#this one brought to you by trying to get a brooklynn gif and going to the scene where she's watching the broker's apartment

[hurlingsupport]

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous (Gender Neutral Reader Insert)

200 Heart Special

This series gained over 200 hearts on Quotev, so I wrote this chapter in celebration! Unlike the 100 Heart Special, this chapter actually focuses on (non-canon) romantic development, so I felt that it was only right to post it on here as well. Also, just for context, I wrote this with season 3 in mind.

Your skin is warm, almost uncomfortably so. You'd think with the camp being surrounded by trees, you'd be spared from the sun; but no, it always gets through somehow. Pulling your collar away from your neck in an attempt to feel a nonexistent breeze, you spare a glance around at the almost empty camp.

Yasmina and Sammy had gone off together, for a reason you've long forgotten, Brooklynn is playing some game you don't know the name of with Darius, and Kenji is snoozing away on the couch. You tap your feet against the wooden ground, growing more and more impatient just sitting on your bed. And finally, you decide enough is enough. Jumping up from your bed, you make your way towards Brooklynn and Darius, the duo quickly giving you their attention.

“Hey!’ Darius sits up taller at the sight of you. “Did you wanna play?”

“We can start a new game for you.” Brooklynn offers as she sorts through her cards.

You squint down at the cards strewn about, shaking your head soon after. “No, I just wanted to know if you guys have seen Ben anywhere.”

Darius looks to his side in contemplation as Brooklynn tilts her head. Sadly, they both shake their heads.

“No, weren't you guys supposed to go do something today?” Darius asks, placing a card into the pile in the middle.

“Yeah, that's why I'm asking.” You huff, turning your head to see if you can somehow spot him through the foliage.

“Well, if he bails on you, just know that you're welcome to play with us.” Brooklynn places another card onto the pile, causing Darius to sputter.

“Wait, did you just win?” He looks utterly befuddled, as do you. Are they playing Uno? It looks different, though.

“Yeah, I told you, when the joker matches the suit, it beats everything.” Brooklynn confirms.

“But the suit was a heart, not a diamond.” Darius says with furrowed brows.

“Look…” Brooklynn begins to re-explain the rules to Darius, and you take that as your cue to leave.

Turning towards Kenji's sleeping form, you unapologetically shake him awake. He fumbles for a bit, covering his eyes with his arms and cursing nonsensically.

“Do you know where Ben is?” You ask, ignoring his mumbling.

“What?” He rasps.

“Ben. Where is he?” You repeat.

“How am I supposed to know?” He groans, taking a look around the camp. “What time is it?”

“Daytime.” You respond, leaving Kenji behind to recollect himself.

Did he not tell anyone he was leaving? No, it's more likely that he left, and no one really cared to ask. Ben left randomly quite often, which was fine since he always brought Bumpy with him, so he's probably safer than any of you are even at camp. Still, you wish you had at least a hint as to where he went. This is a gigantic island, and unlike Ben, you don't have any protection to ensure that you can go wherever you please.

With much reluctance, you climb down the treehouse ladder to look for Ben. You'd much rather try and run into him than sit around and do nothing all day. Of course, you could try playing that card game with Brooklynn and Darius, but just looking at Darius's confused face ensured that it would just worsen your mood.

Ducking to avoid an outstretched branch, you continue walking deeper into the jungle. Slapping bugs away from you served to occupy you for some time until your thoughts eventually overtook you. Would you and Ben have to reschedule your hangout? Did he even want to hang out in the first place? Well, he's the one who brought it up, so why would he ditch you and not the other way around? Not that you would ditch him. This place is way too boring to even think of doing that.

Now that you think about it, getting bored of Jurassic World is a little funny. That's like getting bored of roller-coasters. But, then again, if you were continuously riding a roller-coaster, you'd obviously get bored after a while. So, really, it's not that strange.

You wipe sweat from your face, hand brushing against the right side of your face. The skin is still sensitive despite being entirely healed. Sometimes, you wonder if someone could hit your brain if they stabbed something through it, but that's a gross thought, so you try not to wonder about it. You hate thinking about that. You should think of something else.

How far are you from camp? Not too far, probably. You've been walking at a slower pace than usual in hopes of spotting Ben. Still, you're getting a little anxious. Should you go back? Oh, but you really don't want to. This isn't too bad. You haven't run into anything scary.

A rustle to your right has you stopping in your tracks. Almost instinctively, you crouch down, turning in that direction so you could actually see what was there. The rustling continues, almost as if something was continuously going back and forth within the bushes. Could it be Ben?

Moving closer despite literally every experience of yours telling you not to, you almost get struck in the face by a giant boulder. Or, wait, no, that's not a boulder. That's a tail, an Ankylosaurus tail! And, when you stand to your full height, the dinosaur turns towards you, bellowing excitedly. Before you know it, you're being held in the air by Bumpy's head as you hug her. Wait a minute, if Bumpy's here…

You stumble a bit as she throws you back onto your feet, swiftly turning your head in any and all directions in search of Ben. And to your delight, he's not too far off. Crouching in front of a bush, Ben plucks some plump caterpillars from the leaves. You try to ignore the fact that those things are going in his mouth and instead quietly walk up to him.

“Are you trying to scare me?” He asks suddenly, squishing one of the wiggling insects between his pointer and his thumb.

“Not really.” You refute with a grimace. “Did you forget about our plans?”

Ben turns towards you, briefly forgetting about the bug in his hands as guilt crosses his face. “Oh, that. Yeah, sorry, I got hungry.”

“We have cans of food at camp.” You remind him.

“I have my preferences.” He says, eating the caterpillar in one gulp.

Holding back literally everything you want to say in response to that, you simply sigh.

“Do you… still want to hang out?”

He only hums.

“Ben.”

“I heard you. Come on.” He gets up without another word, walking in a random direction.

Dejected, you follow after him with a frown. If he didn't want to hang out, he should've told you before running off so you didn't waste your time trying to find him. But also, why didn't he want to hang out? Is he mad at you? Why would he be mad at you, though? You haven't done anything to him, or at least you don't think you have. Have you?

You cross your arms, a mixture of anger and worry stirring within your mind. Is it because you make a weird face whenever he eats bugs in front of you? But everyone else does that, so that can't be it. Did you say something that he took the wrong way? Well, thinking of that, a lot of the things you say could be taken the wrong way. Or, well, not exactly the wrong way, just meaner than you meant it.

Your thoughts come to a stop when Ben settles down onto the grass. Looking up, you realize he's taken you to a part of the island you haven't yet seen. It's pretty, honestly, a cliff overlooking a good portion of the island. You didn't know a place like this was so close to camp. You can even see some Brachiosauruses. Taking a seat next to Ben, you nearly jump out of your skin when a ‘thump’ sounds behind you, but a quick glance reveals the culprit to be Bumpy.

It's silent for an awkward moment until you realize Ben’s refusing to speak. So, you muster up the strength to say something to the boy you're sure hates you at the moment.

“Are you mad?” You ask outright.

Ben’s eyes flit to your form, silence stretching on.

“No. It's…” He pauses, collecting his thoughts. “Can I tell you something?”

“Yeah.” You answer maybe a bit too quickly.

“I, uh, I'm worried. About what's going to happen once we get back home.” He runs his fingers over the bark tied to his arm. “I know this is kind of random, but it's been bothering me.”

You find yourself shaking your head absent-mindedly. “No, I've been thinking about it too.”

“Good, good. Um, it's… I don't really know how to explain it.” He looks up at you. “I'm just not sure how it's going to go, y’know? I'm… different.”

You hum, nodding along to his words.

“I'm also scared I'll go back to the way I was. At the start, I mean.”

“I think you'll be okay.” You follow the tapping motion of his fingers before meeting his eyes. “If you want, I can remind you of every cool thing you've done on this nightmare island.”

“Can you remember it all?” He grins.

“Yeah, Ben, don't you remember when you beat Toro?” You say in a teasing tone. “And when you rode Bumpy while an explosion went off behind you?”

“Did I tell you about that?” He ponders.

“Wait, that actually happened?”

Ben barks out a laugh at your puzzled expression, and you can't help but crack a smile.

“When? I've never seen that happen?” You scoot closer.

“You weren't there. If you don't believe me, ask Brooklynn or Kenji.” He snickers.

“I'd think you're bluffing even if I did ask them.”

“I'm not!” He huffs. “Seriously, you just missed out.”

You groan, resisting the urge to smile when he smacks your shoulder.

“Did you want to tell me anything?” Ben asks suddenly.

“Like what?” You raise a brow.

“I mean, I kind of just ranted about my worries. What about you?” He implores.

“Oh.” You look to your side. “No, I'm fine.”

“Do you wanna talk about Mit–”

“I said I was fine.” You interrupt, anger flickering in your chest at the offhand mention of that poacher.

Ben goes quiet at your rejection, staring at you for a few silent moments. “Will you tell me about anything else?”

You don't reply for a few seconds, mostly out of pettiness. However, the silence gets to you eventually, and you mumble out an answer. “Do you… like your parents?”

“Well, yeah, I'd say I do. Why?”

You don't speak, at least not until his shoulder touches yours. It's a bit uncomfortable, considering how hot you are wearing your sweater, but you don't say anything about it.

“I… don't like my parents.” You mumble, ignoring how Ben leans in closer to hear you. “They're not… there.”

“Like, physically, or…”

“Mentally, I guess.” You specify.

“How so?”

“They, um, take these… medications.”

You feel sick. But you feel Ben leaning against you, and it feels like you can think better when you focus on the heat of his body rather than what you're saying.

“It just… bothers me.” You force out. It's not exactly true, but you'd rather not tell Ben the entirety of it.

Ben hums. “Is it prescribed?”

You only shake your head. He waits, likely assuming that you're going to continue, but you never do. This is the most he'll get out of you willingly, at least for now.

Ben grabs your hand, fingers intertwining with your own. “I think you'll be alright.” He assures you. “I'll remind you of how cool you are anytime you want.”

“Well, how cool am I now?” You lean into him.

“Cool enough to kiss.” He affirms.

“Wh– huh?” You stammer.

Ben uses his free hand to grab ahold of your face, pulling you closer until his lips meet your cheek. And now the only thing you're able to worry about is if he can feel how hot your face is from under his lips. Unknowingly, you clench the hand holding his own, and he holds you tighter in return.

He hums, eyes latched onto your surprised face. “Yeah, I think you're cool enough for two kisses even.”

And without another thought, he's leaning in again to push his lips onto your face. It's not even an actual kiss, and yet you're clumsily trying to find the words to tell him… tell him what? You're actually not too sure. The most you can think to do is hold his hand tighter and lean impossibly closer so his lips can meet their mark quicker.

[alonely-dreamer]

The Valuable Sun | Chapter 21

Summary: The sun is dead. Long live the sun.

Pairing: Eric x OC

Warnings: 18+

A/N: Please, note that I am French so there might be some mistakes here and there.

Words: 3178

Masterlist

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20

When Brooklynne opened her eyes, it was dark and cold. She didn’t know where she was, but she knew she wasn’t alone. There was a pair of arms wrapped around her waist, she knew it was Eric, but still, she couldn’t figure out where she was. She couldn’t breathe, but, oddly, she didn’t need to. There was something on her, all around her, everywhere, something cold, getting inside her clothes, her socks, her shoes… Was it… dirt?

Panic took over her and she tried to move, but couldn’t, making it worse. She realized she was buried in the ground and knew it would be difficult to get out of the hole on her own, she tried nonetheless. She crawled up with difficulty, for minutes that seemed like hours. Sometimes feeling like she was digging herself deeper in than out. Finally, she got out, her hands gripping the grass as she pulled herself up with a force she didn’t know she had, a force no human had.

She took a deep breath as soon as she could, dirt in her mouth, in her eyes, falling down from the top of her head… She fell on the ground, her chest coming in contact with the cold and humid grass. She coughed, and coughed again, but managed to sit up. She felt something warm and wet on her cheeks and quickly wiped it out with the back of her hand as she realized she was crying.

“Brooklynne.”

She jumped, startled, as she heard her name. She looked up but was blinded by the lights in the dark sky. The stars. She brought her hand to her forehead, trying to shield her eyes from the blinding lights, but they quickly got used to it, and she found Eric standing right in front of her.

“What did you do?” she asked with a trembling voice and angered tone. “What did you do?!”

“I’m sorry,” he quickly answered as he knelt before her. “I didn’t have a choice. You were dying.”

As he said those words, looking at her with fear, worry, and yet relief, she remembered her last moments before everything went dark. She remembered hearing a gun shot, she remembered the blood, she remembered the pain. She gasped and started crying again as she took it all in at once. She was dead. He had saved her life.

“You’re gonna be okay,” he promised her as he cupped her cheek with his hand.

She put hers over his, with unusual speed that surprised her. He moved his thumb over her tears, giving her a reassuring smile, which quickly turned into a frown.

“What? What is it?”

“Your tears… they’re… normal.”

 ***

 To hell with Bill, to hell with Marnie, to hell with all of them. Eric and Brooklynne were probably needed, but they didn’t care. They needed time. She needed time. And a shower.

When she got out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but an old and discolored blue towel, her hair falling wet on her shoulders, she felt hungry, and worried. As she was now a living-dead, she shouldn’t feel hungry, not for human food anyway. She should be crying blood and craving human blood, but all she wanted at this moment was a big fat hamburger, with extra-bacon, and fries.

“Is it possible the… transformation went wrong?” she asked as she sat next to him on her bed.

“No. I did everything right. I was… I was afraid it wouldn’t work… I was afraid it was too late…”

“So… it’s because I’m a fairy, isn’t it?”

He shook his head, sighed, then nodded. “Probably. You were half-human, half-fairy. Now that…”

“Now that I’m dead,” she cut him off. “I’m half-vampire, half-fairy.”

“There are easy ways to find out.”

“I might actually be able to walk in the sun…”

“I’ve never heard of… hybrids, before.”

She chuckled, making him raise an eyebrow.

“What’s so funny?”

“I was a freak when I was human. And I’m still a freak as a vampire.”

“I wouldn’t call you a freak,” he said, as he took her hand in his.

“And what would you call me?”

“Probably the strongest creature out there.”

“Is ‘creature’ better than ‘freak’?” she asked with humor.

“We’re all creatures. And it is better. Especially since you’re the strongest one of us.”

“You don’t know that.”

“If you’ve kept your powers…” he paused.

“What is it?”

“Now that you’re a vampire… can you hear my thoughts?”

She frowned. She hadn’t thought about it, and maybe that meant she couldn’t. She was supposed to be stronger now, wasn’t she? Which meant her powers would be stronger as well. His thoughts hadn’t invaded hers, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to invade his.

“If she’s half-fairy every vampire in the world will come for her, for her blood, they’ll come for the sun, they’ll come for her. They’ll come for her. They’ll come for her. They’ll…”

She winced as she removed her hand from his.

“Did you…”

“Yes…”

“I should have thought about something else. I didn’t think you’d be able to…”

“It’s fine….”

A heavy silence took over the room as both of them thought of ways to keep each other safe. Only one solution seemed to be good enough, it had worked so far, after all.

He slid his hand down her back and rested it on her waist, bringing her closer to him. He placed a kiss on her temple before he whispered:

“You’re gonna be just fine.”

“Eric?”

“Mmh?”

“I’m not mad at you.”

He frowned, confused at first, then sighed, then chuckled as he understood.

“Would it be useless to ask you to stay out of my head?”

“Sorry,” she smiled, amused, and a little embarrassed. “I just can’t help it sometimes.”

 ***

 Their unspoken agreement to keep Brooklynne’s abilities a secret left them with one last question to answer. Would she stay human to the eyes of the world, or would she be a vampire, stuck to live at night and renounce the sun, at least in parts?

While she was trying to figure out how she wanted the world to see her, she stared at her naked body in the mirror as she wondered who she wanted to be. Her fingers moved down her chest to her belly, only to get back up where a bullet hole should have been. She remembered the blood, the pain, but mostly, she remembered the chaos. She remembered feeling like she was dying, feeling like her life was ending when it had barely just begun. The weakness she had felt at that moment had since turned into rage, and all of it was directed in a certain witch’s way.

Eric appeared suddenly in the mirror, a towel wrapped around his waist. She watched as he leaned over and placed a kiss in her neck as he slid his hands on her belly.

“You okay?”

“No, not really.”

She saw sadness take over his face, but it only lasted a second, as an unusual unconfident smirk appeared in his lips.

“I thought you enjoyed our little… shower,” he said as he turned her around.

“I did. I always do.”

“What’s wrong then?”

She sighed before she slightly raised her arms to his chest, her fingers sliding up his skin.

“That’s not how I thought it would happen.”

“How what would happen?”

She looked up at him, her answer clear in her eyes.

“Oh,” he said, quite speechless. “I didn’t even know you… were thinking about it.”

“Of course, I was,” she replied as if his answer had offended her. “Of course, I was. Weren’t you?”

“I was too,” he nodded. “And the possibility of… this… happening… had crossed my mind.”

“What?”

“Our first job for Bill… I was terrified you’d get hurt. I was terrified I wouldn’t be fast enough to… save you. That’s not how I wanted it to happen. But I’m glad it did.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head and each second of silence was like a needle in his heart.

“Are you glad it did?”

“I…” she sighed again. “I… I can’t… be happy about it… right now. Because of how it happened. Because… Because right now I just want to tear that bitch apart.”

There was a spark in his eyes, like she had just awakened something in him. He agreed, of course, and she knew that. Maybe she should have known he’d be proud.

“Eric, I want to spend eternity with you. I don’t want you to think I don’t. I just… I need to… get used to the idea that I’m not human anymore. I need to see what’s changed, how I’ve changed but… there’s something I know hasn’t changed, something I know will never change.”

“What is that?”

“My unconditional love for you,” she said as she took his face in her hands. “I love you. I wanted to spend eternity with you yesterday, and I still do now. You can never doubt that. Even if sometimes… I miss my human life.”

He smiled, relived, before he placed a kiss on her forehead.

“I love you too,” he whispered. “Now let’s go tear that bitch apart.”

 ***

 It was around 3AM when Eric and Brooklynne stepped inside the King’s house. Bill was waiting for them, for her, with guilt written all over his face. Somehow she knew Bill would have been dead by now if he weren’t King of Louisiana. They stopped in the hall, all three of them, staring at each other in silence. Brooklynne wondered what pitiful excuses he was going to try and make, Eric just tried very hard to stop himself from committing treason and condemn himself to a certain True Death.

“Well isn’t this a happy reunion,” Pam said as she joined them from Bill’s office. “You’re still alive.”

“So to speak,” Brooke’s reply was as dry as Pam’s tone. The vampire smirked, surprising the fairy hybrid, who didn’t think her new ‘sister’ would be too happy about her new ‘condition’.

“Brooklynne I’m…”

“Sorry?” she cut Bill off. “Don’t even bother. You know, I wouldn’t even be mad if it had just been an accident. But you tried to kill Eric, and that, I’ll never forget. And I’ll never forgive you either, so don’t waste your breath. We came here to kill Marnie, and you owe us the backup.”

Bill’s sad eyes didn’t even make her flinch and the vampire nodded regretfully as he accepted her request.

“Where’s Sookie?” she asked.

“Home, I suppose.”

“She wasn’t there,” Eric said.

“You don’t know where my sister is?”

“I… I,” he stuttered. “She said she never wanted to see me again then left. I thought she’d be waiting for you at your house.”

“She might be with your brother,” Eric said in an attempt to reassure her, though he knew exactly what she was thinking. Sookie had gone for the witch, and she hadn’t come back.

 ***

 Bill had called Jessica as backup and they left the house with an SUV filled with all sorts of automatic weapons. The red head had landed Brooklynne some black clothes, and the five vampires were inconspicuous as they walked down the empty road leading to Moongoddess Emporium, heavily armed.

“I’m so sick of silvering myself all day every day,” Jessica rumbled. “I’m pissed off all the time. This is what PMS used to feel like,” she continued, and Brooklynne was pleasantly reminded that she wouldn’t have to go through that anymore.

“Our objective is to kill the witch, finish this one way the other,” Bill said. “But we’re gonna finish this tonight. Are we clear?”

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Brooklynne replied as Jessica picked up the bazooka and aimed it at Marnie’s shop.

“Can we blow up these Wiccan dispshits already?” Pam complained. “I got a mani-pedi at 4.”

“Wait, Marnie’s not alone in there?” Brooke asked.

“Her accomplices are with her,” Bill answered.

“Are Tara and Lafayette inside?” she questioned angrily as Bill was about to let his progeny blow up the place with her friends inside.

“Who cares?” Pam shrugged.

“We’re not killing Tara and Lafayette.”

“They tried to kill us,” Pam reminded her.

“I don’t care,” she growled.

Pam raised an eyebrow as she put a hand on her waist.

“How are we gonna get Marnie out of her there?” Eric asked, putting a stop to the debate.

“Why don’t we just go in there and rip her head off?”

“She can control the dead, remember?” Jessica said. “And you’re dead now.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,” Jason shouted as he ran towards them, appearing from across the street. “Stop, stop, stop, stop.”

“Jason? What are you doing here?”

“Brooke? Oh my God,” he breathed out as he went to hug her. “We thought you were dead!”

She grimaced, though he couldn’t see her face. She hugged her big brother back for a few seconds before gently pushing him away.

“Yeah… I… I am.”

“What?”

“I am… dead.”

“Wh-“ he took a step back as he realized.

