Chapter 19: My Idea of Fun

Previous

“Attention thrills and then it kills. They make you king then make you ill. ‘Til you’re alone, dead on your throne. So my idea of fun is killing everyone.” -The Stooges

Eric rose a few minutes before sunset and checked his phone. There was an email from Pam, letting him know that she and Tara had captured a rogue the night before. It was too close to dawn for them to bring him to Bill’s, so they would be doing so after sunset. Eric forwarded the message to Willa so she could let Takahashi and Dunkova know about it.

Making Willa the liaison for the scientists would give her a vital role in making sure everything was going according to plan. She had great potential to be a fantastic vampire but her confidence needed a boost. She needed to feel like she had a purpose, like she was important. Being a newborn now wasn’t the same as it was when Eric was turned. Lessons had to be learned quickly when it came to feeding and it was crucial that ties were cut between a newborn and their human family.

Truthfully, it was still better if newborns were separated from their human families for the first year or so. The urges of a newborn were intense and difficult to get under control. Godric had ensured that Eric stayed away from his village for five years before they ventures back that far north. The ‘windy shithole’ that Pam despised so much sat on the very land where Eric’s human family had resided. He wanted to take both Willa and Sookie there to see it.

In time Eric would teach Willa the language of his people, just as he had taught Pam. He knew several dead languages and planned to teach them all to his newest child. Which reminded him, he needed to order books for Willa to read as well so that she could refer back to them when she needed a reminder. They were books that Eric had read the first editions of centuries before. Many of Godric’s possessions had been lost in the bombing, but there were plenty more stashed in his various real estate holdings around the world.

Because Nora had gone off the grid after accepting a position in the Authority, everything Godric had was willed to Eric. In his own right, he owned the farm in Sweden, a plantation in Barbados, an apartment in France and a small island in the South Pacific that not even Godric had known about. It was his hiding place, should the need ever arise for him to disappear. Long ago Godric had told him it was important for every vampire to have their own hiding place that no one knew about.

The only person Eric would tell about it was Sookie, and that was only if it became necessary for them to flee to the island. He hoped it would never come to that, but Eric would do whatever was necessary to keep her safe.

It seemed ironic, considering the role he had given Sookie in the plan he’d devised. Like Willa, she needed to build her confidence and Sookie had a valuable skill. She would be able to relay how many rogues were around and if any of the humans they required for the plan to work were injured. The plan also hinged on the cooperation of the local sheriff since they would be needed his daughter’s assistance as well. Eric felt confident in being able to assure the sheriff that his daughter would be returned to him safe and sound.

Not to mention, if he wouldn’t cooperate voluntarily there were other ways to make sure it happened. Eric needed to make a call to Mayor Merlotte to inform him of the shift in power as far as vampires were concerned, as well as to inform him of the plan he and Sookie had devised. Another call needed to be made to Herveaux to find out who the packmaster was close by. Having wolves around to track any rogues that escaped would be helpful.

Generally speaking, vampires didn’t much care for animal blood but it seemed that infected vampires would drink whatever blood was given to them. Bill might have bitched about it, but he consumed every single pint of blood that Willa had brought him.

Once the sun was set, Eric left the cubby and went in search of the heartbeat he heard. It was slow and steady, and he found Sookie asleep in her bed. He had promised not to wake her so Eric kissed her warm forehead gently before going back downstairs to take a shower in the en suite bathroom attached to what used to be Sookie’s grandmother’s bedroom. He dressed casually in yet another pair of black jeans and a v-neck shirt, and then went back to the dining room table to get some work done.

His first call was to Takahashi. He had been provided with a secure phone that was untraceable to anyone that might try to tap the line. Eric had dozens of investments in all sorts of businesses, one of which was a securities firm. For all intents and purposes, it appeared as though he was carrying your run of the mill iPhone, but the security of the phone was better than Fort Knox sort of stuff. There were layers of encryption, the phones were waterproof and built to withstand violent impact. It would take being dropped from the top of the Empire State Building to break the damn thing.

After Eric spread the word that a new rogue would be delivered to them within the next hour or two, he moved on to call Herveaux. He hadn’t spoken to the Were very much as of late, but there wasn’t really any reason for it. Eric didn’t feel as if he needed to prove himself to anyone now that Godric was gone. The dog just needed to keep his sniffer (among other body parts) out of Sookie’s crotch and everything would be fine.

