have a full summary of the occurrence and its resolution tomorrow," I told him, adding even more work for myself. I had to manufacture something, make sure everyone had the same story, and had to put up with another set of endless questions to ensure the end of the situation was constructive.
Until there was speck of dust on the fake report and I would have to write it all over again.
"You will meet with me tomorrow night to discuss this situation," he told me, and ended the call before I had a chance to try and get out of meeting with him, which had likely been his plan.
I hung up the phone and looked over at Pam. The look we gave each other told me that we were still both on the same page. Madden would need to be taken out and de Castro would not be far behind him. Either Madden was acting as an enforcer for de Castro, or Felipe was allowing Madden to run the states. Either way, it did nothing to prove that de Castro was a capable king. I had no time for kings who were incapable.
I barely had time for the ones that were.
I pulled into a parking lot, and made a stop for some things I thought that Sookie could use during the day. It may have been a while since I have had human needs or that I have been around Sookie and her human needs, but I did know that humans needed to eat and drink throughout the day. I thought back to when I had my own human children and to my vampire ones and remembered that children tended to need more to eat.
I left Pam and Sookie in the car as I went into the store to get anything I could remember having seen in Sookie's house. That was the best I could do at the time. Perhaps I could send Bobby out for more child-friendly supplies if these were not suitable. I would be lying, however, if I said that I was not hoping to have this situation resolved long before more or different supplies were needed.
I made it back to the car and found Sookie singing softly in her seat much like she did on any car ride. I looked to Pam's face while my ears took in that tiny human Sookie was not much of a better singer than adult human Sookie. Her voice was a little softer, and a little higher and squeakier, but her overall ability to carry a tune was just about the same. It was something that I found endearing and adorable when Sookie was her regular age; it was much more so with little tiny Sookie.
"Eric," Pam said as I climbed into the car. She looked to Sookie to try to bring my attention to her and it took me a few seconds to realize what she was trying to make me to understand. The song that Sookie was singing was older than Sookie appeared to be; there was no way that Sookie could have heard this song as a child. It was only a few years old and wasn't a remake of an original.
I looked to Pam and she nodded and said, "Pretty much every song since you went inside."
That just added another piece to the puzzle. That was the first thing we had observed thus far that suggested Sookie might have retained some of her adult memories, but she did not recognize me. She did not recognize Pam. She thought she might have been able to see family members who had passed. That didn't suggest she had held the memory from when she was an adult.
I was beyond confused. I had thought in my thousand years I had seen everything, but I had to admit that it no longer seemed as if that was the case. I found that I very much did not like not having any sort of idea of what was going on.
I would have to place a call to Amelia and see if she had any knowledge of a spell that could do what it was that had been done to Sookie. I also had to make sure someone visited the dog's establishment to determine what information could be learned there. I could just as easily call him and see, but with knowing so little information about what was happening, I was hesitant to make it known that anything was amiss. I did not know who had done this; therefore, I did not know whom I could fully trust.
We were almost back at one of my safe houses. I had chosen this particular one because it had a room set up that this little Sookie could use. Pam was talking to me about what Victor said each of the seven times he called her that night when suddenly Sookie's little voice rang out as she tried to get my attention.
"Eric," she said, in a tiny squeaky voice. Pam, not accustomed to being interrupted, continued to speak and Sookie saw that she did not yet have my full attention. "Eric," she repeated in a voice that was no longer so high or squeaky. This time Pam told her one-minute and she continued to explain that Victor insinuated on the phone that he might have to start spending more time in Area Five if I continued to be so out of touch.
"Eric, Eric, Eric!" Sookie shouted, causing me to look at her through the rearview mirror, and I saw her little legs swinging quickly.
"What?" I asked her. OK, I realized it may have been more of a yell when I saw her shrink back into her seat.
"Nothing," she said softly, but her legs were still moving a mile a minute.
"What, Sookie?" I asked my voice much calmer. I was not used to censoring myself when speaking to another, not having had to for centuries.
"I have to go to the bathroom," she said, barely getting the words out. In fact, if I did not have vampire hearing, I probably would not have heard it.
Pam and I looked at each other as I pressed down on the accelerator, trying to get to my house sooner. "Can she use the toilet?" Pam asked in my native language. When I taught her it, I never thought it would be for a reason such as this.
I did not answer Pam; instead I pressed down even harder on the accelerator and pulled into my driveway seventy-three second later. I was up and out of the car, grabbed Sookie, and had her in one of my thankfully functional bathrooms less than five seconds later. She quickly pulled down her pants and I turned around, not sure about the rules regarding this kind of stuff. I wasn't sure there were any rules for what one was supposed to do if their wife gets magically turned back into a child!
"Will you need any help?" I asked her, all the while hoping the answer was no. I would help, of course, if needed, but I was hoping it was not, until I at least had time to take a symbolic breath in all of this.
"No. I'm a big girl," she said proudly as I started to hear proof that she was tending to her human needs.
"I will wait just outside then," I told her and went out to my living room to where Pam was currently sitting. I had nothing to say, and for once, it appeared my child did not either. We simply stared at each other as we heard the toilet flush and heard Sookie turn on the water, I assumed to wash her hands.
