-Eric couldn't give me any more blood to complete my healing. For one thing, in the past few days he'd already given me blood twice, to say nothing of the nips we'd exchanged during lovemaking, and he said we were dangerously close to some undefined limit.
-"Yeah, speaking of the blood..." Amelia took a deep breath and steeled herself to say something she knew I wouldn't like. Since I heard it before she actually voiced it, I was able to brace myself. "Had you thought about...Sookie, you didn't ask me, but I think you better not have any more of Eric's blood. I mean, I know he's your man, but you got to think about the consequences. Sometimes people get flipped by accident. It's not like it's a math equation."
(SVM Books 9/10)
Notes: I mostly wrote this in 2020 but never posted it. I just reread the whole series and shared this with a friend (who has encouraged me all along the way with this), and finally decided to post it. I might write more for it, because I think it would be interesting to explore. I was annoyed that the possibility of accidental turning was brought up multiple times and then ignored. Hope you enjoy it!
No one was certain how it happened, though everyone knew it could and did happen. A drop too much of vampire blood and something switched in the human's system. They would fall asleep one day as human, then their heart would simply stop. Three days later that human would open their eyes again as a vampire if everything turned out correctly. The transition didn't always go smoothly.
It wasn't intentional, what happened to Sookie Stackhouse. Eric Northman had been trying to save her life after Lochlan and Neave tortured her. He had given her a tremendous amount of blood. It had saved her life and healed her. It was far from the first time they had exchanged blood, but it had been the most she had ever received.
Eric and Amelia had both cautioned that she shouldn't take more from Eric. And she hadn't, for a while.
Perhaps it had been careless, but lovers are often lost to all sense when in the throes of passion. They exchanged bites— Sookie and Eric. It was blissful. Sookie fell asleep in Eric's arms, content.
Anticipation.
Eric Northman knelt beside his bed, waiting. He prayed as he hadn't in a thousand years. For her he would pray to all the gods. For her he would do anything. At the moment, he could do nothing but watch and wait.
Sookie had fallen asleep in Eric's arms after making love. He loved holding her, caressing her, hearing her heartbeat, watching her breasts rise and fall with her breaths.
He shook her when her breathing stopped. He didn't understand. He panicked when the bond seemed to disappear. Or did it?
Pam must have felt him, because she called his cellphone. He answered, incoherent. Pam and Dr. Ludwig appeared a minute or an eternity later.
Pam went blank, looking at the still form of Sookie on Eric's bed. Eric had dressed her in a bathrobe, not wanting to expose Sookie's nakedness to anyone else. "Master?" Pam didn't understand. She sought Eric's eyes but he had buried his face in his hands as he knelt on the floor. He had, Pam noticed, remembered to put on pants.
"Did you share blood?" Dr. Ludwig asked, breaking the silence.
"Yes," Eric whispered. His voice was raw with pain.
"What happened afterward?"
Eric looked up at the strange woman as bloody tears tracked down his face. "We made love. We exchanged blood during. Afterward we talked. She fell asleep in my arms, and then her heart stopped. What happened?"
Dr. Ludwig made an exasperated sound, causing the vampires to flinch. "She took too much vampire blood. Now, if the process takes, she'll wake up a vampire in about three days."
For a moment the world stopped, and then hope was reborn inside Eric Northman. He stayed beside Sookie's still form the entire time. Pam brought him bottled blood before and after her time at Fangtasia each night. She even slept in his spare coffin to be close.
"Eric?"
Eric raised his face from his palms and looked up at Sookie. She was sitting on the bed, her blond hair a tumble around her shoulders. In a blink he was beside her holding her, kissing her. She responded in kind, and the flood of emotions through their new bond as maker and child was more potent than the bond they had before.
Sookie pulled back from Eric's lips, confusion on her face. "Eric? What happened? Why does our bond feel different? Why…?" Her voice trailed off as her hand went to her heart.
Terror spiked through her and into him through the bond.
"Sookie, I can explain." His voice was warm and soft. He caressed her cheek and trailed those fingers through a lock of her hair. She was frozen. "We exchanged blood too many times. I didn't know this would happen. As soon as you slipped away, we got Dr. Ludwig. She explained it to me and Pam."
"I'm dead? I'm a vampire?" Panic and hysteria bubbled up from Sookie. Eric sent soothing impulses toward her, and for the most part, she calmed.
"Yes, sister, you're a vampire now." Pam stood at the door with a tray of True Blood balanced between her hands.
Sookie's focus latched onto the drinks, which Pam brought over to the bed. She finished three bottles without pause.
"It's good," she said, surprising herself.
Pam was grinning. "Wait 'til you have the real thing. There's no comparison."
A shiver ran down Sookie's spine. She had been human, mostly, when she went to sleep. Now, humans were food?
"Not sure I'm ready for that."
Eric tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "No. You're not ready to be around humans yet. Tomorrow I'll take you to Fangtasia, and we'll see how you do."
Sookie nodded. She was still rather frozen in shock on the bed beside Eric.
"Did you need anything else, master?" Pam asked.
Eric shook his head. "No, you may go, Pam." He looked at her and smiled. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. I'll see you later, Sookie." Pam pressed a kiss to Sookie's cheek before leaving the room.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
A tremor ran through her body. Eric placed his hands on her shoulders, squeezing gently. "I don't know." A sob wracked her body as bloody tears spilled from her eyes.
Eric pulled her close and murmured softly to her. "I know this isn't what you wanted. I am selfish and wanted to keep you forever, but not without preparation." Though it had worked in his favor. "However, none of us can foresee accidents."
