35

Your Choice

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, my fellow Eric and Sookie lovers! I hope that each of you have a wonderful holiday. And as always, the story idea is mine but these wonderful main characters belong to Charlaine Harris.

Sookie and I followed Jake to the warehouse. She was talking but nothing that she was saying was coming through. She was thinking about the job. I was thinking about her. I couldn't get her out of my head. Since the night she walked into my bar, I have been preoccupied with her … from her outstanding wit to her astonishing bravery. I've had many beautiful and powerful women in my bed. Each of them wanted me. Every inch of me. Begging for a single kiss. Begging for me to fuck them into complete exhaustion. They wanted my time, my love but I gave them nothing more than I wanted them to have. They were willing to take what they could get from me. But Sookie? Not her. She doesn't fall at my feet. She doesn't cater to my every whim. She's not enthralled by the sheer power that I exude. She doesn't want whatever I'm willing to give. She wants all that I have to offer her. She would never settle for the minimum. It makes me want her more. I want to kiss her forever. I want to make love to her forever. I want to make her mine forever but that will never be. I will have her while I can; though it will never be enough.

"Your phone's ringing."

I looked from Sookie to my phone. As I said, she is on my mind.

"You okay?" A look of concern was clearly on her face.

I gave her a slight nod as I answered the call. "This is Eric."

Speaking in her usually bored tone, Thalia said, "It's me. You need to come to the bar at once. Use the back way when you come. There are a couple of vampires that are here and they are under Victor's rule. We're not sure why they're here and we don't want them to know that you are coming in. I don't know why they're here but we'll find out soon enough."

I glanced briefly at Sookie. "Are they still there?"

"Yes. Should I question why?"

"Do nothing," I advised. "Do not confront them. Act as if they aren't there. If they leave, have them followed."

I could almost see Thalia smiling. "Done."

Sookie shifted in her seat and looked at me. "What's going on?"

I shook my head at her. "Once the call is done."

She nodded her okay.

"Have you heard anything … why they're there … what they want?"

"We don't know," Thalia answered. "My child is keeping an eye on them. Nothing has happened yet. We'll keep them surveilled. We also have some new people for you to meet … which is the reason for my call. Our guests may know who sneaked in that douche bag Barry. We don't know the name of the Weres that helped him get in but we'll find out." She began sucking her teeth. "You could bring your woman with you. Maybe we could get her to listen in. Bring her with you instead of leaving her with Jake. I'll call Gwen back here to meet us. I can have her follow Victor's vampires to see what's going on. You can let Jake know that things have changed and you won't need him tonight. How is that for a plan?"

The news that Thalia has given me has angered me. I've let two humans, two fucking humans, participate in the kidnapping of my child. I have become complacent and relaxed in my position as sheriff and as a maker. I've made myself believe that no one would have the gall to betray me. Whomever has taken my child knew this about me. This entire fiasco is about power and because they have Pam, they believe that they have power over me. What fools they are. Do they not realize that I know that no harm will come to Pam? They know that if anything happens to her, whatever it is that they want, they'll never get. I may have been lax in my thinking and trusting but it will never happen again. They will never have the upper hand. I will get my revenge and it will be bloody. They will never have power over me. What has happened, will never happen again. Nothing or no will ever have the chance to betray me again. They never get the chance to play me for a fool.

"Are you there?" Thalia sounded concerned.

I answered her quickly before ending the call. "Sookie and I will meet you there soon." My next call was to Jake. "Our plans have changed. Your services are no longer needed." I ended the call and placed my phone in my pocket.

"What's going on?" Sookie asked.

"Our plans have changed." I stared straight ahead.

"Thalia?"

"Thalia." I let Sookie know what Thalia reported. I also reminded her of my true intentions once the questioning of the prisoners is done. "You will question them. You will read them but when you are done, you must leave because their lives will be mine." I looked at her when I said, "Their blood will belong to me."

"I understand," she agreed. "I told you. I get it. We all have a job to do. Mine is to question them. Yours is to kill them. They're our enemies."

"Ours?" I asked as I looked at her from the corner of my eye

"Yes," she replied. "They have betrayed us."