I took a seat on my couch, rested my arms on my legs, and placed my head in my hands. For the first time in a long time, I had no thoughts. I had many, many things to be thinking at that very moment, yet none of them came into my head. I heard Pam in the kitchen putting things away, and that told me she probably found herself in the same boat as me, too many thoughts to process to think of just one.
Pam returned and sat next to me on the couch. She wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "We will figure this out. We will get her back," she told me.
"We have nowhere to start," I responded. That was my worst thought at the moment. Usually, I knew what the threats were, knew what could have caused the issues with which I was confronted. With this, I was drawing a blank and it was the scariest thought I had in a long time.
"Madden?" Pam asked.
I shook my head. "He would have no issue using Sookie to come at me but he would make it known that it was him. He would want me to know from where the attack came."
Then we could not talk any further because Sookie came bounding out of the bathroom as someone who had far too much energy for the current situation. She bounded right up to us on the couch, shoved her hands in Pam's face, and announced that she washed her hands.
Pam's face was priceless, and I probably would have laughed in response had I not been in the situation I was in.
"Yes, I see. Good job," Pam told her as she tapped her on the head a bit all the while with a confused and pained look on her face. It seemed to work for Sookie who then cuddled up next to me on the couch and let out a yawn, which caused me to look at the clock. With only about an hour before sunrise, I assumed it was way past little Sookie's bedtime. Hell, it is pretty much past big Sookie's bedtime as well.
"Sookie, would you like me to show you your room?" I asked her.
"I'm staying here? With you?" Funny. That was pretty much Sookie's reaction the first time I suggested her staying at my place, too.
"Wouldn't that be fun?" Pam asked her. "Remember, it will be like a slumber party."
"Parties are fun!" she announced before she took my hand, and started to try and pull me off the couch. "C'mon. Show me my room," So I did just that, and then suggested that she go to bed.
"I can't sleep in this," she told me, surprisingly stern, though not really a surprise as she sounded very similar to her adult counterpart as she informed me that the shirt she was currently wearing was too dirty to sleep in.
Clothes. I did not have any clothes that would fit her, and I did not think to buy her any at the store. I looked at her current outfit, which was simply her uniform shirt at the Shifter's bar. That was something I could work with. After I told Sookie I would be right back, I moved into my room and after I grabbed a t-shirt of mine, moved back into Sookie's room.
I was only out of the room for about five seconds, something that did not escape Sookie either. "You move fast," she told me.
"I am very quick." I handed her the shirt and asked if she could wear that to bed. She looked at it in such an appraising way that for a split second I felt that I was looking into the face of her adult counterpart. That was, of course, until she tucked her head in the shirt, took an exaggerated smell of it, and announced she could sleep in it because it was not stinky like her brother.
Then again, that could be something Sookie would do before this as well.
Sookie got changed into the new shirt, only needing a little help when her head went where her arm should have. I then tucked her into bed, fully expecting a fight as I have heard getting children to bed is a struggle. Sookie, though, got under the covers without complaint. I explained to her that she would not see me tomorrow during the day, and that there would be food and cups in the kitchen if she got hungry or thirsty. She looked as if she had something to ask, and the face she made when she tried to listen intently to the thoughts of others.
She did not ask any questions and I did not tell her anything else, not having any time. Instead, I made sure she was comfortable before leaving her in the room to get some sleep.
That was when I realized that just because she was in bed did not mean she would stay there.
Two bathroom trips and four glasses of water later, she was finally asleep and it was a good thing too as there were only minutes before sunrise.
I went to my day rest thinking of how much I would have to do the next evening, and, unfortunately, a meeting with Madden did not look like it would be something that I could put off another night. If he truly was threatening to move to my Area, I would need to do all that I could to appease him so that never happened, especially not now.
That, unfortunately, meant meeting with him, and in meeting with him, I would have to play nice, like a good dog, protect my people and my Area, and most important to me, make sure there was no way that he could think that anything was wrong with Sookie.
I would also have to begin to go through my contacts and try to determine what had happened to my wife. Though I could not help that, I did not wish our ceremony had been different as if it had been an actual ceremony, I still think that way of Sookie. She is my wife. I was determined to find out what happened to her. I would also be killing something if it were possible, which hopefully it would be because that would make the hunt more satisfying. I went to my rest considering all the possible ways that I would end the person responsible for whatever happened to Sookie.
That was, however, not the way I rose from my rest the following evening. I arose feeling very uncomfortable due to the panic and fear I felt from my bond with Sookie. I raced out of my room and toward the kitchen where I felt her location. I felt she was not hurt and in no immediate danger, so I had no idea what could be causing her panic.
I ran into the kitchen and stopped when I felt something squishy under my feet. Something squishy in my life usually equates to blood, guts, or some kind of gore, but the little person in front of me had no evidence of blood or gore on her, and Pam, the only other being in the house, seemed fine in our bond. Once I realized they were both OK, only then did I see what was covering my kitchen, and my Sookie.
The little person currently covered in a white, powdery substance looked up at me with a worried face. In a little voice that was on the verge of crying, "Oops."
Hello dear readers. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. We have a few more questions on what exactly Sookie may remember and a little more proof that Eric has his hands full…maybe even more so than he had with Sookie before. Many thanks to MsBuffy and her editing skills on this chapter.
Bad news - uploading here is still hit or miss. Good news is I was able to upload two chapters before FF decided to not play too nicely. So the next one should be up in a few days.