“This is Alcide,” he said in that gruff voice of his.

“It’s Northman,” Eric responded.

“What the fuck do you want? I’m done owing you favors.”

“I’m calling for two reasons. First, you’re speaking with the new king of Louisiana,” Eric informed Alcide and there was a slight growl for his troubles. “Second is that I’ve located the formula for Hep-V and the scientist that cracked the code on synthesized blood is currently working on a cure. I have vampires in this area doing regular patrols in Area 5 to capture what rogues they can to make the streets a little safer, but I have a plan to round up more of them all at once. What I need from you is…”

Eric went on to give Alcide a description of the plan. There was more growling and the dog was definitely dissatisfied with Sookie’s role in it, but Eric assured him that Sookie was more than okay with her part. In fact, she had insisted on doing it when Eric laid it all out for her.

“I need to contact the local packmasters for their assistance,” Eric explained.

“They don’t want to get mixed up in any more of your vampire shit,” Alcide said.

“Do they want their numbers to decline because they’re drained?”

“Vamps hate Were blood.”

“Because it tastes like pig shit floating in a swamp,” Eric replied dryly. “But infected vampires will drink whatever blood they can get their hands on. Bill Compton consumed sixteen pints of animal blood last night and still wanted more.”

“You gave him animal blood?” Alcide sounded almost amused.

“He asked for it.” He hadn’t asked for is specifically but that was neither here nor there.

“Alright, let me see what I can do. I’ve been trying to stay off pack radar but I know some people,” Alcide hesitantly replied.

“Excellent. Call when you know,” Eric said and then hung up.

Getting ahold of the new mayor of Bon Temps might be a bit trickier but it wasn’t as if the mayor’s house didn’t stick out like a sore thumb. Frankly it was a little impressive that Merlotte wasn’t still living in a trailer in the woods.

A quick internet search yielded the number for the mayor’s office but it was already closed for the day since it was past sunset. After Sookie woke up he’d ask her if she had Merlotte’s number.

Eric checked to see the progress on the things he had ordered before sunrise. UV lights, silver nets, black leather gloves… all to be delivered to a post office box that couldn’t be traced back to him in a small town just outside of Alexandria. He would send Tara to collect those items and decided that she would work with Jason to coordinate the ground offensive since he was one of the few humans she could tolerate being around.

Like Willa, Tara had potential as well but she really needed to learn a little patience. As smart as Tara thought she was, there was plenty she didn’t know and it would take time for her to learn. Giving her responsibility was the best way to teach her, in Eric’s opinion. Hopefully this would help get Tara to fall in line a bit more. He could appreciate her feistiness.

Eric seemed to have an affinity for sassy, stubborn women. He had turned two and was contemplating a bond with another. Tara fit right in.

About an hour after sunset Eric heard Sookie’s heartbeat change. She was awake.

xXx

Bridget stepped into the grimy shower in what had most likely been an employee lounge in the warehouse. She had chosen the location for its bathroom facility but hadn’t bothered to invest in sprucing it up since she planned on destroying it when she was finished with it. The hot water felt good and there was plenty of blood to wash off her face since she’d gotten the bleeds by ignoring the sun’s command to rest.

James stepped in behind her moments later and she turned to face him. Just the look on his face was enough to tell her he was struggling with something. More likely than not, it was regarding Jessica.

“She’s just a pawn,” Bridget reminded him.

“She’s more than that now.”

“Are you really going to confess everything to her, James? It will ruin our plans.” Bridget reached for a bottle of soap and poured some onto her palm before handing it over to her brother.

He did the same and put the bottle back where it belonged before lathering up his hair.

“It won’t ruin anything. I have to tell her the truth,” he said.

“You think she’ll just forgive you for poisoning her maker? You’re wrong. I could never forgive anyone for doing such a thing,” Bridget said forcefully.

“Maybe she won’t, but what’s done is done. Bill won’t last much longer.”

“We should take advantage of her being locked up,” Bridget shook her head. “With her out of the way it would be easy to finish him off.”

“Isn’t it too risky for us to do it ourselves? We should let the Hep-V take care of him. He’s never alone there.”

“What are the chances of us getting Jessica to do it for us? It’s rare for a child to kill its maker, but it’s been done. We could convince her it would be merciful.”