Uncontrollable rage took over him as he turned to Bill to punch him. The vampire didn’t even try to avoid the hit.

“You son of bitch!” he shouted. “You killed my sister.”

Bill clenched his jaw but stayed calm. Brooklynne didn’t try to stop him.

“Why should we stop?” Eric asked, changing the subject back.

“What?” Jason frowned. “Oh, yeah,” his entire demeanor changed as fast as he had gotten angry, and was now back to his normal panicking self. “You can’t blow up the place up. Put that down,” he told Jessica as he pointed to the bazooka. “Sookie’s in there.”

“What?”

“I told her to stay away!” Bill said.

“And you expected her to listen?” Eric asked.

“Damn it, Sookie,” Brooke sighed.

“’Damn it, Sookie’?” Jason repeated. “She’s in there to avenge your death!”

“I can avenge my own death, thank you very much!”

“We must abort,” Bill gave up. “We have to find another way.”

“And just so you know, Marnie put a spell around the place,” Jason said as he picked up a rock from the ground. “Watch this.”

He proceeded to throw the rock towards the shop and it collided against an invisible wall which lit up and disintegrated it in seconds. “This goes around the whole damn place.”

“We have to disable it,” Bill said.

“How are we gonna do that?” Brooke asked.

“I have no ide-“

Bill never got the chance to finish his sentence as he was pushed to the ground by a sudden appearance. His back painfully met the ground and he was now face to face with one of his missing sheriffs, Kirsch, sheriff of area 1. Eric was snatched right next from where Brooklynne was standing and the Viking was pushed against the wall across the street. Brooklynne growled and her fangs got out unintentionally. She didn’t let the surprise stop her as she launched herself at Duprez, sheriff or area 2. She pushed him to the ground and Pam had already stabbed him before he had any chance to get back up. He turned into a pool of blood at their feet.

“You okay?” Eric asked Brooklynne as if he weren’t the one who had just been attacked.

She didn’t get the chance to answer as they heard a scream to their right. They turned to see Kirsch lying on her stomach on the ground, Bill’s foot positioned on her chest to stop her from going anywhere.

“Antonia,” he called. “Show your face, witch! Hiding behind magic like a coward does not become you!”

Brooklynne turned to the front door of the shop, and waited. One minute. Two minutes. When, finally, Sookie came out.

“Brooke!”

“Sookie!”

“You’re alive!”

“Shall we return to the matter at hand?” Marnie spoke up from behind Sookie.

The fairy-human hybrid rolled her eyes. “Marnie wants to negotiate.”

“How may I serve, Antonia?” Kirsch asked, still possessed by Marnie’s magic.

The witch said something in Latin which allowed Kirsch to free herself from under Bill’s foot. The King, however, did not let her go, seized her and threw her towards Marnie where she came in contact with the wall. She screamed in pain as she burned and went up in flames before exploding into a thousand pieces.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Marnie said. “The power of the sun harnessed. The protection spell is impenetrable to most humans, and not fatal but to vampires, one touch is a death sentence.”

Brooklynne looked up at Eric with a look he only understood too late.

“You’re so dead,” Brooklynne said before she ran towards the ‘impenetrable wall’. She was met with some resistance, though she felt no pain and reached the other side in less than a minute. Marnie stared at her with surprise. She was so stunned she didn’t even realize she was in danger and only started to worry when Brooklynne had her trapped between her body and the wall of her shop. She opened her mouth, showing her fangs to the witch.

“You did this to me,” she told her before she dug her teeth in her neck.

“Brooklynne!” she heard her sister call but ignored it.

Marnie screamed but soon became quiet as life left her body like it had left Brooklynne’s the night before. She let go of the witch once she no longer felt a pulse and she collapsed to the floor, drops of her own blood falling from Brooke’s lips to her face.

She licked her lips, realizing she had blood all over her mouth and chin. She tried to wipe it up with her hand but only stained herself more. The wall disappeared as soon as Marnie died, and Eric hurried to Brooke’s side.

“You could’ve died!”

“The sun can’t kill me.”

“You didn’t know that!”

“I can feel it, Eric. It hasn’t changed.”

“What do you mean?” Sookie asked.

Brooklynne turned to see her sister’s shocked face. She was joined by Jason who didn’t look any better.

“I’m still a fairy,” she shrugged. “I know it. I can feel it.”

“You’re a vampire-fairy hybrid?” Bill asked, as stunned as the rest of them.

“And none of you will ever repeat it to anyone, ever,” Eric threatened and made himself very clear to the King and his progeny.

“You’re a vampire,” Sookie whispered as she realized, feeling stupid for thinking Eric had been able to heal her after he left them at the hotel. “Are you… are you okay?”

“I will be,” she said as she took Eric’s hand in hers.

Sookie tried to hide her grimace. She turned to Bill once more and gave him a look he knew meant she would never forgive him.

“What should we do about Marnie’s accomplices?” he asked.

“Apart from Roy, they’re all hostages in there,” Sookie told him.

“Are you kidding me?” Pam scoffed.

“I swear, she even killed one them like ten minutes ago.”

“Fine,” Eric said. “Let’s find this Roy. So I can rip his heart from his chest.”

**********

Tags: @thepoet1975 @nerdysandwichqueen @catchmeupimgettingoutofhere @raegan-hale @colie87 @heavenly1927​ @abbey7103​ @with-love-maddie​

This is the beginning of the end...

Thank you for reading!

[vetoedmartyr]

∬thє unívєrѕє íѕ ѕhαpєd єхαctlч líkє thє єαrth. íf чσu gσ ѕtrαíght lσng єnσugh чσu'll єnd up whєrє чσu wєrє.∬

✰

“I’m a Neuroscientist, not a surgeon. I couldn’t do that even if I wanted to.”

Mordecai scanned the file in his hands, brows lightly furrowing as he read every word more than once. Gathering what it was they were trying to do and say in this special case. It wasn’t like anything he had seen before and all of it was like it was some type of project. It literally made Mordecai forget that what he was reading was about a person. The terminology made it sound like they were referring to some type of machine. Using terms like “modifications” and “upgrading material”, hard to believe they were using those to describe a person. But they were, and by now Mordecai was used to it.

Shaking his head slightly he looked up from the file again and closed the folder on his hands.

“I couldn’t do any of this nor do I want to.”

“Your brother had successfully erased and modified forty-seven agents. You haven’t even come close to one.”

“I know, but...”

“It is your job as a neuroscientist to take these agents and create weapons. You have no choice.”

Mordecai simply stood still as he watched the room empty. Waiting for each higher-up to exit before heaving out a long sigh and dropping his head. Closing his eyes a moment as he stood still.

Forty-seven.

The number didn’t seem high but in that circumstance, it was too high. That was forty-seven people. People with lives, memories, hobbies, careers, and loved ones. People who innocently woke up and forgot everything except what they were programmed to do. It broke Mordecai’s heart and scared him to the core that he was left to be the one to do that job. He didn’t want to do that job, and all he wished right then was to not be dragged into this corrupt mess of an organization. Thinking back on things, Mordecai wished that he didn’t even open his front door that night Elric came knocking.

Slowly lifting his head back up, Mordecai opened his eyes and flinched.

“Elric!”

He reflexively called out as he saw the sight of his older brother. Elric always made Mordecai nervous, due to their upbringing. The two weren’t remotely close and never really got along whenever they did speak. That made things even more confusing when Elric came and dragged Mordecai into this mess.

Brown eyes widened a bit as he looked up at his brother’s eyes. His eyes were so dark they were almost black. In that case, it made things even more unsettling, Elric’s eyes really reflected his personality. Mordecai flinched again as Elric spoke out in his deep-toned booming voice.

“Pick up the pace scrap! I brought you here for a reason didn’t I?”

“I... well... I mean... y-you dragged me here...”

“For a reason. You learned this, didn’t you? Now is your chance to show them what you’re capable of.”

“But...”

Just like that Elric was gone. Mentally kicking himself, Mordecai hated that he couldn’t stand up to Elric. Rolling his eyes he wandered out of the room and down the hall. Slowing his pace as he reached the lab. Reluctantly entering the room he looked around and went over to one of the monitors seeing a CT-scan pulled up on the screen. Getting taken aback, it was /his/ scan. But he didn’t remember any of that happening at all. Slowly stepping away from the screen he stopped as he felt presence enter the room. Turning around he was greeted by the appearance of the higher-ups yet no sign of Elric anywhere.

“One choice Mordecai Quintel. Become a weapon maker or a weapon yourself.”

Snapping his eyes open, Mordecai jerked straight up. Looking around he raised a hand and rubbed one of his eyes. Squinting them a bit in the now daylight. Feeling his heart ram against the inside of his chest as tried to settle down and take a deep breath.

He was nowhere near the HQ anymore but still was miles away from what he called his home.

Outstretching his arms forward he yawned and shook his head a bit. Trying to release himself from the fog and doing all he could to forget that dream. Which wasn’t all that far from reality. Except for the fact that Elric wasn’t alive anymore, and seeing him in his dreams was chilling, to say the least. It had been a full six months since he lost his only brother and it was still messing with him. But he had no time to dwell on that, it was an odd situation anyway. The more time he spent overthinking about it, the weirder it felt so he dropped it.

Looking around Mordecai quickly scrambled to get up and grab his things again. Taking his tablet he opened it and checked the time and everything a moment. Luckily, he wasn’t being tracked by HQ or anything so he breathed easier on that note. Still, he quickly gathered what little he had, set it aside and picked out some clothes to wear. Right before heading into the bathroom and showering for a good fifteen minutes. Taking advantage of that time alone with his thoughts, he tried on gathering what to do and where to go next. Once he was all washed up for the day he got out and got himself dressed. Running a towel through his thick waves, he grabbed his shoes. Tossing the towel on the bed he bent down and slipped on his shoes and tied them up tight.

Taking his collared jacket, he zipped it up three-fourths the way up and cleaned up the room a bit. Grabbing the keycard, as well as his messenger bag and tablet. Mordecai exited the room and checked out of the hotel he was staying at.

Once he was out in the real world again, he looked all around before picking a random location and heading down that path. He had managed to get out of Maine completely and make it back to his home in New York. Making it back into the heart of the city, he wanted to make it back to Brooklynn but was worried the HQ might try to fond him again. He didn’t want to place his father in that situation at all so he had no choice but to stay in Manhattan. He found out that the main base in Manhattan had been pretty much taken down, so he felt alright staying there.

In all honesty in the back of his mind, Mordecai wanted to head to California. But that, of course, was seeming impossible. However, it was a plan, maybe the last resort of a plan, yet a plan nonetheless. After many years of being in New York, he still called California his true home. New York just no longer felt like home nor a safe haven anymore. Maine was a nightmare, and New York had too many hardships to be known as “home” anymore.

Mordecai wandered aimlessly for what felt like hours on end before finally stumbling upon a place to settle for a bit. One right outside one of his favorite buildings to ever lay his coffee-brown eyes on.

The library.

Adjusting the strap across his torso, Mordecai stepped inside and headed straight for the science section. Grabbing a few books, he gathered them up and checked them out. Once he had done that, he stepped back outside and found a picnic table. Setting the books down he looped his long legs into the picnic table and opened up one of the books. Looking through it Mordecai let his busy mind wander again. Thinking about how complex the human brain was, and how he knew how to destroy it. All of the memories and knowledge it could hold onto and withstand and how he could erase all of that. A chill shot down his spine as he thought about that again. Mordecai was wretched with guilt and he didn’t even do it himself. Knowing just how to do it was more than enough and he hated it. He didn’t want to be known as a monster for creating them, that was why he left.

That number popped into his mind again. It didn’t seem like a large number but in that sense, it was too large. Reliving that same mentality he had in his dream, it was still too much. He knew them, their names, where they came from, all of that. Knowing that they were now all running around having no knowledge of who they are and to be “triggered to turn on” at any given moment. Was terrifying and made Mordecai guilty. None of it was even his own doing. Elric did it, he did all of it while Mordecai’s back was turned. Elric was the creator yet it was Mordecai left with the guilt and weight of what his brother left behind in his life.

Closing the book, Mordecai reached in his bag and pulled out his tablet. Turning it on, he grabbed his stylus and scrolled through the tablet. He still had all of the codings from the HQ so he went over to their files and scrolled through the names.

The ones his brother did, the ones from the Virginia base, all of them. They only saw scores, numbers, and weapons when they saw those names. But Mordecai saw people. People who deserved much better and shouldn’t have gone through any of that. Seeing that they were all different, had personalities and of course, lives of their own. Seeing that now they were walking science projects, causing danger to themselves and others without any realization.

Looking through their brain scans and the “before and afters” which was another chilling sight all on its own. The guilty feeling crept back up on Mordecai and he quickly slammed the tablet case shut. Shoving it back in his bag, he groaned to himself and dropping his head onto the edge of the table.

Feeling lost and confused, he wasn’t sure what to do. All he felt like doing was running away from the guilt. Guilt he didn’t even have to have but was there regardless. Like a black shadow that followed him around wherever he went, even though he did nothing wrong. It wasn’t /his/ fault his brother turned out the way he did. But he’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel like he could have prevented it. He could have told his brother to stop, or at least try. By that time Mordecai gave up on trying with Elric, knowing very well that it wouldn’t’ve worked. They never got along when growing up, and Mordecai always felt like he was reaching out in an abyss.

The image of his brother was still vivid in his mind. When he closed his eyes he could see him. Seeing his tall stature, emotionless face, and near-black eyes. Always shoving Mordecai away no matter how hard Mordecai tried. Watching him turn corrupt was like a nightmare he was waiting on. Elric wasn’t a nice nor good person and wasn’t a brother to Mordecai at all. Growing up they were all each other had, and he missed out on that companionship. Elric simply wanted nothing to do with Mordecai, nothing expect to have him become like him in the HQ and be a “weapon maker”.

Lifting his head up again he stared forward a moment and just focused on the sight with a blank look in his eyes. Slowly blinking he snapped out of it and straightened his back.snaking his legs out of the table, he gathered the book and sent them through the drop off chute.

Trying to shake out the images from his mind as well as get rid of the guilty feeling at least for a little while. Mordecai once again picked a random direction and started walking again. Having no plan on where he was going or idea where he was going to end up. Right then none of that really mattered. All he wanted for himself right then was to shake off the guilty feeling and have his mind wander elsewhere for a while. Doing whatever he could to think of anything else other than the weapons project, or his brother, or anything about the CIA. Mordecai just wanted to forget all about that part of his life, at least momentarily so he could get himself through before settling somewhere again.

[alonely-dreamer]

The Valuable Sun | Chapter 18

Summary: Sookie comes to learn her little sister’s got her life together while she has to rebuild everything.

Pairing: Eric x OC

Warnings: 18+

A/N: Please, note that I am French so there might be some mistakes here and there.

Words: 2254

Masterlist

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17

Spending the entire night with Jason and Sookie, cuddled in blankets, drinking hot coco with marshmallows… all of it seemed like a distant dream. A dream Brooklynne had had multiple times in the past year, once she thought would never happen again.

It was as hard for Sookie to get back to real life as it was for Brooklynne. Everyone in Bon Temps was so happy to not only hear about her return but also to see her again. The excuse Bill gave the police was very useful to shut anyone who was a little too curious. Of course, not everything was easy, and now that Sookie was back, it was a hard adjustment for Eric and Brooke to have a new roommate. So hard, in fact, that after only one day, Eric suggested they get a place of their own. A suggestion which, to her own surprise, she didn’t find uninteresting.

“Anywhere but Bon Temps,” Eric whispered so close to her hear she managed to hear him despite the terrible and terribly loud music playing in the club.

“You mean Shreveport,” she chuckled as she slid a hand in his hair, gently bringing his face to hers.

As per usual, she was sitting on his lap, on his ‘throne’. She had learnt to ignore the dozen pair of eyes, human or vampire, that were fixed on them for the entirety of the night. They were different, depending on their species. Mortals envied her. The undead judged him. Silently, of course. They knew what would happen if their sheriff caught them talking ill of his human.

The humans outside, however, weren’t so quiet or discreet about their judgmental ideas and hate. Steve Newlin’s following only grew bigger every day, ever since Russell went crazy on live TV, and a portion of it from Louisiana reunited every night in front of Fangtasia to spew their hatred all over its customers, be they vampire, or human. It did scare away most of the mortal clientele, though Fangtasia had been around for a while, and had, fortunately for business, loyal customers.

“What’s wrong with Shreveport?”

“What’s wrong with Bon Temps?”

He smirked. He liked it when she was challenging him. Always reminding him how perfect she was for him.

“We’d be close to Fangtasia. We wouldn’t have to fly here every night.”

“I like to fly,” she shrugged.

“Oh, I know you do,” he said with a grin.

“So, what do you want? To build a home under the club?”

“I would hate that as much as you would. I had an apartment in mind.”

“An apartment?”

He nodded. “UV protected windows, with a view…”

“Mmh… that doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Wait until you see the view.”

“I don’t care about the view. As long as we’re together.”

She pulled him to her, his lips crashing onto hers. That was how the night almost always ended, except when a dumbass decided to get into a fight with the other dumbasses outside.

“Eric.”

The Viking chose to ignore his progeny, hoping she’d get the hint and leave them alone.

“Eric.”

“Not now, Pam,” he said between two intense kisses.

“We have a problem.”

Brooklynne moved away, both annoyed and frustrated, making the vampire growl.

“What is it?” he snarled.

“Some idiot outside got into a fight with the other idiots outside.”

“Can’t you handle it?”

“It’s Hoyt, Eric. Jessica’s human? The King’s progeny? Rings any bell?”

Eric sighed as he tried hard not to roll his eyes.

“Go, it’s fine,” Brooke told him, not even trying to hide her disappointment.

“I’ll make it up to you,” he said before he stole another kiss from her.

“Oh, I know,” she smirked, not wanting him to leave in such a bad mood.

He chuckled as he got up, letting her slide gently onto the chair. Oh, how it made him feel to see her sitting there. She was never sexier than in his chair. She watched him leave, wiggling her fingers as he turned to her one last time. Left alone, she looked around the room, still feeling the eyes of the people there, humans still wishing they were in her position, vampires unhappy about their mortal queens. But as unhappy as they were, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind, that she was, indeed, their queen.

 ***

 Wrapped in Eric’s large grey shirt, Brooke was sound asleep in their bed, in the cool of his arms. She couldn’t remember the last time she got up before noon, but she was always awake before Eric, who only opened his eyes at sundown. She awoke particularly early that afternoon and she would usually stay in bed and go back to sleep but since Sookie was back she had been getting up sooner to spend as much time as possible with her before she had to leave for Fangtasia. She rubbed her eyes as she yawned, another hour of sleep wouldn’t have been so bad.

She didn’t bother dressing up and climbed the ladder carefully. She knew she could make all the noise in the world and it wouldn’t wake the vampire up, but she always tried to be considerate. Human habit.

She shielded her eyes from the sun of the early afternoon as she opened the doors of the fake wooden wardrobe. She heard voices coming from the kitchen and wondered who Sookie could’ve been with as she knew Jason was working. Besides, it sounded like a woman’s voice. It sounded like…

“Tara,” Brooklynne smiled as she stepped into the kitchen. “What are you doing here?” a laugh escaped her as she went to hug her old friend.

“Hey Brooke, you’re up late,” Tara chuckled as she hugged her back.

“Or early, considering she went to bed at 6,” Sookie said with a grimace.

“Don’t tell me you spend your nights with that vampire,” Tara scolded the young telepath as she saw the logo of Fangtasia on her shirt.

“Her nights and her days,” Sookie informed her friend, “he lives here now.”

“He what?”

“Eric moved in months ago,” Brooke said as she made her way to the fridge.

“Are you telling me that psychopath who kidnapped and tortured Lafayette for weeks lives in this house?”

Brooklynne paused.

“First of all, he apologized for that, he even gave him a car. Second of all, yes, Tara, my boyfriend lives with me… in my house.”

“Lafayette’s terrified of that motherfucker, he can give him all the cars in the world it won’t change a thing!”

“And… this is still my house,” Sookie said.

“Actually… it isn’t,” Brooke wrinkled her nose. “The deed’s in my name now… I signed the papers and everything…” she continued as she closed the fridge, a bottle of orange juice in one hand.

“What?” Sookie breathed out as if she had just been punched in the heart.

“Legally I had to… since you were gone for so long… I’m sorry,” she shrugged. “But it’s still your house. It’s always gonna be your house. And Jason’s.”

“Great,” Sookie threw her hands in the air, “good thing I came back or you’d have sold my car next.”

“That’s not fair,” Brooklynne replied, offended. “I took care of your car, I took care of all your stuff.”

“I’m not staying one more second here, I don’t want your boyfriend to think I’m his dinner,” she said as she practically jumped off her chair and made her way to the back door.

“Tara, wait!”

“He’s not gonna hurt you,” Brooke called after her, but Tara wasn’t listening.

Sookie gave a disappointed and disapproving look to her sister before she went after her friend. Brooke shrugged, walked up to the shelf where they kept the glasses and poured herself a full glass of orange juice. She mumbled something as she brought it to her lips.

“And a good day to you to.”

 ***

 Sookie was obviously mad when she came back. Tara had just come back from New-Orleans to see her and they had already been in a fight. It all made Brooklynne seriously reconsider Eric’s offer to move in that apartment in Shreveport, the one with the great view. Fortunately, the two sisters didn’t get the opportunity to argue about Eric again, as the phone rang as soon as she came back in the house, having failed to convince Tara to stay a little more.