Pride filled me … doubt soon followed. I know that she said that she's with me and that she's okay with what I am and what I must do but I need to hear her say it again. Though I am, I don't want her to see me as a monster. "You understand what I am, what I do. I can't let our enemies get away with what they've done."

"Yeah," she answered. She was soon staring at the side of my face. "Yeah. I do. You'd be seen as weak. That's not what you are. You're a strong and powerful vampire. You have to do what's necessary. We're in this together, remember? We're together."

That's all I needed to hear.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

When Sookie and I entered the bar through the back way, Thalia was standing by the door waiting for us. "Good evening, Sookie. How are you this fine evening?"

Smiling, Sookie answered, "Very well, thank you. How are you?"

"Fine and glorious," Thalia replied.

I've never seen Thalia get friendly with anyone much less someone that she believes to be human. She hates everyone but her children. There have been instances when I believed that she only tolerates me because of my position in the vampire world. "You will be pleased with what we have waiting for you, Sheriff. They are thoroughly afraid."

"What do you know?"

She shrugged her shoulders and nonchalantly said, "Nothing. We haven't questioned them. We are saving that for you and the telepath." She had a smirk on her face as she looked as Sookie. "I'm interested in seeing how your little woman gets into their empty heads."

Sookie chuckled. "Let's hope that their heads aren't empty. We need to find out what they know."

I looked on proudly. "She will amaze you," I assured her. I took Sookie's hand in mine. "She is amazing."

"Come," Thalia ordered as she led the way to the basement. "Let us get started but before we do, there is something that I must say. I owe you an apology, Master."

I've never known for Thalia to apologize to anyone, much less admit that she's wrong about something. I was soon quite intrigued. Frowning, I stared at her. "Explain yourself."

"The traitors," she said. "I should've found them. You've hired me to do a job and I have failed you. It was a simple matter of paying closer attention to the footage and I did not do that." Never missing a step as she walked down the narrow stairway, she glanced at me over her shoulder. "Forgive me for my failures. It won't happen again."

There's no reason for her feel as if she'd failed me but Thalia is a vampire of old. Her name is everything to her. There was only thing that I could I say to her. "You are forgiven."

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, Thalia turned to face me and bowed deeply. "They will not succeed with their failed plan, Master."

"No, they will not," I promised. "Whomever has done this, whomever has supported Maxwell in this betrayal, has overplayed their hand and because of it, they will die."

Thalia's fangs dropped in response. "They will." She led us a little further to the back room. She opened the door to the blue room and there they were. Two humans. They were dressed in their pajamas. They weren't tied or shackled to their chairs. They were standing in the middle of the room. I was shocked at was before me. They had the audacious notion to not be afraid of what awaits them. If anything, they looked upset.

The first human let us know just how upset he was. "What the fuck is going on here? Why was I taken from my home? I have a job to go to tonight! I work a 3rd shift job, dammit! What the fuck, man!"

The second man looked at his 'friend' but didn't say anything.

Anger rolled through me. Looking at Sookie, I said to Thalia, "Take Sookie to the empty room at the end of the hall. Keep her there until I call for you both." I turned to face the men. "I need to speak with these wonderful and friendly gentlemen alone."

"Yes, Master," Thalia said. She walked to where Sookie was standing and waited.

Sookie looked up at me and swallowed. She knew what was coming next. She slowly nodded. "Yes, Master."

"Thank you." I gave her a slight nod as I turned away from them. Once I heard the door close behind me, I sat in the empty chair that was sitting in the middle of the room. "Please, sit," I said to the men. I pointed to the chairs that were behind them.

The second man went to the corner and sat in the first chair he'd seen but the first guy. Oh, no. He wanted to be defiant. He wanted to show off for his little friend. He wanted to show that he wasn't afraid, though the stink of his fear saturated the room. "I'm not fucking sitting down! I want to know why the fuck I'm here and not in my bed! I have four more fucking hours of sleep left that I need to get before I go to work tonight!" He stomped over to me and put his finger in my face. "You're going to fucking tell me now, motherfucker!"

I reached up and grabbed his hand as I pulled him close to me and I broke his fingers. I broke every finger on his right hand. Slowly. Deliberately. Angrily. The sounds of his screams as his bones cracked and shattered made me smile. The man fell to his knees. I leaned down and whispered in his ear. "Now. Shall we start again?" I turned the man's face to mine and said. "Please, sit."