There was a part of Bridget that absolutely wanted Bill to suffer for all the things he had done, all the pain he had caused, but more importantly, Bridget wanted him truly dead. She didn’t want him to have a chance at being cured.

“I’m not convinced she would do it. Not with the prospect of an antidote. If there is any glimmer of hope she will keep him alive.”

“Then maybe we need to expose some of his dirty deeds,” Bridget suggested. “Maybe she needs to know just what she would be keeping alive.”

James was quiet for a moment as he thought it over and then nodded.

“That might work if we tell her that and convince her it would be merciful. And there was this thing she said about how he wanted her to protect his humanity. From the sounds of things at the house, there’s none left.”

“Then it’s settled. We’ll make a visit to Jessica,” she said before she turned to rinse the shampoo from her hair.

James nodded again, but he no longer felt the kind of satisfaction with this plan that his sister did.

xXx

Sookie and Eric walked into Bill’s house only to hear his growling and yelling from his prison cell. She felt a twinge of sympathy for him, but knew there was nothing she could do to help him.

Willa emerged from the basement and the yelling got louder when she opened the door, only to become muffled again when she shut it behind her.

“What’s his problem?” Sookie asked.

“I gave him more animal blood and he’s throwing a fit,” she said.

“A vamptrum,” Eric smirked at his little pun.

Sookie snorted and said, “Very clever.”

Eric just wiggled his eyebrows in response.

“Takahashi and Dunkova are already working hard on the antidote. They have everything they need, including human food. Bill’s mad about that too. He says he can smell it and it’s disgusting.”

“Well some things don’t change,” Sookie rolled her eyes.

“Being that Bill is devouring pig’s blood he’s hardly in a position to judge,” Eric said. “Has there been any progress or are they still in the development stage?”

“They’re still in the development stage, but they keep smiling and say that things look good.”

“Excellent. If they need more infected TruBlood for pure strains of the virus, I’m sure we can come up with some,” Eric said. “Did you feed last night?”

“I did,” she nodded. “I’ll be alright for tonight.”

“Very good,” Eric nodded. “Pam should be arriving shortly with a new captive. I’ll go down and get the containment cell ready.”

He kissed Sookie’s head and then went downstairs to get that done, leaving Sookie and Willa alone.

“How are you doin’ with all this?” Sookie asked Willa.

“I’m okay. It’s a little nerve-wracking since Eric is so much older than me and he put all this trust in me.”

“He wouldn’t if he didn’t think you could do it. And Eric’s been around long enough to know when a person can handle somethin’ and when they can’t,” she said. “And he’s very proud of you.”

Willa smiled and nodded.

“If you’re hungry there’s food in the kitchen still. I’ve got to go check a couple of things on the computer.”

“Alright. I’ll just wait for Eric in the living room.”

Willa headed to the office and Sookie to the living room where she took a seat on the same couch she’d used when she’d fed both Eric and Bill at the same time to heal them. What a horrible night that was for her. She’d broken three hearts, and now that she looked back on it she knew she’d been a fool to forgive Bill so quickly. He’d gotten his damn blood in her again or she might not have.

She waited there for only a few minutes before the front door burst open and Pam and Tara stumbled in with a struggling rogue. Sookie jumped up, but she knew she couldn’t really do anything to help. When the rogue caught her scent, he lunged in Sookie’s direction, as much as he was able with his wrists and ankles bound like they were.

He growled and hissed at Sookie before he demanded, “Give the bloodbag to me!”

“She belongs to the king. If I don’t get a taste, you don’t have a chance,” Pam told him.

Thankfully, Eric came up from the basement and took over for Tara. Pam accompanied him downstairs to get the rogue squared away.

“What the fuck are you doin’ here?” Tara asked Sookie.

“Well hello to you too,” Sookie sassed.

“It ain’t safe for your candy ass to be here ‘round sick vampires,” Tara folded her arms over her chest.

“Bill’s locked up, and so is the one you just brought in,” she said. “I’m safe, Tara.”

“Uh huh,” Tara grumbled. She idled at bitchy but at the moment she was downright combative and hostile, and for no apparent reason.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothin’. I’m peachy-fuckin’-keen.”

Well then someone needed a dose of Vamprin.

Sookie noticed that something was strange with Tara’s teeth when she spoke.