“Who was it?” Brooklynne asked before taking another sip from her glass.

“Andy,” she sighed. “Jason didn’t come to work this morning and he’s not answering his phone.”

“Did he check his house?”

“He asked me to do it,” she answered as she took her car keys from the counter.

“Want me to come with…”

“No.”

Brooklynne silently watched her sister exit through the back door and quickly get into her car. After Sookie was gone, she washed the dishes, then took a long and cold shower, wondering what she should do while waiting for the night to come.

 ***

 Brooklynne’s denial of Jason’s situation unnerved Sookie more than anything. Though Eric acted as usual, detached from any feeling and showing no particular worry, he did find it strange too. Maybe it was too hard for Brooklynne to even imagine that another one of her siblings was missing again out of nowhere with no clue as to where to find them. Or maybe it was just as she said, optimism and trust. Jason would come back. Like Sookie did. Eric didn’t dare say aloud what both he and Sookie thought: hopefully, it wouldn’t take a year.

“He’s probably with a girl,” she said to her sister. “He’ll be back in a week.”

Jason’s disappearance had one positive effect, at least, Sookie and Brooklynne weren’t arguing about Eric anymore. Especially since Eric had said he’d order some vampires to look for their brother. Sookie appreciated it, even if she wouldn’t say it aloud. But there was something else that bothered the eldest telepath, something that had been bothering her ever since she had come back from Alcide’s.

“Wasn’t he happy to see you?” Brooklynne asked as she put a plate down on the table.

“He was very happy to see me,” Sookie answered as she handed her the cutlery. She was cooking Adele’s famous sausage recipe, Jason’s favorite.

“Then what?” she insisted as she finished setting up the table.

“Debbie was there.”

“Yeah. They got back together a few months ago. She’s clean now.”

“Wait… you knew?”

Brooke shrugged. “Alcide helped us a lot when we were looking for you. We spent a lot of time together.”

“He kept whining about that V addicted werewolf who left him,” Eric said as he appeared from the living room.

“She needed help getting clean. Needed support,” Brooke continued as she gave a reproving look to the vampire. Eric ignored it and kissed her temple, a gesture she took as an apology. That was the best she’d get from him anyway.

“We’re out of Tru Blood,” Sookie informed the vampire.

“I know,” he told her as he slid his hands on Brooke’s waist, gently bringing her back to his chest before placing a kiss on her neck, where two puncture wounds could be seen.

Sookie grimaced as she turned around and got back to the stove where the sausages were about to burn. Brooke smiled before she put a kiss on Eric’s lips. She meant to get the glasses from the shelf, but Eric had something else in mind. He didn’t let her go from his arms and captured her lips, tightening his hold on her.

“Could you not?” Sookie sighed. “We’re about to eat.”

“I’m about to eat too,” he smirked, making her roll her eyes.

“Stop it,” Brooke giggled, wiggling out of Eric’s arms. “I’m not your dinner,” she playfully punched him in the arm.

“No?” he asked with a grin and a raised eyebrow.

She smiled back, bit her lower lip, then tiptoed and wrapped her arms around his neck before whispering in his ear.

“No, I’m your dessert.”

“Mmh, I like that.”

“Ew, stop it,” Sookie begged.

“You didn’t even hear what I said,” Brooke told her.

“I can read your mind, remember?”

“Then stay out of my head.”

As Sookie put the pan in the middle of the table, dinner being ready to be served, Eric’s phone started to ring.

“I thought Fangtasia was closed tonight,” Sookie said as she sat down.

“Fangtasia is never closed,” he told her before putting another kiss on Brooke’s forehead. “I’ll be right back.”

Brooklynne sat across from Sookie and started eating, every bite reminded her of her grandmother, even the smell, as if Adele was right there with them.

“You’re the only one who can cook it perfectly.”

“It’s just sausages,” Sookie chuckled.

“Nothing new from Jason?”

“Afraid not… Andy said he’d file a missing person report tomorrow… I said he should have already done it but…”

“You know Jason… he’s just fooling around with a girl.”

“He hasn’t answered his phone in two days, Brooke.”

“So, it died,” she shrugged. “He’s too busy to notice.”

“I hope you’re right,” Sookie whispered, more to herself.

Eric stepped back in the kitchen with an annoyed look on his face. Though Sookie noticed, she didn’t bother asking him about it, she didn’t really care about his problems.

“What’s wrong?” Brooke asked.

“We have to go.”

“You can deal with your problems on your own, Eric,” Sookie told him. “Or ask Pam.”

“It’s Bill,” he said. “He has a job for us.”

**********

Tags: @thepoet1975 @nerdysandwichqueen @catchmeupimgettingoutofhere @raegan-hale @colie87 @heavenly1927​ @abbey7103​

[alonely-dreamer]

The Valuable Sun | Chapter 15

Summary: The one where they try to kill Russell Edgington.

Pairing: Eric x OC

Warnings: 18+

A/N: Please, note that I am French so there might be some mistakes here and there.

Words: 3208

Masterlist

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14

The club had never been so quiet. Pam had gone to rest, leaving her maker alone with his human. It was hard for both of them to say goodbye. Eric thought it was denial that pushed him to agree to Brooke’s plan. Brooke only spoke of hope.

Even after Russell killed a news anchor on live television, the Authority still refused to help Eric and give him any resources that could help him destroy the three-thousand-year-old vampire. The only resource he had was Brooklynne. And Brooklynne had a plan.

“You go to him. You tell him you have a proposition for him. Me. You offer him the sun and in exchange he spares all of us.”

“He’s gonna want to test it, to see if it’s true,” Pam continued.

“So, he drinks my blood and goes out in the sun. I’m only a hybrid, I’m not full fairy, so the effect of my blood won’t last long.”

“That’s when you come in. You step outside when he gets weak and stake him. It’s the only shot we got.”

“I don’t like it,” he muttered.

“You don’t have to like it,” Brooke said dryly, surprising both vampires. “You just have to do it.”

“She’s right,” Pam nodded. “Unless you have a better idea?”

Eric considered it, worried eyes moving from his progeny to his human. He looked for a better idea, a plan that would make him update his will useless, but he couldn’t find any.

“No,” he said quietly. “No, I don’t.”

“How sure are we that your blood can do that?” Pam then asked the question that should already be answered.

“Someone told me.”

“Who?” Eric asked with a raised eyebrow.

Brooklynne avoided their eyes and shrugged. “Someone.”

“Eric’s survival is at stake so ‘someone’ isn’t good enough.”

Brooklynne sighed. “You… you’ll make fun of me.”

“Why?”

“Just tell us,” Pam ordered with an annoyed tone.

Brooklynne hesitated for a moment, then straightened up, getting ready for what was to come.

“My fairy godmother…” she whispered so low a human wouldn’t have heard her.

Eric and Pam stayed silent for a short moment before Pam said: “She’s fucking with us.”

“No, I’m not!” Brooke replied, obviously offended.

“You have a fairy godmother?” Eric asked, as ridiculous as it sounded.

“Yes. Her name is Claudine,” the fairy said as a-matter-of-factly, straightening up on her stool, “she’s also Sookie’s godmother.”

Pam rolled her eyes, speechless for once.

“Is she full fairy?” Eric asked.

“Yes, why?”

“How many fairies do you know?”

“Just her… why?” she asked again, now getting suspicious.

“So, fairies aren’t extinct?” Pam said, now thinking about what it could mean for her species.

“Hey, no!” Brooke exclaimed. “Don’t even think about it,” she told the vampires as she pointed a finger at them. “They don’t even live in the same dimension as us.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Eric innocented himself.

“There’s another dimension?” Pam asked, now annoyed at the possibility.

“Yes, they had to leave… our dimension… because it was too dangerous here… because of vampires.”

“It is true then,” Eric said with a sigh, “vampires did run the fairies out of this world.”

“Anyway,” Brooke changed the subject, “we need to find Russell before he finds us. Which is not going to be hard for him since he’s been here before.”

“It’s dawn,” Eric replied. “He won’t be showing up anytime soon. I’ll go to Mississippi first thing tonight.”

“Our probable last day undead,” Pam said. “Want to spend it sleeping?”

“We need to be well-rested for tonight. We can’t take any chances on this one. Do you want to go home? See your siblings?” he asked Brooklynne.

“Yeah, I do,” she nodded. “But I can’t… they won’t let me come back here.”

“Are you sure? You might not be able to say goodbye…”

“I don’t have a choice,” she cut him off. “Sookie will know what we’re planning, and she’ll lock me up in my room,” she scoffed. “I’ll just… leave her a message.”

“As you wish,” he merely nodded. “Make yourself at home,” he told her as he cupped her cheek in his hand, “we’ll be in the basement.”

She gave him a sad smile. “Sleep well,” she said before she tiptoed to kiss him.

“I really don’t have to see that,” Pam complained with a grimace before she pushed herself off of her stool and walked away.

“You should get some rest too. Ginger will stop by at noon and bring you something to eat.”

“I don’t think I can eat anything…”

“You should, you’re going to need your strength.”

She nodded. “See you tonight.”

He tried to smile as he stroked her cheek with his thumb.

“See you tonight.”

 ***

 Sleeping wasn’t an option to Brooklynne. She could lay there, on any couch of the club, or even in Eric’s office, but wouldn’t fall asleep, couldn’t even close her eyes. Minutes seemed to be hours and waiting was an excruciating task for the fairy hybrid. It became worst after Ginger never showed up with the food Eric promised her, and if things weren’t hard enough, Brooke received a text message from Sookie that made staying in Fangtasia an even harder task.

 “We’re fucking ALIENS.

Fucking fairies, Brooke call me ASAP!!”

 The text messages continued to come, faster and angrier, and Brooklynne hoped her sister wouldn’t try to come look for her at the club. Why did Bill choose this moment to tell her the truth about who she was? Damn Bill Compton. Brooklynne was sick of the traitorous vampire. But what could she do? Tell her sister Bill never loved her and it was all a job for him from the beginning? She couldn’t do that. Not in a text message at least. But she hoped she would have a chance to do it, if Russell didn’t kill them all tonight.

Not even a minute had passed after the night had settled that both Eric and Pam woke from their vampiric sleep and returned to the club where an exhausted and starving Brooklynne was waiting.

“Damn it Ginger! Where the fuck is she?” Eric had growled when Brooke told him the waitress never showed up.

The vampire ordered his progeny to fetch some human food and Pam obliged grumbling. Eric took the opportunity to have some time alone with his human, trying to find the courage to tell her what he almost never said to anyone, because he feared there wouldn’t be another occasion to tell her how he felt about her.

He stood there, near the bar, his hand resting on the counter, his eyes on the fairy who was sitting on his chair, on his throne, her legs over the arm, her eyes staring at the black ceiling. She was fascinated by that ceiling, so black, since the lights weren’t turned on, it was a sinkhole where she lost all worries and which allowed her to calm herself.

His eyes traveled on her bare legs up to her perfect face where he found unfocused eyes and tranquility. How could she be so beautiful right now? How could she be so calm and look so innocent as they were about to attempt to kill the eldest vampire in the world. As they were about to die.

“Brooklynne.”

Her name escaped him, and the whisper stayed heavy on his lips, as if he didn’t want her to hear him.

“Brooklynne,” he repeated, louder this time, and with more self-assurance.

She tilted her head towards him, her hair covering the arm of the chair against which she was leaning. She waited for him to talk but all he did was gesture for her to come to him. She stared at the vampire for a few seconds before she put her feet on the ground and got off the throne.

“What is it?” she asked as she neared him.

“I’m leaving now,” he said and the tranquility that had found her earlier left so quickly her heart skipped a beat.

“Oh,” she merely replied in a quiet whisper.

“You know I might not come back.”

“I know,” she whispered and nodded as she looked down at her feet, unable to face him, even though she was dying to look at him, knowing she might never see him again.

He brought his hand to her face, gently cupping her left cheek, making her look up at him as he wanted to see her before he left, see her one last time, trying to memorize the color of her eyes so he could remember them when Russell teared him apart.

“Thank you,” he said calmly.

She frowned. “For what?”

“For being mine,” he replied, and she could feel her eyes fill with tears. “If I die tonight, know that my only regret is that I did not find you sooner,” he said as he got closer to her, bringing his other hand to her face. “And if we never see each other again…,” he paused, the words weighing on him as he had rarely used them, almost never said them, “know that I love you and never have any doubt about it. You make me better, and of all the years that I have lived, I will cherish this one more than any others. I love you.”

A tear fell down her cheek and he was waiting for her to say it back, hoping she felt the same way, knowing he didn’t deserve her or her love. She tiptoed, suddenly, quickly sliding her hand in his hair before her lips crashed on his. He kissed her back almost immediately, with the same need, and the same fear.

She let go, eventually, not just to breathe, but to say the words she needed to say now more than ever. “I love you too.”

And as he heard the words he felt his heart break, a voice in his head telling him he didn’t deserve it, that he deserved to die tonight and that she would be better off without him anyway.

“You’re not gonna die,” she whispered with a trembling voice, the knot in her throat making it hard for her to talk.

“I’m not gonna die,” he repeated, not because he believed it, nor did he hope for it, but to reassure her, to make the pain go away, or at least some of it.

He tried to catch her gaze, to find her eyes, but she could hardly look at him, her eyes looking down, maybe because she didn’t want him to see her cry. He pressed his lips on her forehead and even though the kiss lasted a few seconds, it didn’t feel quite enough to either of them.

He let go, suddenly, and she almost felt naked standing there alone. She turned around, looked around the club to find him even though she knew he was already gone.

 ***

 Pam got back a little while after Eric’s departure and she would have killed Brooklynne on the spot if she knew Eric wouldn’t give her the true death her for it. Brooklynne had never seen the vampire so angry. She broke a few chairs as she raged about her maker leaving without saying goodbye.

“He better not die,” she growled as she threw another chair across the room.

The minutes passed and seemed like hours as both women waited for Eric to come back. Brooke focused on Pam as she knew if Eric were to die, she’d feel it. It was the most horrible feeling than to wait for someone she loved to die. As if hope left her gradually as she waited in silence.

About three hours later after he left, the door of Fangtasia opened and Pam and Brooklynne quickly got up, preparing themselves to see the vampire alive, but also to welcome Russell back to the club. Brooklynne swallowed heavily as she watched the three-thousand-year old vampire step inside, followed by the Viking.

The psychopath was holding a transparent glass jar which contained what seemed to be what was left of Talbot. Brooklynne grimaced as she saw the blood and thought that if Russell weren’t crazy before, he definitely was now, walking around with his former lover in a jar of blood.

“Well, you didn’t lie, I’ll give you that,” he told Eric. “Here’s our willing victim,” he said, pointing a finger at Brooklynne with a creepy smile. “Now we just have to see if she can really give me the sun.”

 ***

To give Russell the sun, they first had to wait for it. Two hours of sitting still on a stool, forced to listen to his delusional fantasies.

“You seriously expect me to believe she’s fairy? A species extinct for millennia? If they ever existed at all. You think I wouldn’t notice if there were fairies bouncing around in the world?”

“I didn’t say she was full fairy. She’s a human-fairy hybrid, which helped save her from detection. And she agreed to give you some of her blood for you to walk in the sun whenever you like in exchange for our lives.”

“You could synthesize her blood, like Tru Blood, and give the sun to all vampires, and become the richest man on the planet,” Pam told him, thinking the offer would sound appealing to him.

“I have money,” he scoffed as he sat down at the table, on another stool across from Brooklynne. “I don’t want to give the sun to all vampires. I just need it for me.”

“So? Do you accept our offer?” Eric asked walking up behind him.

“I’m intrigued.”

“Excellent,” Eric grinned, looking up at Brooklynne, who knew she should be grateful, but didn’t let herself be relieved just yet. Russell’s next words gave her reason.

“On one condition.”

“Whatever you like,” Eric faked enthusiasm.

“You go first.”

Eric’s smile didn’t fade, but it was becoming obvious that it was fake. They all paused, and Eric nodded after a second: “I’d love to.”

The plan couldn’t work if Eric went first. Brooke’s blood would stop working on him before it weakened Russell enough to allow any of them to kill him. They were all done.

“You have cameras outside, I’ve noticed,” Russell continued, “I’ll watch you from here, and join you if you don’t burn.”

“I’ll see you out there then,” the Viking said as he held a hand out to the hybrid. “Pam will heal you.”

“Okay,” Brooke nodded as she took his hand and got up.

He gently seized her wrist and she shivered when she saw his fangs. She ignored the pain which passed after a second and tried to focus on anything other than her blood being drained. He drank for half a minute, enough that he would be able to stand in the sun for about five minutes, not enough to kill Russell.

“The screens are up there,” Eric said as he pointed a finger to the corner of the bar.

As Russell turned them on, Eric made his way to the door. To the sun. He turned around to look at his progeny, whose instincts were screaming at her to not let her maker expose himself to the daylight, then to Brooklynne, who knew it would work, just not for how long.

“Go on,” Russell said as he saw Eric wasn’t already out there.

The blond vampire took a deep breath before he opened the door to the entrance which led him to the front door. As he disappeared behind the first door, both Pam and Brooklynne joined Russell behind the bar and looked up at the screens. Pam was expecting her maker to go up in flames but as he took his first steps in the daylight, all he felt was the cool air of the early morning mixed with the painless warmth of the sun.

Russell started to giggle like a maniac while Pam lost a red tear of joy. The sun was now a possibility to her, if she ever wanted to take a five-minute walk in the sun. But five minutes in the daylight were better than an eternal night.

“Alright, alright,” Russell laughed, “my turn.”

He jumped on Brooklynne faster than either she or Pam had expected. A scream escaped her as he plunged his fangs in the blue vein of her neck. Pam was ready to forcefully remove him away from her, but she didn’t need to as the vampire was more than impatient to join Mr. Northman in the sun.

Russell suddenly let go of the mortal and hurried outside. He was next to Eric before Brooke ever got the chance to hit the ground. Fortunately, Pam caught her in time. The vampire mumbled something the fairy hybrid didn’t understand before she bit her wrist. Brooklynne was barely conscious when she was forcefully fed the vampire’s blood.

“Feeling better?” Pam asked as Brooke started to open her eyes again.

“Mmh,” was her only response.

After a minute, she had had more than enough to heal and was able to get off the ground.

“Thank you.”

“Whatever.”

“What are we gonna do? That wasn’t the plan.”

“I don’t know,” she sighed. “He’ll probably kill Eric once he realizes the effect of your blood only lasts a little while. Then he’ll kill us both.”

Brooklynne shook her head as she tried to come up with a new plan that would get them rid of Russell for good and save their lives. She looked up at the screens, to see how the two vampires were doing out there in the sun for the first time in centuries, and what she saw almost stopped her heart.

“Pam!”

“What now?” the vampire mumbled.

“Look!”

Eric was lying on the ground, burning next to Russell, his hand cuffed to the King of Mississippi’s, who was starting to feel a little hot too.

“What is he doing?” Pam breathed out, contemplating getting out there herself to free her maker.

But she wouldn’t have to, she didn’t need to. Brooklynne ran outside, with the intention of bringing them both back inside, forgetting that Eric was almost twice her weight.

“What the hell are you doing?” she yelled at him.

“Go away,” he said, not without difficulty. “No forgiveness.”

Brooke frowned, confused, but didn’t let that stop her.

“I won’t let you do this.”

She knew why he was doing it. He was making sure that Russell died so she and Pam would be safe. What he didn’t understand was that without him, neither of them wanted to live.

“Where’s the key?” she asked as she kneeled next to him and started to look inside the pockets of his leather jacket.

“Go away,” he repeated in a painful whisper. Brooklynne ignored him.

“Damn it,” she said as she realized there was only one solution to the problem.

She positioned herself between them both, rose her hand and aimed for the cuffs. A strong burning and blinding light escaped from her hand and broke the chain of the cuffs that was keeping Eric and Russell together.

“Ah, thank you, dear fairy,” Russell started to say, “I will reward you handsomely.”

“Shut up,” she told him as she grabbed the shoulders of Eric’s jacket and quickly dragged him back inside.

*********

Tags: @thepoet1975 @nerdysandwichqueen @catchmeupimgettingoutofhere @raegan-hale @colie87 @heavenly1927​ @abbey7103 

[alonely-dreamer]

The Valuable Sun | Chapter 14

Summary: Eric left with Russell and Pam won’t let her leave Fangtasia.

Pairing: Eric x OC

Warnings: 18+

A/N: Please, note that I am French so there might be some mistakes here and there.