Cradling his hand to his chest, he did as I requested. The second human was trembling as he watched his friend rock back and forth. Sighing needlessly, I said, "As you both already know, I'm Eric Northman. I'm the Sheriff of Area Five. My child has been kidnapped by the person that employs you … which you both already know. Now, I'd like to know your names."

The second human said, "I'm Andrew. My name is Andrew."

I looked at Broken Fingers and said, "And you."

He squeezed his eyes closed while answering me. "What does it matter? You're going to kill me no matter what I say." He looked at Andrew and said, "Don't say shit. They're going to kill us no matter what we do. If we keep quiet, our families will be taken care of." Through clinched teeth he said, "Keep your fucking mouth closed."

Andrew looked at Broken Fingers and dropped his head.

"Look at me, Andrew," I ordered.

He looked up at me … slowly. "Yes, sir?"

I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees. "You know that I am serious about getting my child back. There's only one way for you to know that I don't make threats." I unhurriedly removed my jacked and placed it on the back of my chair.

Broken Fingers was soon a broken mess of human flesh. He was barely alive; which I couldn't believe. After all that he'd been through, I expected him to be dead. I was wrong. He was much stronger than I believe him to be. His moans and groans allowed me to know that he had very little life left in him. Andrew looked on horrified. His screams were just as loud as Broken Fingers. The rancid smell of fear was stronger than Broken Fingers. His eyes held fear and regret. I slowly walked over to Andrew and looked down at him. I pointed at the bloody mass that used to be human and said, "This is your future."

"I'll talk," he answered. "Whatever you want to know, I'll tell ya. I'll tell you everything."

"Good," I replied. "That is best." I patted Andrew on the shoulder before walking away. I stood over Broken Fingers. I raised my foot and stomped his head. The groans and moans stopped instantly.

In less than five seconds, I had Andrew in the red room and tied to his chair. I cleaned the blood from my shoes and changed my shirt. I made Sookie a promise and I will keep it. She was not going to know of what happened to Broken Fingers. I removed my cell from my pocket and called Thalia. "I'm in the red room. Bring Sookie with you."

Seconds later, Thalia and Sookie were with me. Thalia noticed that Andrew was alone. "Example?" Sookie asked as she stood next to me.

"Yes."

Sookie looked at Andrew. "I guess you're the smart one of the two … if you can say that."

Thalia chuckled. "You have the grandest sense of humor, my friend. Absolutely grand."

"Thanks," Sookie replied sarcastically. She began to sigh. "When will you people learn that you can't get over on the vampires? They're always going to find you. I know that you know this, yet, you chose to be in that chair." She shook her head and said, "Stupid."

I grabbed a chair from the other side of the room and placed it in from of my victim. "Thanks," Sookie said as she sat down. She stared at Andrew for a long minute. She looked down at his hands and asked, "May I?"

He looked at me before placing his hands in hers.

"Thank you," she said. She closed her eyes and did what she does. She was learning from him. Reading him. Getting all that she could from him in case he decides to lie. She released his hand and looked at him. "So, I can tell you are a treasure trove of secrets. What do you have to tell us about what you've done and who you work for."

Andrew glanced at Sookie but looked at me. His eyes were wide with terror. He didn't know what was going to happen but he knew that it wasn't going to end well in his favor. "I'm a spy. I've been spying for the past six months." He looked at me and said, "I didn't have a choice."

I stepped forward but Sookie stopped me. "Thanks for sharing that with me. I appreciate it. You're getting off to a great start, Andrew."

His eyes were even wider. "How … how'd you know my name?" He pointed at me. "I didn't hear him tell you my name. How do you know who I am?"

Sookie smiled at him. "I guess you would be wondering that. Let me introduce myself. I'm Sookie Stackhouse and I'm a telepath. That means that I can read your mind and that's what I did when I first met you and held your hands. It also means that you can't lie to us." She was still smiling.

Andrew heard all that Sookie said but none of it mattered. He was focused on me and Thalia. Our power scared him. Knowing what we could to do him was apparent in his eyes. We glared at him. We showed him our power. With only our eyes, we let him know that he has every reason to fear us. The man began to shake uncontrollably.