“What happened to your teeth?” she asked.

“Elvira and I got into it last night. I lost some teeth and she almost lost an ear,” Tara said like it was no big deal.

“Over what?” Sookie asked with wide eyes.

“It ain’t important.”

“Important enough to take off her ear and lose a few teeth?”

“Sook, did you forget that they could hear this conversation from your front porch?” Tara barked. “Just leave it the fuck alone.”

“They? Tara, you’re one of them now.”

“You think I fuckin’ forgot that shit?” Tara stared at her.

“It sure seems like it sometimes.”

“Well the next time you look like you’re gonna die, which wouldn’t be too long from now with all the stupid ass shit you do, I’ll just have to do you the same favor you did for me,” Tara said and then promptly disappeared from the house.

Sookie shook her head and sat back down on the couch. She knew that she’d probably made a mistake having Tara turned, but as time went on she had hope that Tara would become less angry and maybe start to enjoy life again.

“I can go talk to her if you want,” Willa offered quietly from the archway into the living room.

“I’m not sure what good it would do,” Sookie said.

“She told me what happened the night she was turned,” Willa stepped forward a few steps. “I understand why you did what you did, but I understand why she’s angry about it too. It’s… I was ready to be turned. I wanted it. She was turned against her will and I think with Pam always running off in favor of Eric, it’s just frustrating for Tara. She still has that feeling like she doesn’t belong.”

“I wish she didn’t feel that way,” Sookie frowned. “Maybe now that Pam’s back for good they can work something out. I understand why she’s angry, especially about being turned. But I wish she’d cut Pam a little slack. If she hadn’t gone after Eric he’d be dead.”

“If you were in her shoes, trapped in a life you weren’t sure you wanted and your maker was all you had, would you be able to cut them some slack for leaving?”

“Perhaps not,” Sookie admitted. “But it’s up to Pam to try and mend that fence. She’s as stubborn, if not more stubborn than Tara.”

“I can tell,” Willa smiled. “I’m also grateful my maker isn’t as… abrasive.”

“Oh he can be,” she smiled back. “But he’s not nearly that stubborn, at least not in that way.”

“Can I ask how long you and Eric have known each other? I can tell he cares for you very deeply.” If Willa could have blushed, she probably would have.

“For just about two years now,” Sookie smiled. “We didn’t always like each other much, but he grew on me.”

“Jessica told me that you’re Bill’s soulmate,” Willa replied.

Her smile faded and she said, “Jessica is full of Bill’s blood. She’s his biggest fan, and she doesn’t really know everything that he’s done to me. I believe in soulmates, and I’m not Bill’s. He’s probably his own soulmate.”

Willa’s eyes went wide and then she started to laugh.

“I’ve known a few guys like that,” she said between chuckles.

Sookie’s smile came back, but before she could respond Eric and Pam emerged from the basement and they heard the loudness before it became stifled again. The two elder vampires then joined them in the living room.

“Everything okay?” Sookie asked.

“Eric wouldn’t let me put the rogues in a cage match,” Pam smirked. “Otherwise, everything’s just fine.”

“As entertaining as that might have been, the point is to keep them alive,” Sookie laughed and shook her head.

“There’s plenty more where they came from,” Pam shrugged and then looked to Eric.

Their eyes seemed to communicate something silently and then Pam took off without so much as a goodbye.

“Is there anything I can be doing?” Willa asked Eric.

“Just keep yourself available for the scientists if they require anything they don’t have. Right now all we can do is wait,” Eric replied. “Did Tara teach you how to glamour?”

“She did,” Willa nodded.

“Good,” Eric nodded. “I ordered some books that I expect you to read. My maker taught me important lessons from them and I will teach you the same ones. After this Hep-V situation is squared away we’ll start your combat training.”

“I’m excited to start learning anything you want to teach me,” she smiled. “I’ll go see if the scientists need anything immediately.”

Eric nodded and then turned toward Sookie.

“Do you work tomorrow?” he asked her.

“No.”

“Then I’ll have to figure out a way to keep you entertained tonight,” he said with heat in his eyes.

“I’m sure you can find a way,” she smiled. “You did say all we have to do right now is wait, right?”

“I did.”

“Then it’s about time you showed me how a king makes love,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Eric growled and in seconds he had Sookie out the door of the house, headed for her place.

Next