Words: 2227

Masterlist

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13

There was no escaping Pam. The vampire had made it impossible for Brooklynne to go outside of Fangtasia, even for a minute. “I never disobeyed Eric, I’m not about to do it now,” she had said. But Brooklynne couldn’t bare it. She had to leave, she had to go. As soon as she found her phone, she had been surprised by the number of calls that she had received. Not because there were a lot of them, that was to be expected, but because of when she received them. She had been a prisoner here for two days and Sookie hadn’t even tried to call her once. The only calls she missed were from Tara and Jason. Listening to the dozens of messages they had left them, she learnt that Tara had been kidnapped by a delusional vampire named Franklin who took her to Mississippi where she first found Bill, then Sookie, who too had been kidnapped by a vampire of the name of Russell Edgington. Brooklynne was confused to hear about it, as Eric hadn’t mentioned her sister at all. She had been even more confused when she heard that Eric was there, saw them both, even Bill, but did nothing. Tara went as far as to call the Viking a “motherfucking traitor”. Brooklynne couldn’t blame her, after all, it did feel like betrayal. But she chose to trust Eric, she chose to think the best about the situation. If Eric had helped any of them, he’d probably be dead, and gone would have been his chances at avenging his family. But still, knowing that he left Sookie in the hands of Russell, especially since he knew of her powers, that hurt. That hurt much more than she would like to admit, even to herself. But all of that dilemma was forgotten in a second after she heard Jason’s messages. It was a horrific rollercoaster. First, she heard him say Bill had drained Sookie of most of her blood, then heard that her sister almost died. She heard too many messages of her brother asking her where she was and “what the fuck” she was doing. Sookie needed her, she needed her blood. The hospital couldn’t find Sookie’s blood type, and Brooklynne was her only chance of survival. Listening to these messages, she begged Pam to let her go, she cried, she screamed and even kicked but the vampire had no sympathy and even threatened, more than once, to chain her back to the bloody basement. The fighting stopped though, when she listened to the last message her brother had left her, informing her that Bill had arrived and fed Sookie his blood. Sookie was safe. Sookie was alive.

Exhausted by the last two days and especially the last hour, she let herself fall on the grey couch in Eric’s office, putting on the way too tight clothes that Ginger had brought over, ignoring the food that was on the desk that the waitress had “cooked” herself. She fell asleep almost instantly, leaving the horror of reality behind, just to step inside the horror of her mind.

Question after question, doubt after doubt, nightmare after nightmare, Brooklynne slept over forty hours in a row but got very little rest. All of her quiet and hidden worries came to life, dreaming of Eric, but not exactly Eric, or maybe just exactly him. Maybe the scary smirking vampire in her nightmares were exactly who Eric was and she was just too stupid to realize it. Maybe he didn’t really care about Sookie, maybe he would have killed her himself if it meant securing his revenge. Maybe he was a bloodthirsty vampire like Sookie had said, someone who didn’t care at all about her, or just about her powers, someone who would kill her once he had no more use of her.

When she wasn’t dreaming of Eric she dreamt of Russell or the Magister, or both. She watched the latter die over and over again, watched him torture Pam, torture her, torture Eric and then die by the hand of Russell Edgington. She watched herself be killed by him, watched Sookie die by his hand as well, watched a faceless vampire kill Tara and Jason. She heard Pam’s screams echoing inside of her head, saw Eric’s concerned look turn into an evil grin, saw herself with burning wings and falling from the sky.

None of those nightmares woke her up, no matter how bad they got. It was a loud noise that had her jerk awake, and an apparition that had her jump and almost fall off the couch.

“We need sanctuary,” she heard Eric say as he walked in.

Pam was there too, as surprised as Brooklynne as the telepath heard the vampire gasp, obviously unaware of what had her maker so panicked.

“Oh my God, what have you done?” she asked as she saw the blood on his shirt and on his face.

“Are you okay?” Brooklynne asked as she got up from the couch and made her way to him over to the desk.

“I staked a vampire, the lover of Russell Edgington,” he informed them, pacing the room. Brooklynne had never seen him like this, neither had Pam.

“Are you insane?!”

“Where can we go?!” he shouted back at her, making both women jump.

“We can go to my house…” Brooklynne started but he cut her off.

“No, that’s out of the question.”

“You never panic, should I be panicking?” Pam asked right as Ginger appeared behind her.

“Ginger, dear,” Eric started to say, “where do you live?”

“Across the river in Bossier, why?”

“We need your house. Now-ish,” Pam answered.

“Because of the V-feds?”

“The V-feds?” Brooklynne repeated, confused.

As she received no answer she looked up at both Eric and his progeny and what she saw was less than reassuring.

“They’re here for the Magister,” Pam guessed.

“What? But…”

“Russell sent a crew to clean up, right?”

“Yeah, I checked everything myself, the basement is spotless,” Pam answered.

“Let’s stay calm, and let’s go,” Eric instructed, “Brooke you know nothing, and if they try to glamour you, pretend like it’s working.”

“What about me?” Ginger asked.

“You…” Eric sighed, “you can just be yourself.”

He gave a look to his progeny then gave a reassuring nod to Brooklynne, before he walked out of his office, followed by everyone else.

 ***

 Confused, Brooklynne stayed silent as Nan Flanagan ordered her men to silver Pam and Eric. The 800 year-old vampire said nothing as her eyes fell on Brooklynne and continued to ignore the human as she interrogated Pam first, then Eric. To everyone’s surprise, Eric was brutally honest about everything. He told them about Russell and his pack of werewolves. He told them of his own family and need for revenge. He told all of that, knowing it would probably get him killed, in front of cameras, in front of the famous Authority Brooke had heard so much about.

After Nan left Fangtasia a little before sunrise, leaving some of her men to guard her prisoners, Pam said nothing as she gave a worried, sad and confused look to her maker, before she made her way to the other room where her coffin was waiting for her. Eric didn’t follow her and instead made his way to his office where Brooklynne found him.

He was sitting at his desk with a worried look Brooklynne wasn’t accustomed to see on his face. He raised his head a little as she walked inside the room. She said nothing as she closed the door and made her way to him.

“I’m mad at you,” she said in a calm tone.

“Lying would have been futile.”

“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about you leaving my sister to a crazy psycho vampire who hates human and who’s probably gonna do terrible things to her once he knows what she is!”

“You mean a fairy?” he said suddenly, almost making her jump despite his quiet voice and calm attitude. The look on her face told him everything he wanted to know.

“How do you…”

“Your cousin told me.”

“My cousin?” she frowned.

“Hadley.”

“How did you… How does she…”

“She was Sophie-Anne’s human until a few days ago. She’s the one who told her about you and your… abilities. The queen sent Bill to investigate.”

It took a minute for the telepath to realize what it all meant. “She sent Bill,” she breathed out. “Bill… became friends with Sookie…”

“It was his job. Though I have no doubt his feelings are real, knowing how he is…”

A word escaped her mouth she had never said before. It surprised Eric too.

“I couldn’t have helped Sookie even if I wanted to…”

“I know that. I just… I wish you would have told me…”

“I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Nobody wants to worry me!” she replied loudly. “Nobody tells me anything because they think I’m too weak to hear it! And I’m sick of it!”

“I’m sorry.”

His apology took her by surprise. She couldn’t remember if he had ever apologized, to her or anyone.

She sighed. She let go of her anger, not wanting to spend what could be their last moment together angry at him. She sat on his lap like he liked her to do and rested her head on his chest.

“What do you think is going to happen?”

“I don’t know.”

“Yes you do.”

He sighed. “I’d be lucky if they decide to put me in a box for a thousand years.”

“They can do that?” she asked, with a horrified look on her face as she looked up at him.

“Oh, yes.”

“But…”

“Don’t worry about it. It won’t help either me or you.”

“But…”

He didn’t let her finish as he gently brought her head back to his chest.

“You’ll be fine. When I’m gone… never tell anyone what you are. Take Sookie and go. The queen knows what you are and what you can do. What your blood can do. She wants it. She wants the sun. She can never have it, do you understand?” he asked as he took her face in his hands and locked her eyes in his to emphasize his point. “If he doesn’t already know it, Russell will figure it out too. Never tell anyone. Ever. Promise me.”

Tears filled her eyes as she stared back at him, his plea echoing in her head. A few tears fell down as she nodded.

“What am I gonna do without you?” she asked in a trembling whisper.

“You’ll be just fine,” he said, bringing her closer to his chest. “If they leave Pam alone, you can always trust her and ask her for help.”

“I’m sure she’d rather I leave her alone,” she chuckled sadly.

“Yes. But she’d do it for me.”

“You’re gonna be okay,” she said, completely aware of her denial.

He smiled as he stroke her hair. “We’re all going to be okay.”

 ***

 An entire day had gone by and Eric hadn’t gotten any sleep at all. Around midnight, they found Pam at a table in the club, waiting silently for Flanagan to come back with the verdict. She said nothing to her maker, though the look on her face said it all. Eric and Brooklynne sat at the table next to hers and they didn’t move nor say anything for about an hour.

At last, Nan came back with a letter in her hands. She looked angry and in a hurry. This was going to be quick, and the armed men following her made it certain that the arrest, if arrest there was, would be quick too.

“You look like shit,” she told Eric.

“Well I feel fantastic,” she replied dryly.

“The ruling is as follows,” she said as she opened the letter. Brooklynne squeezed Eric’s hand and she felt her heart starting to beat faster inside of her chest. She knew Eric would hear it too. “The Authority disavows any knowledge of our interview, your statement or, indeed, this ruling itself. None of this ever happened.”

“What?” Eric voiced what Pam and Brooklynne were feeling too.

“Missing royals, dead Magisters… It’s a political tar baby no one wants to touch,” she explained. “Not with the VRA close to ratification.”

“Russell will not stop killing,” Eric told her. “What if the human public learns of it.”

“That’s why you’re going to take care of it. Quietly, discreetly, and, most important of all, completely off the books. You wanted revenge, it’s yours.”

“What resources are you gonna give me?”

“None. We’re not getting near it.”

“How do you expect me to kill him? He’s three times my age.”

“Listen, you whiny little bitch. The only link between Sophie-Anne, Russell and the Magister is you. You brought us this steaming pile of shit and you’re going to make it go away. Bring me his fangs, or I will have yours.”

She turned around without another word, followed by all of her men, leaving the two vampires and the fairy alone to digest what had just been said. Eric turned around to look at his progeny who seemed to be as worried as he was. His eyes fell on his human and he could almost read her mind.

It was a death sentence after all.

*********

Tags: @thepoet1975 @nerdysandwichqueen @catchmeupimgettingoutofhere @raegan-hale @colie87 @heavenly1927​ @abbey7103

[alonely-dreamer]

The Valuable Sun | Chapter 13

Summary: The one where Russell Edgington comes in.

Pairing: Eric x OC

Warnings: 18+

A/N: Please, note that I am French so there might be some mistakes here and there.

PS: You can also support me on Patreon if you wish/can! Any support is highly appreciated! Chapter 14 is available there right now! Find me @ patreon.com/alonelydreamer

Words: 2737

Masterlist

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

The floor and the air were getting colder as the hours passed. Brooklynne could tell when it was daytime because the Magister, who wouldn’t stop torturing Pam, not even to rest, was starting to bleed from his eyes and his ears, even his nose. He once debated out loud if he should feed from Brooklynne, no doubt to scare both Pam and her, who was supposedly the vampire’s, though he did nothing of the sort. Tru Blood only. Some of his men brought a few bottles before they went back to sleep. When the first day was over and night had finally arrived, more men came by to bring more Tru Blood and see if their boss needed anything else. For some reason, he asked them to take Brooklynne to the bathroom and to get her something to eat, at least remembering humans had more vital needs than vampires.

“You have no right to keep a human here against her will,” Pam had said, which had awakened in him some sorts of sympathy towards the telepath.

From what Brooklynne understood, he was one loyal agent of the Authority and he would rather die than break any law, which is probably why he made sure Brooklynne wouldn’t be starving to death as he kept her near him, tied to the same pillar with those same cold metal chains and on that same dirty floor.

She carefully kept watch on her internal clock, waiting for Eric to come back before the two-day deadline. It was extremely hard to stay focused as Pam’s screams of pains were only getting louder. She was drowsing, sometimes falling asleep for a short time before being awakened by another of Pam’s screams.

But, eventually, she fell asleep, too exhausted to stay awake, her brain getting used to the environment and the incessant screams. This time, it wasn’t Pam who woke her up. It was a scream, a shout, but it wasn’t Pam’s.

“Enough!”

She woke up in a jump, her head hitting the pillar behind her.

“Eric,” she heard Pam breathe out, the relief obvious in her unusual tone.

Eric’s eyes quickly moved from his progeny to his human, though, like the other night, they didn’t linger.

“Mr. Northman,” the Magister sighed as he put down his torture instruments on the table where Pam was attached to with silver chains. “It’s only enough if Bill Compton is with you. Is he?”

“No, Magister,” he said, with a calm and assured tone that made both Pam and Brooke confused. That answer wasn’t what any of them were hoping for. “But the queen of Louisiana is.”

As he finished his sentence, a beautiful red head wearing a white elegant suit and white high heels walked down the stairs. She appeared behind the Viking with a disgusted look on her face as she looked around the basement.

Brooklynne looked up at the Magister who looked even more confused than she was.

“Our deal was…”

“I’ll confess that you were correct before in suspecting me. But everything I did was at her behest.”

The Magister frowned then stepped away from the table where Pam was shivering on.

“You realize, of course, you’re committing treason…” he said as he walked towards the two vampires, “throwing your queen under the bus as you are.”

Brooklynne’s heart tightened in her chest as she became not only nervous, but also scared, for her vampire. Treason sounded like something one would be put to death for.

“Oh, but she’s no longer my queen,” Eric replied. “My loyalty is to Mississippi now.”

“And Mississippi is proud to welcome Mr. Northman as her own,” a voice said from the top of the stairs.

The door slammed behind him, the sudden appearance startling Brooklynne. The vampire was elegant, wearing a dirty grey jacket above his clear blue shirt. He appeared short next to Eric though anyone would appear short next to him, but he also seemed shorter than the queen of Louisiana.

“Love the place, love your vibe,” he said as he walked pass Eric, “we must talk franchising later.”

The Magister laughed quietly as if anything in this situation was funny. “Russell Edgington.”

“You may call me King,” Russell said with a smile, a correction that didn’t please the Magister and that made it clear to both Brooklynne and Pam that a switch of power had just taken place.

“Is it true what Northman says?” the Magister asked Sophie-Anne.

With fear on her face, the queen took a deep breath before she nodded. “Yes, Magister,” she confessed.

“Then I’m afraid I’m gonna have to arrest you.”

The queen then didn’t look so sure. Not about herself as the fear had disappeared from her face, but about what the Magister had just told her. She turned her head to look at Russell who was smiling, somewhat amused by the situation.

“By the powers vested in me by the Authority…”

“The Authority?” Russell cut him off, laughing then at the look the Magister gave him. “Are you serious? Who are the Authority?” he asked, taking a step forward. The Magister watched him walk pass him as if he had just killed his progeny. “What gave them the authority?”

As Russell started to rant, Eric took the opportunity that the Magister was distracted to make his way towards his progeny. He discreetly looked down at Brooklynne, nodding as if to tell her that everything was going to be alright.

“You okay?” he asked Pam who nodded.

“Nothing!” Russell continued. “They took it, as I am taking it today. I no longer recognize the Authority.”

“You are aware…” the Magister started to say before he saw Eric trying to get Pam off the table, “she stays on the table!”

Eric obliged. But as Pam had reminded the Magister the day before, the Authority had no right to keep a human against her will, and neither did he. Eric quickly turned around to free Brooklynne from her chains.

“You okay?” he asked quietly, cupping her cheek in his hand.

She wanted to nod, to say yes, but no sound came out of her mouth. She didn’t even have the strength to lie. She put everything she had in trying to keep the tears from falling. As he helped her on her feet, the Magister continued his speech.

“You are aware that just saying that is a cardinal sin.”

Russell rolled his eyes. “I am aware of just what a tough little boat I’m putting you in and honestly, it is kind of fun,” he said as he took a step forward, coming inches from the Magister’s face.

He chuckled without humor. “You know I’m beholden by duty to convey your blasphemy to the…”

“To the Authority? Well, that won’t be happening. But enough about you,” Russell said as he took a step back and went to stand near the queen. “In exchange for the money she owes the IRS, Queen Sophie-Anne…” he paused to put a kiss on her shoulder. Brooklynne watched her try hard not to run away from her crazy future husband. “has kindly accepted my marriage proposal.”

“I had no choice,” the queen said with hidden disgust.

“Your Majesty…”

“Yes, my loyal subject?” Russell’s insult left the Magister speechless and the King of Mississippi took the opportunity to continue, “oh, we would be delighted if you would officiate the wedding for us.”

“I am forbidden to conduct any rights of alignment unless specifically author…”

“Unless specifically authorized to do so by the Authority. Yes, well, perhaps you have not quite grasped the subtext of our earlier exchange, but there’s a new fucking authority in town!” Russell shouted, making most of them jump but especially Brooklynne who squeezed Eric’s hand even harder as she got closer to him.

“I swear fealty now and always to the one true vampire authority in whose wisdom and justice…”

The Magister’s little tirade did nothing but annoy furthermore Russell and make him lose the little patience he had left. In less than half a second, faster than Brooklynne had ever witnessed, Pam was free of her chains and the Magister had taken her place on the table. Eric instantly made his way to her, not letting go of Brooklynne for one second.

“I’m fine,” she breathed out quickly, before either of them had the chance to ask.

The queen was getting more and more nervous, knowing that either way, she wouldn’t win. On the extremely little chance of Russell dying there and now she’d still be condemned to the true death for selling V. But if she did indeed marry him, which was the most likely scenario, she’d be married to a psychopath who was about to be on the Authority’s number one hit list. And so would she.

Russell picked up the Magister’s cane from the floor and started to admire the woodwork.

“You pathetic fool. Blindly doing the bidding of others just like humans. It’s vampires like you who’ve been holding the rest of us back for centuries,” he said before he took off the lid at the bottom of the cane, revealing a silver pointy end.

Brooklynne looked up at Eric and for once wished he could read her mind as she wondered why he would ever ally himself to a vampire like Russell Edgington. Putting her doubts aside, she decided to trust him for the time being, knowing, or hoping, he had a good explanation for this madness.

She winced and jumped as she watched Russell stab the Magister over and over again as he had done to Pam.

“You can dish it out but you sure can’t take it, can you, Magister?” Pam said.

“Let’s see how this plays out, Pam,” Eric replied. “We can always taunt later.”

“Can we hurry this along?” Sophie-Anne asked. “I’m getting cold feet.”

“Of course, my little pudding,” he told her. He took two steps towards the Magister then lifted the table so that he was facing the room. “This could be so much less painful if you just said the fucking words!”

“I am bound by duty to uphold the sacred laws of…”

The Magister was unable to finish his sentence as Russell swiftly placed the end of the cane on his heart. Another word, and he would be nothing more but a gross puddle of blood.

“Uh-uh-uh,” he smiled. “Your call.”

The Magister slowly raised his head, looked at both the King and the Queen, and, realizing there was no way out of this, gave up.

“I hereby pronounce you… husband and wife.”

Russell smiled before he removed the cane from the Magister’s chest. “Thank you.”

“Yes, thanks,” Sophie-Anne said with a fake smile. “I’m so happy I could bleed.”

“Congratulations, Your Majesties,” Eric told them.

“Yes, congrats,” Pam nodded with a smile Brooke had never seen from her.

Russell bowed before he stepped forwards, and as he got closer to her, Brooklynne got closer to Eric. They were about to leave when the Magister made the biggest and last mistake of his eternal life. He opened his mouth.

“You realize, of course, the authority will never recognize…”

“It’s own irrelevancy?” Russell cut him off again. “That’s where you and I differ, Magister. I truly believe they will, and soon. It’s time for you to outgrow your blind allegiance to the Authority and their rule of law. There is only one law! The law of nature. The survival of the fittest. And we need to take this world back from the humans and not placate them with billboards and PR campaigns while they destroy it! That is not authority. That is abdicating authority!”

“Your Majesty,” Eric stopped him, sensing Brooklynne’s fear rise up at the words of his new King. “Shall we?” he asked, stepping aside, freeing the access to the stairs.

Russell sighed. “We shall!”

He took one step, two steps, following his subjects and his new wife before, at the fourth step, he stopped, changing his mind.

“Actually, no,” he said, making his way back to the Magister. “Say hello to the true death.”

Eric quickly turned Brooklynne around and buried her face in his chest, putting both his hands behind her head to prevent her from seeing Russell cut the head of the Magister which went flying across the room and reached the floor in a splash that he unfortunately wasn’t able to shield his human from hearing.

 ***

 The ringing in her ears wasn’t going away. A thousand questions were popping up in her head as she was sitting on the couch in Eric’s office. Russell and Sophie-Anne had disappeared, and the king had ordered Eric to wait for them at Fangtasia, assuring him he’d be back before sunrise. Pam and Eric had been arguing ever since and Brooklynne was listening in silence as some of her questions were being answered.

“When I was human, I witnessed the murder of my entire family. My father, my mother… my baby sister… I’ve been looking for the man responsible ever since. When I was in Mississippi, I found my father’s crown in Russell’s office. In his… collection,” he explained slowly, quietly, while Pam was staring at him in silence, wondering why she was only hearing about this now. “I knew the werewolves had something to do with him. I just didn’t know… it was a vampire.”

“Over a hundred years I’ve been with you Eric, and you’ve never said…”

“It wasn’t your burden to bear.”

“But you didn’t have to bear it alone…”

“Pam,” he cut her off. “I have to do this. And I have to do it alone.”

“And how are you planning on killing a vampire that’s twice your age?” she shouted.

“I don’t know… and he’s three times my age.”

“Russell’s three thousand years old?” Brooklynne finally spoke up.

Eric’s eyes fell on her as if he was suddenly reminded that she was there, as if her silence had rendered her invisible.

“Yes. He’s the most powerful vampire in this side of the world. Maybe in all of the world.”

“But how…”

Brooklynne didn’t have the time to ask her question as Russell suddenly appeared in the office, her new wife behind him. The door met the shelves in a bang and a box of Tru Blood almost fell off of it.