Sookie glanced at us over her shoulder. "Don't pay them any mind, Andrew. Focus on me, okay?" She looked up at me and asked, "What did you do to him in that room?"

"Nothing. I did nothing." I looked as innocent as ever and there's one thing that Sookie has learned and that is that there is no such thing as an innocent vampire.

She reached out and grabbed Andrew's hand again. She didn't see what happened to his friend. I put another memory in its place. It was an entertaining memory. In the memory, he and I were playing Connect Four. We had a great time. I won each game.

"Really?" she asked as she looked up at me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "You said that you didn't want to see."

"See what?" Andrew asked.

We both ignored him.

Sookie rolled her eyes at me and smiled. "So, Andrew, are you going to tell use the truth."

With a sullen look on his face, he looked at Sookie and asked, "Do you know what they are? They're murderers. They drink human blood. They eat us and then they kill us. Do you know what you're doing? He's going to kill me tonight."

"I know," she answered.

"But you're helping them."

Again, she said, "I know. I work for him … just like you work for your vampire."

Andrew began to shake his head. "I don't work for them because I want to do. I had no choice. I wasn't given a choice."

"I know," she said. "I read your mind, remember? You did this for the safety of your family." She rested her elbows on her knees. "And you also needed the money."

Andrew's shoulders slumped.

"Was it worth it?"

He shook his head no. "The money is what kept me doing it. I figured that if I was going to die, I could at least leave my family well taken care of."

"Yeah," she agreed. "I can see how that can affect your decision. But you know what?" She scooted her chair closer to his which caused me to move with her. She crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair. "You can change all this. You can make things right by telling Eric everything that you know." She began to kick her leg back and forth. "You'll only make things worse for yourself if he has to force you to tell the truth. Show him that you want to cooperate with him. Give him what he wants."

I wanted to tell her that she shouldn't have said that to him but what could I say? She didn't promise him that he'd live. She didn't tell him that I'd let him go. She told him to make things right. That could be her way of telling him that I could kill him quickly and not force him to suffer. Damn, she's good.

Andrew looked up at me and chuckled but just a bit. "I can read between the lines, Ms. Stackhouse. You're telling me that I will have a quick death if I do what your vampire friends want me to do."

I guess he knew it too.

I wouldn't let Sookie answer him. "She's giving you a chance to not end up like your friend."

Sookie looked at me from the corner of her eye.

Andrew looked confused.

I decided that he no longer needed the Connect Four memory. He needed to know the truth. I leaned down and stared into his eyes and glamored him once more but this time with the truth. I reminded him of how his friend sliced into his own flesh with the sharp knives that I'd given him. I reminded him of how his friend ripped out his throat with his own hands. He needed to see the bloody mass of flesh that once sat in the middle of the floor. He needed to see me crush the man's head once more. The shaking of his body and his sweaty face were proof that I'd achieved my goal. I stood tall and looked down at him. "Your choice."

Andrew dropped his head. "I have a family. You have to understand why I did it. I had no choice. He didn't give me one."

"Quinn," she said.

"Yes," he answered.

"The dead guy," Sookie began. "Roger … was he working for them too?"

"Yes."

"You're different from Roger," she said. "He wanted to do it. He liked working for the vampires."

"Yes," he repeated. He chuckled. "You know everything already, Ms. Stackhouse. Just let him kill me. Tell him everything that you know and let me die."

She shook her head no. "I can't do that. It's not my place to ease your guilt or free your conscience. You did this and you now need to own it."

Andrew dropped his head. His shoulders were shaking. He knows his fate but he's afraid of what awaits him. He was going to try and milk this for what he could and I wasn't having it. I was done with being nice. He needed to speak and he needed to do it now. I lifted Andrew, and the chair since he was still tied to it, by his neck and glared into his eyes. "Your fate will be much worse than your friends if you don't tell me what I want to know. You recall what happened to him, do you not?"

Andrew whimpered as he nodded.

I squeezed his throat and said, "Speak."

"Okay," he whispered. "I'll tell you what you want to know. I give you my word. I will tell you everything."

I smiled as I put Andrew and his chair back on the floor. "Good boy." I patted him on the head and said, "Let us begin."