When Sookie stopped shaking, she pulled away from his chest enough to look him in the eyes. "I know, but I didn't expect my life to just... end ."
"It didn't end, lover, not truly. Your human life, yes, but there is so much more life ahead of you now." He brushed at her bloody cheeks with the corner of a sheet. "Nothing can separate us now."
Eric brushed his lips across hers, and she moaned softly. That kiss seemed to unfreeze Sookie, and she wrapped her arms around his neck as her lips met his again.
Everything in her focused on his lips and body. She shifted onto his lap and rocked against him as their kisses continued. Eric met her greedy mouth eagerly. His hands trailed up and down her back, pressing her hard against him.
It took only a moment of shifting to lose their clothes entirely. She was only wearing a bathrobe, and Eric was only wearing pajama pants. Sookie's fangs fully extended as they made love. So did Eric's.
"Bite," he encouraged, moaning.
She nuzzled against his neck and bit. The warm sweetness of his blood was like candy on her tongue. Sookie gave a moaning shudder as she sucked his blood while their bodies moved together. He bit into her as well, and they both tipped over the edge into ecstasy.
Sookie licked his wound closed. Eric licked her wound closed. For a long, blissful moment, they remained together in stillness. Sookie shivered with aftershocks of pleasure. Through their new bond, each felt the bliss of the other.
"I feel better now," she murmured with sated pleasure.
He chuckled against her neck. "Until you start thinking again. We have a lot to talk about."
With a sigh, she slid off of him and lay back on the bed. "Like what?"
His eyes lingered on the curves of her naked body for a long moment. Her lips curled into a sultry smile at his expression. "Like how to be a vampire. I also need to catch you up on all the politics. We also need to file paperwork saying that you were turned, and you will need to tell your friends and family."
The smile vanished. Sookie stood and found the robe to wrap around herself. "Did you tell them anything? Sam? Jason? Bill?" She wasn't ready to think about Amelia, Tara, Holly, and everyone else.
"Not yet. I only spoke with Sam briefly, and that was to tell him you would need a few days off. He wasn't happy, and he seemed suspicious."
"I have to call him."
Eric nodded. "Of course. Your phone is in your purse, where you left it."
Sookie tied the bathrobe's sash around her waist, and walked across the room to the dresser where she kept stuff in Eric's house. She didn't expect her speed to be so fast and nearly ran into it.
"Okay, that's going to take some getting used to," she said with a small laugh. Eric joined her laughter, though the moment passed too quickly.
She found her cellphone and turned it on. Immediately notifications appeared for voicemails and texts. She ignored them. There would be time for that later— an eternity of time. Gritting her teeth, Sookie steeled herself for the upcoming conversation.
"Gently," Eric's voice cautioned. "You don't want to break the phone before you call. Not that I can't give you a new phone, but you might not remember all the numbers."
Sookie relaxed her fingers and gave him a wry expression. "I have them all written down at home." Then she drew a deep, though totally unnecessary, breath before calling Merlotte's.
The phone rang a few times before someone answered. The sounds of the busy bar filtered in through the phone. "Merlotte's, this is Sam."
"Hey Sam." Sookie's voice caught.
"Sookie? Is that you? Where have you been? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, Sam, it's me. I've been at Eric's. And yeah, I'm fine."
"At Eric's and you couldn't call?" His anger and suspicion rolled out over the phone line.
"No, I couldn't." Sookie drew another shaky breath. "You know how there are stories of people getting flipped by accident? Well…"
"What? Sookie, what are you saying?"
"I'm a vampire now." A sound of rage and pain came from Sam. Sookie rushed to console him. "It wasn't planned. It wasn't forced. I'm one of the accidents. Maybe it was a sip too much vampire blood or just chance. God knows how it works. I'm sorry."
"He's lying to you! That's all they've been trying to do to you from day one! Use you and turn you into one of them!"
Sookie ignored the wave of anger she felt from Eric and focused on her own anger. "That's not true! And it doesn't matter anymore. I had to call to tell you what happened, and to quit, I guess. Bye, Sam."
Sookie ended the call and threw the phone across the room. It shattered, sending bits of it flying everywhere. She shook with anger and sorrow. Eric went to her and held her again.
"I've got to stop crying so much," she muttered against his chest.
"Yes, but you can cry all you want today." His voice was calm and comforting.
"Are all new vampires this emotional?"
"Some are and some aren't." His fingers slipped through her hair, toying thoughtlessly with the blonde waves. "The adjustment is hard for everyone. Well, almost everyone. Pam was delighted by the process."
Sookie snorted a laugh and pulled away from Eric. "Of course she was. But Jake, he was so lost. He tried to kill most of the vamps in Rhodes. Hadley never should have turned him. And I've heard that there can be mistakes."
"Yes, there can be. I have a lot to teach you, but that's my duty as your maker. Even as your accidental maker."
"I still have to tell Jason." Sookie cringed at the thought. She didn't want a repeat of her conversation with Sam, but she thought it very well might go the same way.
Eric picked up a phone from the dresser. "Try not to break this one until I buy a spare."
In spite of herself, Sookie laughed as she accepted the phone. She was a bit unnerved to discover Jason's number already programmed into the phone when she began to press the numbers. Pushing that thought aside, she called. Unfortunately, she had to leave a voicemail.
"Hey, Jason, it's Sookie. I need to talk to you. If you can call me back at this number, that'd be great. Bye."
She handed the phone back to Eric with a sigh. "Well, that's one conversation I can put off. I don't think Sam will tell him."
"He might."
"Well, nothing I say is gonna change that."
"True. Why don't we shower, and then I'll tell you more about being a vampire."