“I’m sorry,” the vampire chuckled as if something was amusing, “about the mess I’ve made in your basement, I’ll send someone to clean it all. We don’t want the Authority to suspect anything, after all, do we?” he said with a smile.

“We appreciate that, thank you,” Eric said with the fakest smile Brooklynne had ever seen.

“Now,” Russell said as he turned around towards Brooklynne. The telepath looked at him with big eyes, wishing she could just teleport out of there. “You never mentioned you had a human,” he continued as he looked up to Eric.

“Nobody’s perfect,” Eric chuckled awkwardly.

“Indeed. You look quite attached to your little toy. Tell me, you’re planning on making her one of us soon, aren’t you?”

“That’s the plan,” Eric nodded with another grin that creeped Brooke out.

“Splendid! It would be a waste to let this beautiful doll at the mercy of time and death, wouldn’t it, dear?” he asked his queen.

“Indeed it would,” she agreed, though not really because she did agree with him, but as to not contradict him. “We should leave now or we’ll meet the sun on our way home,” she said with a hidden grimace, as if she would rather meet the sun than follow him anywhere.

“You are right, pudding. Eric, you’re coming with us.”

There was a brief uncomfortable silence before Eric gave him another one of his fake smiles and nodded. “As you wish, Majesty.”

“Leave your little pet here, however. I have no time for humans.”

Russell gestured Sophie-Anne out of the office and Brooklynne stood up as Eric walked pass her. He stopped, took her face in his hands before he kissed her lips.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “Stay with Pam. Don’t go home.”

“What? Why?”

“Don’t let her go home,” he ordered Pam who had no choice but to nod.

“Don’t die,” she ordered him in return.

He nodded too then looked back down at Brooklynne, stroke her cheeks with his thumbs before he kissed her again. She barely had time to kiss him back that he was already gone.

*********

Tags: @thepoet1975 @nerdysandwichqueen @catchmeupimgettingoutofhere @raegan-hale @colie87 @heavenly1927​

[alonely-dreamer]

The Valuable Sun | Chapter 1

Summary: Brooklynne Stackhouse is Sookie and Jason Stackhouse’s little sister. Like her older sibling, she is a telepath, but her powers are far more stronger and far more uncontrollable than her sister’s. After a series of murders in Bon Temps, Sookie takes it upon herself to investigate, taking her younger sister with her in a club called Fangtasia, where they meet vampire and sheriff Eric Northman.

Pairing: Eric x OC

Warnings: 18+ (language, blood...)

A/N: Please, note that I am French so there might be some mistakes here and there.

Words: 8088

Schedule: A new chapter will be posted every Monday. Chapter 2 to 8 are available on my Patreon for early and instant access.

Masterlist

It was a warm night in Bon Temps, just a little after midnight. Adele Stackhouse was playing cards with her granddaughter, Brooklynne Stackhouse, in her kitchen. Entertaining the 23-year-old girl was nothing unusual for the old lady. Brooke had special needs. Not that she had any disability in particular, on the contrary, she had special abilities, some would even say supernatural ones.

Like her sister, Sookie Stackhouse, Brooklynne was a telepath. But she was more than that. Her strong telepathic ability made it difficult for her to focus on anything and she spent most of her time, like most of her life, trying to control it. And that’s what she was doing. Playing cards with her grandmother was a fun ritual but also a good exercise. The rule was simple: don’t cheat.

Brooklynne Stackhouse was bored most of the time. It’s not that she wasn’t allowed to leave her house, she just shouldn’t. So, she read a lot. Listened to music. Learnt new things on the internet. Danced. Sang. Played with her grandmother.

As Adele was about to win their current game, her first granddaughter interrupted them. Sookie was coming back from work, the blonde 25-year-old was wearing her uniform, the shorts and the white shirt with “Merlotte’s” written on it. She appeared to be in a great mood.

“Hey Gran.”

“Hi, honey,” Adele greeted her with a smile as she removed her glasses. She was wearing a long and white old-fashioned nightgown.

“Guess what happened tonight?”

Adele thought for a moment and a smile formed on her face.

“You got a date!”

Sookie frowned.

“Um… no…” she said, a bit bothered, “a vampire came into the bar!” she told her before Adele had the chance to be disappointed.

The old woman gasped. “Oh! Did he have fangs?”

Brooke chuckled quietly.

“Yeah, but most of the time they stayed put away.”

“Did he bite anybody?”

“No,” Sookie laughed. “He just had a glass of wine. Well, he ordered it but didn’t drink it. I think he just wanted some company.”

“Did you like him?” Adele asked with a grin and Brooke looked up at her big sister, curious too.

Sookie looked down and shrugged.

“He was real interesting.”

Adele smiled and hummed, looking at her granddaughter as if she could see right through her. Brooklynne actually could. Sookie’s thoughts echoed in her head as she heard them in her sister’s mind.

“You know what else?” she said as she sat down next to her. “I couldn’t read his thoughts.”

Brooklynne’s smile disappeared as she focused on her sister’s face. “Quiet?” She asked silently.

“Yep,” Sookie replied out loud. “I guess we can’t read vampires’ thoughts because they’re dead. It was so peaceful,” she sighed as she remembered being alone with him.

As the night’s events went through her head, Brooklynne saw it all. Bill, the vampire, entering Merlotte’s, ordering the wine, being attacked in the parking lot, Sookie rescuing him. The silence.

“Dangerous,” Brooklynne said as she looked back at her cards.

Sookie knew what she was referring to, but she didn’t want to alert her grandmother so didn’t reply.

“I’ll let you go to bed,” Sookie said as she got up.

She kissed her grandmother’s cheek before walking up to her bedroom.

“G’night Brooke.”

“Dream sweet dreams for me,” she sang quietly, like she would sometimes.

“Come on, honey, let’s finish this game.”

***

It was a hot morning. Sookie took the opportunity to put on a two-piece bathing suit and lie down a lounge chair, thinking about nothing but the vampire she had met the night before, and the weird dream that followed. Brooklynne was near her, wearing a short yellow dress, her long blonde hair brought up in a ponytail, and dancing barefoot on the grass. The music was in her head. She wasn’t paying attention to anything. Not even to her brother who had just stopped his truck in front of her. He got out quickly, not even bothering to say hello, shut the door of his car and walked straight up to Sookie.

“Hey! How come you didn’t tell me you beat up the Rattrays last night?”

“I haven’t even seen you since then!”

“Where’s Gran?”

“Hanging the laundry out back, and you keep your voice down! I don’t want her to know about any of this.”

“Fortenberry couldn’t wait till I got to work this morning to tell me about it!”

“Hoyt Fortenberry? How the heck does he know?”

“He went over to the Rats last night to buy some weed. And Denise drove up like she wanted to kill somebody, she was so mad. The only way she would sell him any weed was if he would drive Mack to the hospital in Monroe.”

“Uh-huh. Well, did Hoyt tell you that Mack came after me with a knife?”

“Motherfucker! You want me to kick his ass?”

“I already took care of that, thank you.”

Jason nodded, content to hear that justice had already been served.

“Well did you know that in addition to drugs, the Rats also happen to be vampire drainers?” she asked, and her brother frowned. “Yep. One of my customers last night was a vampire and they were draining him in the parking lot. I couldn’t have that.”

Jason took a deep breath, as if he were angry. Brooke was listening to them but when she heard why Jason didn’t like vampires, she took an interest in the conversation.

“Sookie, you do not want to get mixed up with vampires. Trust me.”

“Oh, shut up. Even if you hate vampires, you can’t let trash like the Rats go and drain them. It’s not like siphoning gas out of a car. They would have left him to die.”

“Who fucking cares? He’s already dead.”

“That’s not his fault!”

Jason sighed. He was about to walk out when a thought crossed his mind.

“What did he look like?”

“Handsome… in a sorta… sorta old-fashioned, like from a movie on TCM.”

“Was he bald-headed?”

“No,” she almost chuckled. “He had really nice hair.”

“Tattoos?”

“None that I could see,” she shrugged.

“It’s not your fault that they hover,” Brooklynne suddenly started to sing as she kept dancing, looking up at the sky as if her siblings weren’t just right in front of her, “I mean no disrespect, it’s my right to be hellish, I still get jealous.”

“I’m not jealous!” Jason stopped her and she laughed with her usual childlike laugh.

“Jason!” Adele interrupted them. She was walking towards them with a basket of wet laundry. “Sakes alive, boy, where have you been keeping yourself? You get on over here and hug my neck.”

“You get here, Gran,” he said as he stepped towards her to do as she said. “How’s my girl?”

“You’re all sweaty.”

“I know.”

“You want some iced tea?”

“I would love some iced tea,” he nodded as he let her grandmother drag him inside the house.

***

Jason stayed for lunch, during which he ate all of his food and most of Sookie’s and Brooke’s who were used to it. The phone rang, making Adele get up and leave the kitchen. Brooklynne focused on neither of their thoughts but rather escaped her own. She did that, sometimes. She left. Her body was still there, but her mind was travelling. She often went to “other worlds” as Adele called them. The doctors called it ADD. Brooke had no name for it as she wasn’t always in the same place. At that moment, like most of the time, she was at the pond in the cemetery, except there was more light and more sun but it wasn’t hot. There were other people there, but they couldn’t see each other, she just felt their presence.

“Brooke, stay with us,” she heard Sookie say and she came back.

She looked around and her siblings were still eating their food, but Adele was nowhere to be found. She could hear her on the phone in the other room.

“How long?” she asked.

“You’ve only been gone for about 5 minutes,” Sookie replied.

“Enough time for me to eat your food,” Jason smirked. “You weren’t hungry, were you?”

She didn’t answer. She never really did.

“That was Everlee Mason,” Adele said as she walked back in the kitchen with the phone in her hand. She had a horrified look on her face. “Guess who was found strangled to death in her apartment? Maudette Pickens.”

It was like an alarm ringing inside Brooklynne’s head, and it was coming from her brother’s mind. Jason had a worried look on his face and it didn’t take long for Brooklynne to find out everything.

“Oh my Lord,” Sookie breathed out.

“She didn’t show up to work and wasn’t answering her phone, and so her boss called Bud Dearborne. He rode over, got the manager to let him in and they found her.”

“I went to high school with Maudette!”

“Can you believe it? A murder in Bon Temps?”

“Well, why are you surprised?” Jason spoke up. “Now that we got ourselves a vampire.”

“Just because he’s a vampire doesn’t mean he’s a murderer,” Sookie objected.

“Oh, come on! Fang-bangers go missing all the time in Shreveport. New Orleans. They never find them, but everybody knows the vampires are killing them and then disposing of the bodies.”

“What’s a ‘fang-banger’?”

“A vampire groupie,” Sookie answered, but that didn’t help her grandmother much. “Men and women who like to get bitten…”

“My stars!”

“Maudette was a fang-banger?” Sookie asked, more than surprised. “How do you know that?”

Jason didn’t answer right away. He was stuck. Brooke was listening silently to his every thought, but guilt and worry was all over his face.

“I don’t know, Sookie!” he replied loudly, with a defensive tone. “The way that you just know things sometimes!” he hit the table with his fist before he got up and took his plate to the sink.

Sookie watched him walk around the table carefully but didn’t reply. Her brother put down his plate and turned around, leaning against the sink.

He sighed. “There’s also hookers who specialize in vampires,” he told them with a calmer tone, “they drink Tru Blood to keep their supply up and they keep a bodyguard there in case the vamp gets a little too frisky,” he finished with a grin as if he thought the information amusing.

His sisters and grandmother did not, however, find that information amusing, and just stared at him in silence with a curious and suspicious look. Even though Sookie was trying to stay out of her brother’s mind, it was not a choice for Brooklynne who already knew everything.

“I read that in a magazine,” he lied.

“I wonder how much one would charge for something like that,” Adele said.

“A thousand bucks,” he answered, almost too quickly.

“See, now that just makes me sick,” Sookie sighed.

“I know,” Adele agreed, “what kind of cheap woman could ever do something like that?”

“No, it makes me sick that they’re getting a thousand bucks to lay there and do nothing while I bust my ass for 10 bucks an hour plus tips,” she clarified.

“Oh, I don’t think they just lay there,” Jason added with another grin, “I think they’re expected to… you know, participate.”

“Ew,” the waitress grimaced.

“Yeah,” Jason chuckled.

But his smile gradually disappeared as his eyes wandered around and his mind got lost in dark thoughts. The sudden change made Sookie curious and she focused on her brother’s mind, trying to hear something.

“Well, uh… thanks for lunch, Gran,” he said before he walked out of the kitchen.

Brooke watched as her sister got up and went after their brother. Sookie stopped him, putting her hands on his shoulders and turning him around to face her.

“What?” he asked with a frown.

She didn’t answer and took his face in her hands, closing her eyes as a way to focus.

“This can’t be happening to me. How could I lose control? How come she…”

But before he could finish his thought, he realized what she was doing and stopped her. He pushed her hands away and stepped back.

“Don’t try that with me, goddamn it! I’m your brother!” he shouted before he left the house.

Sookie watched him leave and didn’t try to stop him this time. She slowly made her way back to the kitchen where Adele was waiting for an explanation. Brooklynne wasn’t paying attention anymore, and she was playing with a lock of hair, twirling it around her finger, looking at it like it contained the answer to the meaning of life. When she was like this, people around her had just started to assume that they could say anything, and she wouldn’t hear them. But she did. She heard everything, spoken or unspoken. She was just really good at keeping secrets. Especially other people’s secrets.

***

Sookie left in the evening with a mission. Of course, she was going to work, but she had another task to accomplish. Adele Stackhouse was head of the Descendants of the Glorious Dead, a social organization she created to honor the American Civil War. People met to discuss the war and the effects it had on Bon Temps. Adele wondered if Bill would agree to come and speak at one of their meetings about his recollections of the war. Sookie agreed to ask him, it was a good excuse to speak to him again, after all. It was all Adele could think about that night, as she played Scrabble with her granddaughter. She tried to stay up as late as she could to ask Sookie when she came back from work but as she was falling asleep on the couch, she went to bed around 1AM, after she made sure Brooklynne was sleeping in her room.

It was the first thing they talked about in the morning. Sookie was sitting at the kitchen table, wearing the top of a green bathing suit with white dots and a very short white dress with green flowers. She was watching TV, listening to Reverend Theodore Newlin screaming at Nan Flanagan, a vampire rights advocate from the American Vampire League. Brooklynne was there too, sitting in front of her sister and turning her back on the TV. She was playing with the bottom of her green lime shirt and tugging at it.

“I don’t think Jesus would mind if somebody was a vampire,” Sookie told her grandmother who was fixing breakfast.

“I don’t either, honey,” she said as she put a plate of food on the table.

Sookie took a bite and hummed. “Is this sausage different from what you usually make?”

“No.”

“Uh… It tastes so much more complex than it usually does.”

“Oh dear, you think it’s gone bad?”

“No, it’s delicious. It’s like, I can close my eyes and I can see the farm the pig lived on and feel the sun and rain on my face and even taste the earth that the herbs grew out of.”

Adele stared at her with surprise and curiosity. She didn’t understand where all of this was coming from.

Brooklynne laughed. “You’re weird.”

They were interrupted by the sound of the back door opening and closing.

“Hey, Miss Stackhouse,” Tara said with a smile as she stepped in the kitchen. She was wearing a blue top and a pair of jeans and her black hair was tied up in a messy bun.

“Good morning, Tara,” Adele greeted.

Tara went for the coffee pot, but it was empty. As she was about to make more, Adele stopped her.

“No, you sit down. I’ll make a new pot,” she said before she kissed her forehead.

“All right,” Tara laughed.

She sat between Sookie and Brooklynne with an empty mug in her hand.

“What’s up, Brooke?”

The girl raised her head and smiled as soon as she saw her friend, as if she hadn’t heard her come in.

“Hi Tara.”

“What are we thinking about today?”

Brooklynne ignored the question, as always, and leaned forward, putting her pale hand on Tara’s dark arm.

“You’re pretty,” she smiled.

Tara laughed. “Well, aren’t you cute?”

Brooklynne smiled again but didn’t reply. She then leaned back in her seat and started playing with the bottom of her shirt again, ignoring the rest of the world.

“Any news about Jason?”

“Yeah, we heard from Everly already. They let him go last night.”

“I knew they would.”

“I didn’t,” Sookie shrugged.

Tara was offended by the lack of faith her sister had in her brother. He was dumb, for sure, but he wasn’t a murderer.

“Well, I’m glad to see you’re still alive. You obviously did not hook up with that vampire last night.”

Brooklynne chuckled, still looking down at her lap. Sookie and Tara gave her a quick look but went back to ignoring her. The look on Sookie’s face answered Tara’s question.

“Oh, Sookie, sometimes you are just plain dumb.”

“Shut up! Luckily Gran was in bed when I got in last night.”

“Did he bite you?”

“No.”

“Are you sure? You know they can hypnotize you.”

“Yeah, and black people are lazy, and Jews have horns!”

Tara rolled her eyes. She turned around when she heard Adele coming back in the kitchen.

“You must be glad they let Jason go, huh, Miss Stackhouse.”

“I can’t even believe that they arrested him to begin with! I have a good mind to call Bud Dearborne and chew him out. Jason’s a good boy. Everybody knows that.”

Brooklynne chuckled again. No one had time to say anything more as the phone started to ring and Adele picked it up.

“Hello? Oh, hey! Everley!” she greeted over the phone as she left the kitchen.

As soon as she was gone, Jason came in by the backdoor.

“Am I too late for breakfast?” he asked. “Oh, hey Tara!”

“Hey. Hey Jason,” she stuttered like a 15-year-old talking to her crush. “I’m so glad they didn’t lock you up.”

Jason opened the fridge and took out a plate of cold sausages. He froze for a few seconds then turned around and leaned against the fridge.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, me too. I don’t even know why they suspected me,” he continued as he took a bite of a sausage. “I think somebody heard I’d been with Maudette?”

“Had you?” Sookie asked.

“No,” he answered with an annoyed tone.

“Are you sure? She was a woman,” his sister insisted.

Jason sighed in annoyance. “That’s funny. At least she was human.”

Sookie gave him a dark look but didn’t have time to come up with an answer as her grandmother came back in the kitchen with some news.

“You will never believe what happened,” she said with excitement, “Oh, hey Jason.”

“Hey, Gran.”

“You sit down. I’ll fix you breakfast.”

“What happened?” Sookie asked.

“Well, apparently, a tornado touched down over at Four Tracks Corners,” she said with a sudden dark tone, “It turned over that rent trailer in the clearing. You know the one?”

“Uh-huh…”

“And it killed that couple that’s been staying in there.”

“Wh- Mack and Denise Rattray?” Jason asked.

“They were trapped under the trailer. Mike Spencer said they were crushed to a pulp.”

Brooklynne laughed out loud suddenly, and even though they all turned to look at her, they didn’t think it was because of what Adele had just said. She just did that, sometimes.

“A tornado,” she repeated with a small laugh as she played with the bottom of her shirt.

***

Adele spent the day cleaning the house. Brooklynne helped at the beginning but quickly got distracted. She was laying on the couch, looking at her own hair, when Sookie came back in the house. Adele was vacuuming in the living room.

“You know, he sleeps in the ground all day. I don’t think he’s gonna even look at the rug.”

“I’m not doing this for him. I’m doing this for me. So I can be proud of my home. And how do you know where he sleeps?”

“I don’t, actually,” she chuckled. She then tilted her head and squinted her eyes. “What’s that smell?”

Adele turned off the vacuum. “What smell?”

Brooklynne sat up and watched her sister sniff around the living room.

“It smells like rotten food or something. You can’t smell that?”

Adele shook her head no and Brooklynne shrugged.

“Well find it.”

Sookie took a few more steps and pushed the armchair a little, then bent over and found a piece of old biscuit on the floor.

“Uh, you can’t smell this?”

Adele shook her head no again and gave her granddaughter a weird look.

“Well, I better throw this out.”

As she was about to exit the living room, her grandmother stopped her.

“Oh, Sookie?”

“Yeah?”

“Jason and Tara are coming over this evening as well.”

Sookie’s eyes grew big as bad scenarios went through her mind.

“Gran…”

“Well, they invited themselves. Jason said that he wants to meet the vampire for himself and… Tara said she thought she ought to be here as well.”

“I don’t know why everyone’s getting their panties in a wad about some stupid vampire!” Sookie whined.

“Did you want to be alone with him?”

Sookie shook her head and shrugged, “I don’t know… maybe…”

Adele grinned.

“Aren’t you gonna tell me to be careful?”

“You’re always careful, Sookie, about what counts. And I can depend on that. Isn’t that right?”

Sookie paused for a minute. She then nodded before she turned around and left.

***

Bill arrived with the night. All eyes were on him. Jason’s were more like daggers. He was looking at the vampire as if he had killed his entire family. Tara’s look was more suspicious, while Brooklynne was extremely curious. Sookie hadn’t lied. She couldn’t hear his thoughts. Not even when she tried. It was completely silent. A peaceful sensation Brooke had never felt before. She was fascinated. So was her grandmother, but for a completely different reason.

“Your people, Mr. Compton, they were from this area, I believe?”

“Yeah, my father’s people were Comptons and my mother’s people were Loudermilks.”

“Oh, there are a lot of Loudermilks left. But I’m afraid old Mr. Jesse Compton died last year.”

“Yes, ma’am. That’s why I came back to Bon Temps. There were no living Comptons, so I’ve set up home in the old Compton place. And as I expect the VRA to pass…”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t be too sure about that if I were you,” Jason interrupted him. “A lot of Americans don’t think you people deserve special rights.”

“They’re the same rights you have.”

“No, I’m just saying there’s a reason things are the way they are.”

“Yeah. It’s called injustice.”

Jason’s mouth twitched out of anger.

“Listen, it’s called ‘this is how we do it’.”

“Jason!” Adele stopped him. “This is my house. I will not tolerate rudeness!”

Jason grunted but leaned back in the armchair. Bill was obviously angry, and it was his eyes now that were daggers.

“Did you know the Stackhouses, Mr. Compton?” Adele continued her interrogation.

“Yes, um… I remember Jonas Stackhouse. He and his wife moved here when Bon Temps was just a hole in the road. I was a young man of 16. Isn’t this the house he built? I mean, at least in part?”

“Yes, it was,” Adele nodded with enthusiasm.

“Did you own slaves?”

“Tara!” Sookie breathed out, surprised by the sudden question.

“I did not. But my father did. A house slave, a middle-aged woman whose name I cannot recall and a yard slave, a young, strong man named Minas.”

“Oh, these are just the sort of things my club will be so interested in hearing about.”

“About slaves?” Tara asked quite aggressively.

“Well… about anything having to do with that time…”

An awkward and uncomfortable silence settled which was mercifully broken by Bill.

“I look forward to speaking to your club, Mrs. Stackhouse.”

Adele laughed like a 16-year-old.

“Now… if it’s alright with you, I thought that Sookie and I might take a walk. It’s such a lovely night.”

“Well, it’s alright with me if it’s alright with Sookie.”

Jason put his beer down and got up.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said.

“Jason, sit down and shut up,” Brooklynne said calmly, calmer than anyone who would say that would, as if she expected him to comply instantly. And he did.

Bill frowned as he watched the young Stackhouse immobile in his seat. It was as if she had just glamoured him without even looking at him, without even having the powers of a vampire.

“Um… shall we?” Bill asked Sookie as he held his hand.

“We shall,” she said as she took it.

Once they were out of the house, Jason turned to look at his sister and complained.

“I told you not to do that to me! You made me look like a fool in front of him!”

“Oh Jason,” Adele said as she got up, “You don’t need any help to look like a fool.”

***

Brooklynne was lying in her bed, in the darkness of her room, when Sookie came back home. The entire evening was still fresh in her memory and Brooke saw all of it. She learnt that Bill’s blood was inside Sookie, that it was the reason for her acute senses and the weird wet dreams, and that Bill would be able to find Sookie at any time. To feel her when she was in trouble and come to the rescue as fast as possible. Information Sookie had had trouble to take in. But not for long as the evening ended with a kiss. And the night ended with another wet dream.

***

Days passed and Sookie kept seeing Bill. Though it seemed she wasn’t sure about her feelings. She had admitted to Adele and Brooklynne she was scared of him and Brooklynne knew why. She knew everything all the time. That’s why she was always so tired, so absent. But she was aware.

Sookie had had an unfortunate meeting with three other vampires, a moment during which Bill showed his dark side, his vampire side. He called her ‘his’, so that other vampires would leave her alone, as if it made her safe or safer.

She thought she was at least safe during the day, but even that proved to be untrue as one morning, while she was doing a favor for Sam, her boss, she found her colleague, Dawn, a waitress and Jason’s ‘friend’, dead in her bed. That same morning, Jason got arrested again.

Adele was worried. She knew people would want to know who was killing those young ladies and she was afraid they’d come after Jason. She asked Sookie to keep her ears open and to listen carefully in case she would hear the killer or find out who had done it.

Brooklynne wanted to help too, but she knew her grandmother wouldn’t let her leave the house.

An opportunity arose, however, when Sookie came back home from work sooner than she should have. She had made plans with Bill to go to a vampire bar in Shreveport called ‘Fangtasia’ and try to find some information that would help Jason. Brooke wasn’t going to let that opportunity pass.

“I’m going with you.”

“No way!” Sookie said as she fixed her makeup. “I’m not taking you to a vampire bar!”

“Why not? You’re going! And I’m bored! I wanna leave the house and I wanna help, you know I can do it!”

“I know you can do it, it’s not about that, it’s just… it’s too dangerous!”

“I can defend myself, you know that!”

“I also know that other people, especially vampires, shouldn’t know it.”

“Well, I’m going with you, I’m not asking. I’m an adult and I can do whatever I want.”

Sookie sighed. She stayed silent for a minute, fixed her outfit, a white dress with red flowers on it, and put on her shoes, red ballerina flats.

“He thinks it’s a date,” Brooke continued.

“What?”

“He thinks it’s a date. If I’m there, there would be no doubt about it.”

“How do you know what he thinks?”

“I watch movies,” she shrugged. “A lot of them.”

Sookie rolled her eyes. It was a good argument though she didn’t really mind being alone with Bill. But she didn’t want him to know that.

“Fine! You can come with me.”

Brooklynne smiled, victorious.

“But you have to stay with me, all the time.”

“I will,” she nodded. “I won’t leave your side, I promise.”

“And you have to stay focused. Be careful.”

“I will! I promise!”

“Fine then,” Sookie sighed. “Come on.”

***

“Wh- you’re taking Brooke?” Adele asked Sookie in a whisper as if her granddaughter wouldn’t hear her.

“She can help. And it’ll be good for her to leave the house.”

“Well, I agree, but… a vampire bar isn’t the safest place…”

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Stackhouse,” Bill interrupted her. “I promise no harm will come to your granddaughters.”

Adele smiled awkwardly. “Ah, well… if you insist…” she said with worry in her voice.

“Good night, Mrs. Stackhouse.”

“Oh, go- good night, Mr. Compton. Be careful girls.”

“Bye, Gran.”

The three of them left the house and got into Bill’s car, Sookie in the passenger seat and Brooklynne in the back. She was wearing one of Sookie’s dresses, a short yellow sleeveless gown, and a pair of low heels yellow pumps. Her long blonde hair was caressing her nude back. She was excited to finally be going out, to meet more vampires, and to clear her brother’s name.

***

When they arrived at Fangtasia, Sookie immediately took her sister’s hand, to make sure she wouldn’t go anywhere. As they were walking towards the bar, Bill put his arm around Sookie’s waist and brought her to him, in a protective way. It was awkward to be holding her sister’s hand while being in the arms of a man and she unconsciously let her sister’s hand go.

Once they were inside, they were immediately greeted by a female blonde vampire wearing a leather black sleeveless dress and high heel pumps. She was wearing a lot of makeup, including a very red lipstick.

“Bill. Haven’t seen you in a while,” she said in a completely disinterested tone.

“I’m mainstreaming.”

“Good for you,” she almost rolled her eyes as she replied with a bored tone as if she didn’t care or didn’t like it, “Who’s the doll?” she asked, sounding almost interested.

“Pam this is Sookie, and her sister, Brooklynne. Sookie, Brooklynne, this is Pam.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Sookie smiled at her as she held out her hand.

Pam looked at it as if it contained the plague.

“Can I see your ID?”

The request made Sookie laugh, however she understood why she would ask. Brooklynne looked like a teenager.

“I can no longer tell human ages. We must be careful we serve no minors, in any capacity.”

She took a look at both IDs before she gave them back to their owners.

“Twenty-five, huh? How sweet it is,” she said as she looked at Bill. She was mostly interested by Sookie, probably because she was the one in Bill’s arms, Brooklynne thought.

She finally let them pass and Brooklynne took her sister’s hand again as they walked past Pam.

The club was crowded, loud, dark and red. There were dancers everywhere, male and female, some vampires, some humans, most of them were half naked, wearing black leather and black lipstick. It was almost like the cliché vampire bar one would imagine. The humans came for the danger, the vampires came for the fun of it.

“This feels a little bit like what a vampire bar would look like if it were a… a ride at Disney World,” Sookie said. However, Brooklynne couldn’t picture any of this in Disney World. Too much nudity.

“Well, don’t get too comfortable. It tends to get more authentic as the night wears on.”

“There are more humans here than vampires,” Brooklynne noticed as the loud thoughts of the customers echoed in her head.

They took the direction of the bar where a vampire asked them what they wanted to drink. He had medium long black hair, dark eyes, and tattoos on both arms. He was shirtless, only wearing a sleeveless black leather vest. He looked tired, though maybe that was just because of the eyeliner around his eyes.

“How’s it going Bill?”

“Very well.”

“I’ll say it is. This is your meal for tonight?”

“This is my friend Sookie, and her sister, Brooklynne. Sookie, Brooklynne, Longshadow.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sookie politely greeted, but once again received no answer. “I’ll have a gin and tonic, please.”

“And I’ll have a bottle of O-negative.”

“And what about the sister?”

Brooklynne didn’t give him an answer. She didn’t realize he was talking to her. The voices in her head were too loud and she got distracted. Sookie took her hand, making her sister look at her and focus once again.

“She’ll have a coke,” Sookie answered for her.

“Longshadow, Sookie here, would like to know if she could ask you a few questions. Would this be acceptable?”

“I just have a couple of pictures I’d love you to take a look at,” she said as she took the photos of Maudette and Dawn out of her bag, “Do you recognize either of these women?”

Longshadow took the pictures and put them on the bar.

“Yeah, I’ve seen them both here before.”

“Great! Thank you,” Sookie said quickly and enthusiastically, as she was happy he was cooperating and wanted him to continue, “Do you also happen to remember who they hung around with?”

“That’s something we don’t notice here. You won’t either.”

“Okay, then. Thank you. I appreciate you taking the time.”

“This one,” he said as he took Maudette’s picture. “She wanted to die.”

Sookie frowned. “How do you know?”

“Everyone who comes here does, in their own way. That’s who we are: Death.”

Sookie didn’t reply. What could she say to that? Bill paid for the drinks and they walked away. They settled at a table and Sookie started listening to the people around her. Brooklynne was already “scanning” the area. She tried to block out the music which she found horrible. A man was screaming some words she couldn’t understand over loud guitar and drums. She found other people’s thoughts more pleasant for once.

Sookie heard a man among the crowd of clients, he was thinking about the blond vampire sitting on the throne on the stage at the end of the room. He walked slowly towards him and kneeled near him. He put his hand on the vampire’s leg and started moving it up his thigh. Suddenly, the vampire, who had been silently staring at the bald man until then, got up with vampire speed, and pushed him away. The man, who looked like he was in his forties, fell down and hurt his head which started to bleed. A female vampire with short brown hair and a short black dress helped the human get up and they disappeared in an instant.

“Still think you’re in Disneyland?” Bill told Sookie who chose to ignore him.

“Do you hear anything?” Sookie asked her little sister.

“A lot of things,” she replied. “Nothing helpful. It’s loud.”

“How come no one fucked me? I got a dog collar too.”

“Morticia, how’d you like me to rip that tape off your tits?”

“It ain’t gay if a guy’s a vampire, is it?”

“I’m gonna get kicked out of my frat if I don’t fuck a vampire tonight.”

“You’re able to pick up anything?” Bill asked Sookie after a while.

“All anyone’s thinking about here is sex, sex, sex.”

“One needn’t be telepathic to pick up on that.”

Suddenly, Bill straightened up. “Uh-oh.”

“Don’t say ‘uh-oh’. Vampires are not supposed to say ‘uh-oh’!”

“It’s Eric,” he said as he looked at the blond vampire on the ‘throne’. “He’s scanned you twice. He’s going to summon us,” he told her like it was a bad thing, something he’d had preferred to avoid.

“He can do that?”

“Oh, yeah...”

And as he said it, Eric gestured for them to come. Bill held out his hand but before she took it, she looked over at her sister, who was looking inside her empty glass of coke. Gone, as usual.

“Brooklynne, come on.”

The girl looked up and gave her a confused look.

“Come on,” Sookie said again as she took her hand.

Sookie squeezed her sister’s hand as they approached Eric. Pam was standing behind him, her arm resting on the top of the ‘throne’.

“Bill Compton. It has been a while.”

“Yes, well, I’ve been…”

“Mainstreaming,” Eric cut him off. He said it with a grin, as if it was something to be ashamed of. “I heard.” He looked over at Sookie, who was on Bill’s left, holding his hand. “I see that is going well for you.” He then, looked at Brooklynne, who was standing a little behind Sookie, squeezing her sister’s hand too, and looking at Eric and Pam with a sort of fascination. The silence in their head was relaxing. “Very well, apparently,” he chuckled.

“Yes, of course, sorry,” Bill said. “Eric, these are my friends…”

“Sookie and Brooklynne Stackhouse.”

“How do you know our names?”

“I never forget a pretty face. You’re in my vault,” Pam said as she pointed a finger at her head.

“Great. That’s just great,” Sookie blabbered, not sure how to handle that information. “It’s nice to meet you,” she told Eric.

“Well, aren’t you sweet?” he grinned mockingly.

“Not really.”

As she said it, Bill squeezed her hand to stop her and Brooklynne laughed. It was a childlike laugh. A laugh that Eric never thought he’d hear in Fangtasia and a laugh that had no place in his club. It made Eric smirk.

“Vår lilla djurpark börjar växa till sig,” Eric said. (Looks like our zoo is growing.)

“Jag vet,” Pam replied. (I know.)

“I think he just called you a pet,” Brooke whispered in Sookie’s ear.

“How do you know?” her sister gave her a weird look which Brooklynne ignored.

“You speak Swedish?” Eric asked, suddenly very interested.

“Ja. Inte lika bra som dig,” she said with an amused smile. (Yes. But not better than you.)

“You speak Swedish?” Sookie was taken aback. “How?”

“The internet,” she shrugged.

“Well, your friend is full of surprises, Bill,” Eric grinned.

“I know right?” Sookie sulked.

“I understand you’ve been asking questions about some of my customers.”

“Yes, I have.”

“If you have anything to ask, you should ask it of me.”

“Alrighty,” Sookie nodded. She took out the pictures from her bag and gave them to Eric. “You recognize either one of these girls?”

He took a look at them and smirked as he hummed, probably remembering something pleasant.

“This one offered herself to me,” he said, pointing at the photo of Maudette. “But I found her too pathetic for my attentions. Now, this one, however,” he continued, pointing at Dawn, “I have tasted.”

“I remember them both,” Pam said.

“On account of the vault?” Sookie asked, not caring she was being sassy with a vampire, or not realizing it. Brooklynne laughed quietly, looking up at her big sister. Bill quickly took Sookie’s hand again, to stop her. Eric noticed. Pam didn’t budge. “Never had either of them, though. They weren’t really my type.”

“Are you hearing anything?” Sookie asked silently to her sister who shook her head no.

“Well, thank you very much. That is all your time I need to take,” Sookie said as she took the pictures back from Eric.

“I’m not finished with you yet,” he said quickly and dryly. “Please,” he gave her a fake smile that didn’t seem friendly at all, “Sit.”

Sookie looked over at Bill and she understood from the look on his face that they didn’t really have a choice. She looked at the chairs next to Eric’s ‘throne’, one on his right and one on his left, and realized there wasn’t enough chairs for the three of them. Bill gestured Sookie to sit on Eric’s right while he let Brooklynne sit on his left.

“Well, we can’t let poor Mr. Compton without a chair,” Eric said as he raised a hand stopping Brooklynne from sitting.

“I’m fine.”

“I insist,” Eric continued as he rested his hand on his lap as a silent command to the young woman.

Brooklynne’s eyes grew big, though not out of fear but surprise. She looked at her sister who shook her head no.

“Really, Eric, I’m fine on my feet.”

“Sit,” Eric ordered. He would not be refused.

Bill sighed. He silently and slowly walked over to the chair on Eric’s left and sat down. Eric smirked at Brooklynne as he held out his hand.

“Jag insisterar.” (I insist.)

Brooke hesitated for a few seconds but then smiled, amused, as she took his hand. She sat on his lap, turning her back to Bill and facing her worried sister.

“Oroa dig inte. Jag kommer inte att bita,” he said with a smug smile. (Don’t worry. I won’t bite.)

“Jag är inte orolig,” she replied with a smile of her own as she put her hand on his shoulder. (I’m not worried.)

Eric chuckled, almost impressed. “I like you.” He kept his hands to himself, something Brooklynne appreciated particularly. “So Bill, are you quite attached to your friend?” he asked as he looked Sookie up and down.

“She is mine,” Bill immediately said with a threatening tone.

“Yes, I am his.”

“Good. I imagine you aren’t his, then,” he told Brooklynne as he looked back at her.

“That’s right,” she replied, wondering why he’d even be interested in her, and wishing she could hear what he was thinking, for once.

“Where the fuck are they? My backup was supposed to be here 15 minutes ago. I can’t handle a raid on my own. These fucking vampires…”

The undercover police officer's thoughts resonated in Sookie’s head and set off loud alarms.

“We have to get out of here!” she said suddenly, making Eric and Pam raise their eyebrows and look at her like she was crazy.

“Sookie!” Bill reprimanded her rudeness.

“Eric, the cops are coming! There’s gonna be a raid!”

Brooklynne frowned at the new information. Sookie heard something she didn’t? That was unusual. She straightened up and focused on the room.

“Tell me you’re not an undercover cop,” Eric asked with a threatening tone.

“I’m not but that man in the hat is,” Sookie replied as she gestured towards the man.

“Even if you’re right, we do nothing illegal here.”

“There’s a vampire in the ladies’ room, she’s feeding on a man,” Brooklynne said, in a surprisingly calm tone.

“How do you know this?” Pam asked.

Brooke looked up at her, then at Sookie, who shook her head no. Before she had the chance to reply, however, the police barged in.

“Police! Police! Freeze!”

They all got up at the sudden entrance, and Eric instructed them to follow him.

“Hands where I can see them!”

They exited through the back door.

“I enjoyed meeting you, Miss Stackhouse. You will come again,” he told Brooklynne before he disappeared in the night with Pam.

Bill, Sookie and Brooke ran towards the direction of the car and left as fast as they could. They were quiet in the vehicle, listening to Bill’s foreign music, neither girl could tell what language they were speaking, though Brooklynne imagined it was some kind of Asian language. Brooklynne kept thinking about Eric, how peaceful it had been to be near him, the silence that had overtook her as she was sitting on his lap. She couldn’t figure out why he had found her so interesting though she supposed it didn’t really matter. He probably didn’t want to do anything pleasant with her.

A car appeared suddenly behind them and blinded Bill’s rear-view mirror with a bright yellow light.

“Shoot,” Sookie breathed out as she realized it was a police car. “Pull over.”

Bill obliged. He knew what was coming. A suspicious policeman worried that Bill was taking advantage of two young women. There was only one way he’d get out of this without any issue and he didn’t imagine Sookie would be pleased by what she was about to see him do.

The police car flashed its light behind Bill’s as the officer walked towards the driver’s seat. He knocked on the door and instructed the vampire to open the window.

“Brooke, can you take care of this?” Sookie said suddenly, surprising and confusing Bill.

“With pleasure,” she replied with a satisfied smile. She was happy to finally be allowed to use her abilities.

“Hello, officer,” Sookie greeted.

“Evening, miss. What are you three doing out this late?”

“Nothing. And that’s a good enough answer for you,” Brooke merely said. “Now turn around and drive away.”

Without another word, the police officer did exactly as she said. He got back into his car and drove away.

“How do you do that?” Bill asked, completely baffled.

Brooke shrugged. “I don’t know. I just do it.”

“You can glamour people without any effort! Only vampires can do that!”

“What’s ‘glamour’?”

“Vampires can hypnotize people,” Sookie explained, “make them do things…”

“Can we go home?” she stopped her as if she weren’t interested anymore, “I’m tired.”

Sookie chuckled as if she were used to it.

“Of course,” Bill nodded as he started driving again.

***

The next morning, Brooklynne got up late. The adventures of the previous night had tired her, and she wanted to be well rested to attend her grandmother’s meeting. “Vampire Bill” talking at the church was all the town could talk about that day. It rose curiosity among the people of Bon Temps and a “Descendants of the Glorious Dead” meeting had never seen so many people. Everybody was there. The sheriff, Bud Dearborne, wearing his uniform for some reason. Tara and Jason. Sam Merlotte, who hated Bill, though not so much because he was a vampire but rather because he had a crush on Sookie himself. Arlene, Sookie’s colleague and vampire hater, who had come with René and her two children who had begged her to take them. All the seats of the church were taken. But they were less interested in what he had to say about the Civil War and more about the vampire himself.

Brooklynne was cursed to hear every single one of their thoughts, one more stupid than the other. But she managed to hear what the vampire was saying, despite Sam’s angry thoughts provoked by the mere sight of the vampire, and other dirty images that showed up in his mind about her sister.

The meeting went rather well and even made the crowd wet their eyes. It was a miracle that between a Jason high on V, three stupid high school drop outs armed with garlic, and several vampire haters sitting on every bench, nothing wrong had occurred.

Most of the town headed out to Merlotte’s after the meeting. Bill and Sookie, however, felt like having some alone time together. Adele agreed to let Brooke go to the bar after Sam promised to watch over her. He let her bartend with Tara who taught her how to make some drinks but didn’t let her drink them. She got tired around 2AM however and Sam drove her back. The lights were out which Sam found odd. He was sure Adele would be waiting for her granddaughter.

“Looks like everybody’s sleeping.”

“No, nobody’s home…” she said quietly, more surprised than him. Adele would be at home at this hour. Unless an emergency had forced her to leave. But if that had happened, she’s have called to warn Sam about it.

“How do you know?”

Brooklynne didn’t answer and got out of the car. Sam followed her inside the house. The floor was slippery, and she almost fell as she stepped inside the kitchen. Sam turned on the lights and they were suddenly faced with horror. Blood everywhere. A pool of red liquid surrounding Adele Stackhouse’s dead body. Brooklynne’s mind suddenly became blank. All she could hear was a loud buzzing sound, all she could see was her dead grandmother lying in a pool of her own blood. The buzzing sound turned into a loud shriek. A terrified scream that she didn’t understand was coming from her.

**********

Tags: @thepoet1975 @nerdysandwichqueen @catchmeupimgettingoutofhere @raegan-hale @colie87

[alonely-dreamer]

The Valuable Sun | Chapter 2

Summary: Brooklynne Stackhouse is Sookie and Jason Stackhouse’s little sister. Like her older sibling, she is a telepath, but her powers are far more stronger and far more uncontrollable than her sister’s. After a series of murders in Bon Temps, Sookie takes it upon herself to investigate, taking her younger sister with her in a club called Fangtasia, where they meet vampire and sheriff Eric Northman.

Pairing: Eric x OC

Warnings: 18+ (language, violence, blood, mention of sexual assault)

A/N: Please, note that I am French so there might be some mistakes here and there.

Words: 6479

Schedule: A new chapter will be posted every Monday. Chapter 3 to 8 are available on my Patreon for early and instant access.

Masterlist

Chapter 1

Sitting at the table in the kitchen, Brooklynne couldn’t look away from the floor. It was clean now, Sookie had made sure all the blood was washed away as soon as the police had gone. But Brooklynne could still see it, as if it were still there, as if it couldn’t be washed away, as if it would always be there and nothing could make it go away. And in a way, nothing could, because nothing and no one could bring back Adele Stackhouse to life.

It was odd for both Stackhouses to stand in the kitchen knowing their grandmother would never stand there again with them. It was hard for Brooklynne to imagine a life without her grandmother. She had raised her, taken care of her, kept her secrets. And now she was alone. Sookie and Jason had a life to get back to. She didn’t.

Neither sisters had talked to their brother ever since that night. The last time they saw him was at the church, when Bill was speaking at the “Descendants of the Glorious Dead” meeting. It angered Sookie, but Brooklynne couldn’t even think about it. Her mind wasn’t her own. Especially not now that a crowd of strangers/neighbors/friends had gathered in her house to pay their respect to Adele Stackhouse.

Food was piling up on the table. With each plate came apologies, condolences, tears… Everything that people were supposed to say and that nobody wanted to hear. Fortunately for Brooklynne, people usually ignored her. They knew it was useless to even try talking to her as she never seemed to hear them, or listen to them. But unfortunately, she did hear them, though she wished she could stop listening. For most people who stepped inside her house just wanted to see where it had happened, trying to find a speck of blood, waiting for Sookie to lose it, to do something weird and freaky. They were all convinced that she had done it. Murdered her own grandmother. Why? Because she was a freak. And that was what freaks did. They killed people. Didn’t matter if it didn’t make sense, if it were their own flesh and blood, their only parent left. Brooklynne heard it all. How it was Sookie who must have done it and not her because she was too ‘retarded’ to be violent. She wasn’t a freak like her sister, no, she was retarded, stupid, crazy, etc. She was too much of a moron to kill someone. Brooklynne didn’t care. Maybe it was because she had been called that her entire life. Maybe it was because she just didn’t care what other people thought of her. It didn’t make her angry or sad. It was how it was. People sucked. And she knew that. Any telepath knew that. They heard things people thought and didn’t say aloud because it was too horrible, because it was easier to lie, because they were hypocrites. She heard things even terrible people wouldn’t dare say aloud. And now, these people were in her house. Judging her, judging her sister, when they had no idea what had really happened. Like flies attracted to garbage. They lived for it. The gossip. The gore. The feeling of being superior to someone else. Easier for Brooklynne to ignore them all.

At some point in the morning, Tara had dragged her and Sookie upstairs after the older sister had yelled at Maxine Fortenberry for touching what was left of her gran’s last pie. But even in Sookie’s bedroom, Brooklynne could still hear every single one of their horrible thoughts. They mixed together, becoming one big headache.

It all disappeared in an instant however, when her brother entered the bedroom suddenly. The door swung open, startling all three of them. Sookie stood on her feet to greet him but she barely had the time to say a word that he slapped her hard across the face, making her fall over on her bed. Brooklynne gasped, not only because of the violence of his action, but because of the violence of his thoughts.

“What the fuck?!” Tara shouted as she got off the bed to push him away.

“It’s your fault!” he yelled. “Gran is dead because of you. It should have been you!”

“Bitch, don’t you lay a hand on her!” Tara stopped him as he tried to take a step forward.

“She’s screwing a vampire, Tara. A fucking vampire!” he growled, making Brooklynne jump.

“Yeah, well, that vampire was there for her when you weren’t! You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Is that how your grandma raised you? To beat on your own sister? Look at you! I don’t even recognize you anymore. Get the hell out of here! Get out!” she yelled at him, pushing him out of the room, slamming the door in his face. “You okay?” she asked both sisters as she returned to the bed.

Brooklynne could hear Sookie think Jason was right. That it was her fault somehow. That the killer hadn’t been there for Adele, but for her. Because, like Maudette and Dawn, she had been with a vampire, and, unlike them, she wasn’t shy about it. Because she had brought Bill to Adele’s life and that if it hadn’t been for her, her grandmother would have never met Bill, and she wouldn’t have invited him to host a meeting, and she would still be alive.

“It’s not your fault,” Brooklynne told her, uttering her first words of the day.

Her sister didn’t reply.

***

Tara had kicked everyone out of the house tactlessly. Nothing Tara did was tactful. But at least it was efficient. She and Lafayette had been kind enough to stay over. They cleaned, took care of all the food, made sure both Sookie and Brooke were doing okay.

Neither women were ready for the funeral. Especially not Brooklynne. She didn’t do well in public. She’d have to hear all of the terrible thoughts of whoever was going to show up. And she’d have to say goodbye to her grandmother for good. She wasn’t ready for that at all.

Sitting between Jason and Sookie, Brooklynne tried to focus on the red-headed woman who was singing before them. Jason looked sick and was sweating profusely on his chair. She knew why. All he could think about was getting more ‘V’. Vampire blood. What an idiot. He was sweating for drugs at his grandmother’s funeral. How could he somehow be worse off than her?

But that stopped to be true as a young man showed up in the cemetery, pushing an old man in a wheelchair towards them. Brooklynne straightened up as she saw him approach them, approach her. She seized Sookie’s hand who squeezed it almost immediately. Her sister wasn’t happy to see him either, in fact, they were both uncomfortable and scared. Not because their safety was at risk in any way, but because his presence brought back memories for them both. Memories they wished would stay buried forever.

The young man positioned their uncle Bartlett next to Jason and Sookie stared at him with disgust. Brooklynne couldn’t even look at the old man.

“What are you doing here?” the waitress asked.

“She was my sister,” he replied with a tired voice.

“You haven’t been part of this family in a long time.”

“Sook, come on,” Jason stopped her. “Give the guy a break.”

His sister gave him a dark look but said nothing. Brooklynne tried as hard as she could to stay out of his mind, of anyone else’s mind, but all she could see and hear were old memories she wanted to bury again. She got up suddenly, well aware of all the pairs of eyes on her, exited the cemetery, then ran back home. The voices faded away as the cemetery disappeared behind her. The house wasn’t far away, in fact, it was very close. She entered her empty home, walked up the stairs, stepped in her bedroom and lay down on her bed where she fell asleep for the rest of the day.

***

Days passed, and even though Jason still hadn’t apologized for slapping Sookie, he came by from time to time to eat their food and steal some silverware. Brooklynne knew why he needed the money, though she hadn’t told Sookie yet. She was waiting, perhaps foolishly, for her brother to sober up and stop being an idiot. But it didn’t look like it was going to happen any time soon.

She heard him come in one night. She was in her bedroom, reading one of her grandmother’s bad romance novels, when his thoughts invaded her own. He was going through drawers, looking under the armchairs and the couches, in between cushions and pillows, hoping to find some cash. He was desperate. He needed V and he needed it now. As he grew more miserable by the minute, he made a decision that Brooklynne knew he’d come to regret, and probably with his life. He exited the house with a destination in mind, a club Brooklynne had been before, somewhere she knew he would find what he was looking for, but he would also find something else, something he wasn’t ready for. And neither was she. She had just lost her grandmother, she couldn’t let her big brother get himself killed like the junkie idiot that he was.

She called a taxi as soon as he left. When she arrived at Fangtasia, she saw her brother’s truck was already there, but she couldn’t see nor him anywhere. He was probably already inside. She paid the driver then walked through the crowd of vampires, ignoring them as they looked at her like she was their next meal. She didn’t know if it would be scarier to hear what they’d like to do to her or if it were better she didn’t.

When she reached the entrance, she found Pam blocking the door. The vampire looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Her eyes slowly moved from her face to her feet, then back up to her eyes. Brooklynne would have felt self-conscious if she had cared. She was wearing a knee-length dark blue dress with long sleeves, nothing fancy, and a headband of the same color, but it didn’t stop strands of blond hair from falling across her face. She was the complete opposite of the vampire who was wearing a black short dress with a very revealing cleavage, as much makeup as she had the last time, with a dark red lipstick and colored cheeks.

“Look who’s back,” Pam said in her usual uninterested tone. “What’s the little lamb doing here on her own?”

“I’m looking for my brother,” she replied, and the lack of fear in her voice surprised the vampire. “Have you seen him?”

“Jason Stackhouse? Tall, blond, cute idiot?”

“That’s him.”

“Yeah I saw him.”

Brooklynne waited for the vampire to tell her where he was and what she knew but Pam stayed silent.

“Um… is he inside?”

“Do you know your brother’s looking for vampire blood?”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m here.”

“To do what, exactly?”

“Send him home.”

Pam smiled as if she were amused. “He didn’t look like he’d go anywhere without what he’s looking for.”

“I’m extremely persuasive.”

“Good for you,” she said as she stepped aside. “Have fun inside.”

Brooke nodded. “Thanks.”

She felt Pam’s eyes on her until she got inside. It was as dark, loud and chaotic as it had been the first time. Somehow, she had felt better outside with the vampires. A crowd of humans was scarier to her than any crowd of undead people. She looked around, trying to find her tall, blond cute, idiot of a brother. It took her a minute or two, but she eventually found him in the middle of the crowd, being dragged away from the bar by a woman she had never met. She made their way to them.

“Jason!”

His eyes grew big as he saw his little sister walk towards him. “Brooke? What the fuck are you doing here?”

She didn’t reply but she wanted to. Formulating the words were difficult. She had to pick them from her mind but there were too many unwanted thoughts in there at the moment.

“Brooke, hey,” Jason waved a hand in front of her eyes, “stay with me!”

“You need to leave,” she told him quickly before she would be unable to do so.

“I need to leave? I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to leave the house alone! Does Sookie know you’re here?”

“No, just like she doesn’t know why you’ve been stealing from Gran and why you’re sweating like you just ran 10 miles!”

“Whoever that is is right,” the woman he was with said, “You’re going to get yourself killed if you keep at it.”

“That’s my sister, Brooke, and who the fuck are you?”

“Jason!” Brooke called her brother’s attention once more. “Go home and don’t come back.”

As soon as she said it, he started to walk away. He didn’t say anything or do anything else, he just did as she asked. The stranger gave a weird look to Brooke before she followed Jason out of the club. Brooke wanted to stop her, but some nasty thoughts and images appeared in her mind, making her jump and lose focus. She brought a hand to her head, then took a deep breath. It was dangerous for her to be alone, especially in a crowd. She could lose focus so easily and end up somewhere without knowing how or without any way to go home.

She turned around, looking for the door, but the noise blinded her. Someone was angry, someone was sad, someone wanted something they couldn’t get. Most people were drunk, some were high, it didn’t make a difference. She could hear them all. She moved, not knowing where she was going, trying to step away, to get as far from the noise as she could. But as soon as she took a step, she bumped into someone. Someone tall and strong. Someone who hadn’t been there a second ago. Someone empty.

“Well, hello there.”

She looked up to see Eric smirking down at her. He looked amused. She didn’t feel like smiling back. She looked around, looking for an exit, ignoring, or forgetting, the vampire. She tried to step away, but he stopped her, placing a hand on her arm.

“Miss Stackhouse, are you drunk?” he asked mockingly.

“No,” she answered, still looking for an exit.

“Why don’t you come with me? I’m feeling a little lonely up there on my own,” he said, gesturing towards the stage where three seats were waiting for them.

She exhaled, trying to focus, but it was just too loud. The music wasn’t helping either.

“I can’t hear you,” she said, and she didn’t mean it like he understood it.

Usually, when people touched her, or when she touched people, it made their thoughts louder and clearer, easier to focus on. But he was different. She couldn’t hear anything from him but silence. She put a hand over his and focused on his empty mind.

But as soon as she took his hand, he moved. One second, they were standing in the middle of the club, and the next, he was sitting on his ‘throne’ and she was on his lap.

She gasped as she felt the movement. Her left hand went to rest on his right shoulder as her right shoulder collided with his chest. She thought she heard him laugh.

“I’m surprised to see you here alone,” he said with a silky voice.

She looked up at him with wild eyes and saw him smirk. The voices were going away, some stayed longer and louder, others were already gone. She tried to focus and remember what he had just told her so that she could give him an answer.

“Wh- what?”

“Mr. Compton and your sister are nowhere to be found.”

“Sookie’s at work,” she replied, though she didn’t know why she’d answer any of his questions. She probably wasn’t safe here alone. Especially on his lap, not when he was looking at her like she was his dinner.

“What did you do to get your brother to leave?”

“I just asked him,” she shrugged as she looked down, hoping he’d buy her lie, then prided herself for lying. She wasn’t used to lying, it was hard to come up with lies when it was hard to think.

“I know a V addict when I see one. They can’t be persuaded away so easily. It was as if… you glamoured him,” he said, his right hand running up her bare leg slowly, sending shivers down her spine.

“I can’t glamour people, I’m not a vampire.”

“Well, you obviously did something.”

She straightened up as she put a hand over his as it reached her knee. His touch had set off an alarm inside her head. “Don’t,” she stopped him. “Please,” she continued in a trembling whisper.

“I may be a vampire,” he said, removing his hand from her knee and taking her chin in his fingers, making her look up at him, “but I’m not that cruel.”

She breathed a sigh of relief then looked away once again as she felt a wave of shame take over her. His hand returned to her leg, beneath her knee. She felt his other hand move above her waist.

“Bad luck with men?”

She frowned. She didn’t have the clarity of mind to wonder why he’d ask such a thing or why he’d think she’d want to talk about it. She shook her head. “When I was younger,” she said. “A long time ago.”

“And what happened to them?”

“Him,” she corrected him, “and nothing.”

“What a shame,” he sighed, “I’d have made him pay.”

She ignored him and looked at the crowd before them, most people were looking at her. Her cheeks turned red as she saw herself in those people’s minds and tried to shut out the horrible things they were thinking. She failed. She looked away and decided to stare at his black shirt instead, focusing on the silence in his mind.

“What do you want from me?” she asked as she started to play with one of the buttons of his shirt.

He raised an eyebrow as she unbuttoned and buttoned it over and over again.

“Just a little fun… And for you to tell me how you knew about the undercover cop the other night.”

“I can’t tell you that. Sookie will be mad.”

“Sookie doesn’t have to know.”

She shook her head and let go of the button.

“Maybe I can guess,” he said. “Stop me if I’m right.”

She considered it, then nodded.

“You’re a mind reader.”

She looked up at him with big eyes, wondering how he knew. He laughed.

“Wasn’t hard to figure out.”

“Then why did you ask?”

“I wanted to see if you’d lie to me. Again.”

She frowned. She should leave now before she said too much.

“Now, tell me. How did you make your brother leave?”

She gave him a worried look, then looked around, wondering if other vampires could hear them talk.

“Don’t worry. They’re not listening. They’re too busy trying to find something to eat.”

“I shouldn’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know you.”

“I can keep a secret,” he grinned playfully. “Can’t you read my mind?”

“No,” she said which surprised him. “We can’t hear vampires’ thoughts.”

“Interesting. How frustrating it must be for you,” he smirked.

She chuckled. “Not really. I can’t control it like Sookie can. And even she can’t really control it either. I think that’s why she likes Bill so much. It must be nice to be with someone and just… enjoy the silence.”

“And are you? Enjoying the silence?” he asked, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

“It’s…” she started to say but then got distracted again. Her eyes moved up to the ceiling then slowly down at the crowd. She shivered. “What?”

“I was asking you if you were enjoying the silence. I guess not.”

“It’s complicated. But it’s easier.”

“I make it easier?”

“Yes. It’s like… instead of your thoughts invading mine, it’s just silence taking over.”

“Well I’m happy to be of service,” he joked. “You still haven’t answered my question.”

She started playing with a lock of her hair. “What question?” she asked, and he wondered if she was doing it on purpose or if she had really forgotten.

“It can’t be easy, having all of these thoughts in your head. Is that why you’re not supposed to leave your house?”

She didn’t even ask herself how he knew that. She was in a state of mind in between distracted and focused. She could hear what he was asking but wouldn’t be able to stop herself from answering any questions she shouldn’t.

“Yes, I get distracted.”

“How did you get here?”

“I took a taxi.”

“Can’t you drive?”

“I’m not allowed to drive.”

“Because you can’t focus.”

She nodded.

“How did you make your brother leave?”

“I told him to.”

“But why did he listen?”

“Because I told him to.”

“Did you glamour him?”

“No.”

“Then how did you make him do it?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I just did.”

“Do you do that often?”

“Sometimes.”

“What else can you do?”

She shrugged. She never talked about that, not even with Sookie. Her sister knew what she could do and even they didn’t talk about it.

“Can your sister glamour people too?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“We don’t know. We’re different. It’s not as loud for her.”

“What are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you human?”

“I think so.”

“Are your parents human?”

“My parents are dead.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, and she laughed. “What’s so funny?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Why are you sorry?”

“Because I lost my parents too, and I know how it feels.”

She looked up at him, finally. She hadn’t expected an honest answer. She locked her eyes with his, like she’d do if she were trying to read someone’s mind. But all she found there was his ice blue eyes and silence.

“My turn.”

“Your turn?”

“To ask questions.”

He laughed. “Okay,” he agreed, amused and curious to find out what she wanted to know.

“How old are you?”

“I’m over a thousand years old.”

“You’re a thousand years old?” she repeated in disbelief. “Have you seen the whole world?”

“Most of it,” he nodded.

“Have you met kings and queens?”

“Some. And some princesses,” he grinned smugly.

“Are you from Sweden?”

“I am.”

“Is Pam your girlfriend?”

He chuckled. “No. She’s my progeny.”

“What does that mean?”

“I made her.”

“You made her a vampire?”

“Yes.”

“How old is she?”

“I wouldn’t ask her that if I were you,” he chuckled.

“I didn’t ask her.”

He smirked, then considered answering. “She’s over a hundred and thirty years old.”

“What’s a sheriff?”

“As vampires we answer to the Authority. As sheriff my job is to make sure the vampires in my area are safe and are following the rules.”

“How long have you been a sheriff?”

“Twenty years.”

“Do you like it?”

“It has its moments.”

She was about to ask another question, but he interrupted her.

“My turn,” he said, moving his legs so that she’d slid between him and the arm of the chair. He caught her with his hand, making sure she wouldn’t fall, and leaned forward so that his face was inches from hers. She shivered as she felt his cold breath on her face. “Would you like to be mine?”

“I… I don’t know what that means.”

“It means…” he started, settling her back on his lap. “That you’d be under my protection. You’d be my human and no one else would be allowed to touch you. Or feed from you.”

“Feed? Why would I want to do that?”

“Why wouldn’t you?” he gave her an arrogant smile.

“How many humans do you have?”

“I don’t collect them,” he told her, amused by her question, “I don’t usually surround myself with humans. But you… I would like to have you.”

“Why?” she asked. She was at a complete lost as to why anyone would want to ‘have her’.

“Because I find you interesting, Miss Stackhouse. You are valuable.”

“So, you want to own me?”

He breathed out a laugh. “I won’t harm you. Or do anything you don’t want me to.”

“What if I don’t want you to feed from me?”

“Then I won’t.”

She frowned. What would be the point then?

“And if I’m yours, and you don’t have anyone else, then does that make you mine?”

He laughed. “It doesn’t work that way.”

“Why not?”

“We’re vampires. We don’t belong to anyone but our makers.”

“That doesn’t seem very fair.”

“Are you negotiating with me?” he asked. He hadn’t expected her to ask so many questions.

“No. I’m just saying. Sookie is Bill’s and if Bill isn’t Sookie’s then that’s not fair.”

“You don’t understand. It’s a way to tell our kind that you are under the protection of another vampire. It’s a way to keep you safe.”

“I don’t really need protection.”

“Oh, but you do, Miss Stackhouse. Someone with your… abilities, is very valuable. Besides… you and your sister have… very distinct smells.”

She frowned. “What does that mean?”

“It means you stand out, and not in a safe way. You smell better than most humans. In truth, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who smelled as good as you.”

She looked at him, really looked at him, trying to see if he was trying to trick her, if he was lying, if he had some bad intentions. But the silence she found in his head didn’t help answer her questions.

“Vill du ha ett nytt husdjur till din djurpark?” (Do you want another pet for your zoo?)

He chuckled. “I wouldn’t call you a pet, exactly.”

She considered it. She didn’t want to say yes, but she didn’t want to say no either.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Please do.”

“I should go now.” She was tired. The noise was exhausting her. Even now that she was on his lap, touching him, the voices wouldn’t go away.

“Leaving so soon?” he said, as if he were disappointed, but didn’t try to stop her.

“If I’m not home when Sookie comes back from work, she’ll be worried,” she told him as she got up. As soon as she was away from him, the voices became louder. She tried to focus and keep them away long enough for her to make it to the door. She wondered if she’d make it.

“I look forward to seeing you again,” Eric said with what could have been a threatening tone, and she didn’t want to tell him that she did too.

She gave him an awkward and shy smile before she turned around. She tried to ignore the feeling of his eyes on her as he watched her walk away. She had to concentrate. She made her way to the crowd, trying not to lose focus. But she had barely made it into the pool of people that she had already forgotten about Eric and lost her way. She kept walking, though not really knowing where she was going. A shirtless woman appeared before her, dark tape covering her breasts. She had short black hair, it looked like a wig, and she was wearing a very short black skirt and very high black heels.

“Hi honey,” she said but Brooke didn’t hear her. “Can I buy you a drink?”

Brooklynne was confused. A voice in her head was crying, another was shouting, someone was very angry and sad, or maybe it was two people and one was angry and the other was sad. She couldn’t tell. Someone wanted V, someone else wanted another drink. Most people were looking for someone to have sex with in the bathroom. Some of them were even looking for vampires to feed from them. She turned around, away from the woman whose presence she hadn’t acknowledged, and stepped away. She brought a hand to her head. She didn’t know where she was. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do.

She barely felt the cold hand that came to rest on her shoulder and didn’t resist when the person dragged her away. She walked through the crowd and exited the club, shivering as the cold night came in contact with her body.

“Brooklynne?” a voice called. “Brooklynne.”

Someone snapped their fingers and startled her, bringing her back to reality. Eric was standing in front of her, waiting for her to reply.

“What? What?” she asked as she looked around. She recognized the parking lot of the club. She was out, the voices were less loud, but they were still there.

“Didn’t you say you didn’t need protection? I could have been anyone. A vampire dragging you out to drain your blood and leave you for dead in the alley.”

“I’d do her. I’d do her good. Teach that fangbanger what a real man feels like, and she’d never go back to those bloodsuckers.”

She ignored Eric and stared at the man smoking a few feet away from them. He was wearing a pair of old, used and dirty jeans with holes in them. Muddy shoes, a khaki shirt and a black leather jacket. He looked old though he couldn’t have been older than 35. His hair was brown, though clean and with a little light they’d probably be blond. He was staring at her. She was staring back.

“What is he thinking?” Eric asked.

She looked up at the vampire, finally acknowledging his presence.

“What did you say?”

“I asked what he was thinking.”

“No, before that.”

“I said you need protection. You couldn’t even leave the club without getting lost.”

“I’m not supposed to be here,” she said. She sounded tired.

“Clearly.”

“I’m not supposed to leave the house alone.”

“Are you sure you want that retard to be yours?”

“Pam,” Eric growled. “Cover for me.”

“What are you doing?”

“Making sure she gets home safely.”

“Why? Just lock her up and make her yours if that’s what you really want.”

“She’s the sister of Bill Compton’s human. I can’t imagine that going well.”

“Since when do you care about Bill Compton?”

“Since I don’t want him to become a pain in my ass. Just do as I say.”

Pam rolled her eyes but eventually turned around and entered the club.

“Nothing nice,” Brooklynne suddenly said.

“What?”

“You asked what he was thinking. It was nothing nice.”

***

When she woke up the next day, it was already late in the morning. She was asleep when Sookie had come back from work and unless Jason told her, she’d never know of her little adventure in Fangtasia.

A week had passed, and she hadn’t heard back from Jason. She wondered if he was still doing V. He hadn’t come back to steal more silverware, so maybe that was a good sign.

Sookie was never home at night, always spending it with Bill, leaving Brooklynne alone. She preferred it and wouldn’t complain. She didn’t have to focus to keep anyone’s thoughts away.

She had spent the whole week wondering if Eric had meant it when he had asked her to be his, and if she wanted to say yes. Of course, she wasn’t going to ask Sookie for advice. She figured she didn’t need protection as she never left her house. Going to the club alone had been a terrible decision, though it had probably saved her brother from some serious trouble. However, she should have been smarter. She should have asked him to bring her home.

Brooklynne was lying on the grass, admiring the sunset sky. Though, now it was completely dark. She had lost herself, once again, in another world. She was whispering song lyrics at the stars, trying to shut out her sister’s thoughts. Sookie was in the kitchen, waiting for Bill. She heard someone approach and thought the vampire had finally arrived, but he didn’t greet her like he usually did. For the past five days he had called her name, asked her if she was okay, asked her what the stars were saying, before wishing her a good night, and joining Sookie inside the house. But this time, the man approached silently and stopped near her, looking down at her curiously. He was taller than Bill and hadn’t come for Sookie. No. This vampire had come for her.

“Well, hello there.”

She grinned at him. “Hi.”

“You’re in a good mood today,” he said as he crouched down.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to ask for your help.”

She raised her eyebrows as she propped herself up on her elbows. “My help?”

“Yes. I’m in need of a telepath.”

“Eric!”

Brooke turned around as she heard Bill from behind her. Eric stood up as the vampire approached quite angrily.

“Bill,” the Viking greeted with a sigh. “I should’ve known you’d be around.”

“What are you doing here? Leave her alone!”

Eric chuckled. “Maybe she doesn’t want me to leave her alone.”

“What’s going on?” Sookie asked as she joined them. She was wearing a white sleeveless dress and white ballerinas, an outfit similar to her sister’s. “What are you doing here?”

“He needs help with something,” Brooke said as she got up.

“And what makes you think you’ll find help here?” Bill asked.

“I didn’t ask you for help, did I? I asked her.”

“She’s not going anywhere with you,” Sookie told Eric.

“That’s not for you to decide,” the vampire replied as he turned to look at Brooke.

“What do you need help with?” the young telepath asked.

“Business. I just want to make sure my employees are honest with me.”

“She doesn’t work for you,” Sookie said.

“She could.”

“No, she can’t.”

“Again, that’s not for you to decide.”

They all turned to look at Brooke, waiting for an answer. Of course, Sookie wanted her to refuse, but she wouldn’t mind helping the vampire out. After all, she hadn’t left the house in a week, and she could use a little action.

“Okay,” she shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

“Then I’m coming with you,” Sookie said.

“Fine,” Eric agreed. “If you insist.”

***

Fangtasia was exceptionally closed for the night. Inside were only Longshadow, Pam, and two humans. Eric, Brooklynne, Sookie and Bill joined them near the bar. It was odd to see the club empty. Especially for Brooklynne, whose only memories of this place was as a loud box from Hell. Eric invited Sookie and Brooke to sit at a table where one of the two humans were already sitting, waiting impatiently and nervously, while the vampires leaned back against the bar.

“Pam, Longshadow and I are partners in this club,” Eric started to explain. “And we recently noticed that $60,000 has gone missing from our books. And Bruce,” he said as he placed a hand on the human’s shoulder, which made him wince, he was perspiring profusely in his white shirt, and his breathing was unsteady, “Bruce is our accountant. Perhaps you can start by listening to him.”

Brooklynne hadn’t waited for him to say so to start listening to him. In fact, she couldn’t help it. He was practically screaming his fear at her. She already knew he hadn’t done it, nor who had. So, she said so. “He didn’t do it.”

“Well, that was fast,” Pam said with her usual annoyed tone.

“Are you sure?” Eric asked.

“Yes,” she said as she put her elbows on the table and rested her head between her hands, like a child would do.

“Alright then.”

“You trust the skinny human to clear the fat one?” Longshadow asked from behind the bar.

Eric ignored his bartender. “Bring the next one in,” he told Pam.

Bruce took a deep breath, relieved, as if he had just avoided death, and both Sookie and Brooklynne knew he probably had.

“We find who did it, what are you going to do with them?” Sookie asked.

“We’ll report them to the police and let the authorities take it from there,” Longshadow said which made Sookie scoff.

“Hundreds of years old and you’re still a terrible liar.”

“Sookie!” Brooke reprimanded her sister.

“What? You know as well as I do that they’re going to kill whoever’s stealing from them!”

“We don’t know that,” she said. But it was a good point, she had to admit.

“Promise you’ll report them to the police, and we’ll help you,” Sookie told Eric.

“As far as I’m concerned, I don’t need your help. Just your sister’s.”

“Brooke?” Sookie turned to her sister who was confused as to what she was supposed to do.

“Fine,” Eric asked. “I promise I’ll call the police,” he said with a fake smile. “Happy?”

“Yes, very,” the blonde nodded.

Bruce left to give his place to a very skinny blonde woman who was barely wearing any clothes. She was wearing a black leather bra top and very short jean shorts.

“Ginger, these women have some questions for you,” Eric told her. “Be a good girl and answer them, will you.”

“Aye, aye, master,” she smiled.

“Ginger, someone’s been stealing money from the bar,” Sookie asked.

“Really? Uh.”

“Don’t look at me you fucking bitch. I didn’t do nothing. I’ll beat the shit out of you if you say I did. It wasn’t me that took it. It wasn’t me.”

“She didn’t do it,” Sookie said.

“But she knows who did,” Brooke finished.

“What? Fuck you.”

“Shit. How’d she know? I didn’t tell anyone, I swear. Fuck, he’s gonna kill me.”

“She’s scared.”

“Who?” Sookie asked. “Who’s gonna kill you?”

“There are holes in her mind.”

“She’s been glamoured,” Pam said.

“It’s a vampire,” Sookie guessed.

Suddenly, Ginger jumped on her chair and looked with fear at someone behind the two telepaths. Sookie jumped on her feet and turned around, fast enough to see Longshadow jump from the bar. She pushed Brooklynne away and her younger sister fell on the floor. The vampire jumped on Sookie, pushed her against the table, his hands tightening on her neck.

“Sookie!” Brooke called.

But Longshadow barely got the time to do any damage as Bill broke a chair and used one of the feet as a stake on Longshadow.

Ginger started shrieking. It was a horribly loud and unbearable sound. Longshadow started vomiting blood all over Sookie before he exploded and turned into a pool of blood. Ginger’s screams were now accompanied by Brooke’s.

“Humans,” Eric sighed. “Honestly, Bill, I don’t know what you see in them.”

**********

Tags: @thepoet1975 @nerdysandwichqueen @catchmeupimgettingoutofhere @raegan-hale @colie87

[alonely-dreamer]

The Valuable Sun | Chapter 5

Summary: Brooklynne Stackhouse is Sookie and Jason Stackhouse’s little sister. Like her older sibling, she is a telepath, but her powers are far more stronger and far more uncontrollable than her sister’s. After a series of murders in Bon Temps, Sookie takes it upon herself to investigate, taking her younger sister with her in a club called Fangtasia, where they meet vampire and sheriff Eric Northman.

Pairing: Eric x OC

Warnings: 18+ (language, violence, blood)

A/N: Please, note that I am French so there might be some mistakes here and there.

Words: 2458

Schedule: A new chapter will be posted every Monday. Chapter 6 to 9 are available on my Patreon for early and instant access.

Masterlist

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Eric found an air mattress in his office which Doctor Ludwig used as an operation table. Brooklynne paced around as Bill and Eric watched the fifty-year-old dwarf take her tools out. Sookie was lying on her stomach, three giant scratches bleeding across her back. The blonde slowly woke up, though maybe it would have been better if she hadn’t.

Brooklynne started to make her way towards her sister but Eric stopped her as she walked past him. He took her hand and invited her to sit next to him.

“Let her work,” he said, and she hesitated, giving a look to her injured sister, but then taking a seat next to the vampire.

“What kind of doctor are you?” Sookie asked as she saw Patricia putting surgical gloves on.

“The healing kind,” she replied. “I’m Doctor Ludwig, what’s your name?” she asked, bringing a hand to one of the three scratches on Sookie’s back, making the telepath scream in pain.

Her screams made both Bill and Brooke jump. The vampire was standing behind the doctor, watching her every move carefully.

“Sookie. Sookie Stackhouse,” she managed to reply despite the pain. “Am I dying?”

“Yes.”

“No!” both Bill and Brooke said in unison.

“She cannot die,” Bill continued. “You will save her!”

“Back off, vampire. Let me do my job!”

“Forgive him,” Eric said. “Bill is abnormally attached to this human.”

Brooke frowned, wondering what was abnormal about caring about another person.

“Well, we don’t have a lot of choices. She’s been poisoned. You ever heard of Komodo dragons? Their mouths are teeming with bacteria. After one has bitten you, it will track you for hours, days, just waiting for the toxins to slowly eat away at your nervous system till you’re good and helpless, then it will devour you alive.”

“I was… scratched by a dragon?”

“No, but this poison is similar, but way more efficient. Don’t think I’ve seen it. It’s hard to tell without further testing and we don’t have that kind of time.”

Sookie’s breathing was getting worse and her eyes eventually found her sister, sitting not far from her, on a chair next to Eric. She’d probably have asked her what she was doing here if she had been able to.

“Give us some privacy. I need to remove her clothing. The sister can stay and assist.”

Bill reluctantly left with Eric, leaving Brooklynne alone with her dying sister. She helped the doctor remove Sookie’s shirt and held her to the mattress as she started pouring a liquid on her wounds. Sookie started screaming in pain, the smell was horrible, a mix of burning flesh and something else Brooklynne couldn’t describe. Bill came back as soon as he heard her scream and helped Brooke hold her down. The liquid might have been some kind of alcohol or magic potion, but it cleaned the wounds efficiently. Doctor Ludwig dragged her fingers inside each scratch, removing whatever substance the creature had left inside to poison Sookie. At some point during the treatment, Sookie passed out, which was for the best as the doctor wasn’t anywhere near finished.

It took about two hours for the poison to be completely out of her body. Doctor Ludwig cleaned the blood from her back with a cloth and inspected the wounds one last time before instructing Bill to feed Sookie his blood to finish the healing process.

Brooklynne was sitting on the ground, her back against the bar, exhausted by her exercises from earlier, and the memory of her sister’s screams. She saw a pair of black sneakers stop before her and she looked up to find Eric holding a hand out to her. She took it and he helped her get up. Pam and another vampire neither Brooklynne nor Sookie had ever met came back inside the club at the same time. Pam looked pissed.

“The area has been scanned,” she said as she rolled her eyes.

“Tracks were human, but the smell was distinctly animal.”

“What kind?” Eric asked.

“A filthy one,” Pam answered.

“We didn’t recognize it.”

“How intriguing… Send an alert through the appropriate channels. Find out what the neighbors know.”

The two vampires nodded before they left. Brooklynne could feel her sister’s eyes on her, and she could already hear her scold her for being here. She turned slowly and saw it on her face that she wasn’t happy. She was nodding at whatever Bill was saying but wouldn’t look away from her.

“Would it be okay if we stayed here for the day?” Bill asked. “I don’t want to move her.”

“Of course. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of.”

“I don’t want to leave her.”

“Longshadow kept a coffin out back. I’ll make it available to you.”

“I thank you for your hospitality, Eric.”

“No problem. I’m sure you two will find a way to repay me,” the vampire smirked. He winked at Brooklynne before he left the room through the ‘Personnel Only’ door.

“What are you doing here, Brooke?” Sookie asked from where she was lying on the black air mattress.

“I…” the youngest Stackhouse looked down at her hands. “Eric came by the house. Brought me here,” she shrugged.

“And you went with him?”

“I was bored at the house. And he helped me control myself! I blocked the voices tonight, I’ll let you know!”

Sookie frowned. “I told you to stay away from him.”

“And I told you not to tell me what to do!”

Sookie rolled her eyes, then sighed. Her eyes landed on Bill, like she was asking him for help. The vampire raised his hands, silently telling her he wasn’t going to get involved in this fight.

“What do you mean you blocked the voices?”

“I… Well, I can control myself now. Like you.”

“Is that why you’ve been ignoring me?” she asked with an impressed tone. “You can’t hear me, can you?”

“No. I can’t.”

“That’s… that’s great, Brooke!” Sookie breathed out a laugh.

“Maybe, if I had been allowed to leave the house, I’d have controlled it earlier.”

“That’s not fair,” Sookie told her. “You never could control it. Gran kept you inside for a reason.”

“Yeah, well now I’m tired to be kept inside.”

Bill cleared his throat, interrupted them. “Sookie should rest, she’s been through a lot,” he told Brooklynne. “And you look like you could use some help too.”

“Go,” Sookie told him. “Go rest, we’ll be fine.”

Bill gave her a small smile, then nodded, before he followed Eric’s footsteps and left them alone. Sookie was about to say something but Brooklynne stopped her before she got the chance to open her mouth.

“Save it. I don’t want to hear it,” she said before she walked out.

***

When Brooke got out of the bathroom ten minutes after she walked in, Sookie was already asleep. She made her way to the couch in the corner and laid down, facing her sister. She fell asleep almost instantly, which was to be expected. Brooklynne tired easily.

Sookie woke up in the middle of the afternoon. She was wearing a red shirt from Fangtasia. She had nothing else to wear since her shirt had been torn to pieces by a giant bull-headed creature. She was greeted by Ginger who was cleaning up the club. It was Ginger’s scream that woke up Brooklynne. She jumped awake to see her big sister pointing a gun at the waitress, or whatever Ginger’s job was.

“What…” she breathed out. “Sookie!”

“Eric’s been keeping Lafayette in the basement,” she explained. “Take me to him!” she ordered Ginger.

The two sisters followed her down the dark and cold basement where they found their friend sitting in a corner at the other end of the room.

“Oh my God,” Brooke breathed out as she saw the chains around his neck.

“Give me the key!”

“I don’t have it, I swear!”

“Lafayette,” Sookie called as she crouched down near him. “Lafayette are you okay?”

“Sookie? Is that really you?”

“What happened to his leg?” Brooke asked Ginger.

“I… I… I shot him.”

“You what?!”

“He was trying to escape! Eric would have killed me!”

Brooklynne felt like she was going to be sick. The smell, the view… it was all too much. I can’t believe Eric would do that, she thought. But then, she realized, she could indeed believe it. She could almost hear Sookie say I told you so.

***

Sookie waited patiently for the night to fall. Brooklynne avoided her gaze for the rest of the afternoon. She had returned to the couch where she had fallen asleep and started to regret having told Eric she’d go to Dallas with him. When she got the courage to tell her sister about what she had done, Sookie had said she wouldn’t be going anywhere with Eric, especially not to Dallas, and especially not alone.

Bill woke up first and was relieved to see Sookie awake and in good health. Sookie wasn’t as happy to see him, but she hugged him back when he took her into his arms. He frowned when she didn’t smile back at him.

“Are you still angry about our fight? Sookie, none of that matters now…”

“You’re right. I’m alive and in once piece, unlike my friend Lafayette who Eric chained up like an animal and left to bleed to death!”

“What?”

“You better not have known anything about this, Bill Compton, because if you did, I don’t think I could ever forgive you.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“She’s referring to the human in my basement,” Eric said as he joined them into the room. Brooke looked up at him but then looked away when he looked back. “The human that traded sexual services with a vampire in order to sell his blood. Which, as you know, is a grave offense.”

“His name is Lafayette,” Sookie snarled at him as she went his way, “and you ought to be ashamed of yourself for what you’ve done to him!” she said before she slapped him as hard as she could. Eric barely budged.

“Sookie!” Bill reprimanded her, worried as to how Eric was going to react.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” he told her with a smile. “And may I add, that color suits you very well.”

“Go to Hell!”

“Sookie, enough!” Bill stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Oh, it’s not nearly enough! They’ve tortured him and bitten him and shot him and kept him down there in his own filth for weeks!”

She paused, waiting for an answer from the vampire, but it’s Bill who spoke up first.

“Is this true?”

“There are others who would have done far worse, and you know it.”

“You’re gonna let him go right now or I swear I’m going to the police!”

Eric instantly growled at her, showing his fangs, his face inches from hers, the sudden movement making Sookie jump. Brooklynne jumped on her feet, worried the vampire would hurt her sister.

“I do not respond well to threats,” he told her.

She swallowed but didn’t move. Eric’s pupils moved to the corner of his eyes where they found Brooklynne a few feet away. He then looked back at Sookie as he stepped away.

“But perhaps we can come to some sort of arrangement,” he smiled. “Please,” he gestured for her to follow him. “You too,” he told Brooklynne.

The young telepath hesitated but knew she didn’t really have a choice. She looked at him warily as she approached, making sure she stayed close to her sister as they walked out of the club and into Eric’s office.

It was a small room, big enough for a desk, two chairs, a couch and a few shelves where he had stocked boxes of Tru Blood. He leaned against his desk and started to explain what it would take for him to let Lafayette go.

“Your sister already agreed to come with me to Dallas.”

“Brooklynne isn’t going anywhere alone with you. You took advantage of her!”

“I did no such thing,” the vampire said, and he sounded almost offended. Not for him, but for Brooklynne. “I asked and she said yes.”

“She didn’t know any better!”

Brooklynne would have felt insulted if she didn’t think her sister had a point. She should have listened to her sibling. The fact that she was surprised he had kidnapped and tortured Lafayette for weeks proved that she wasn’t ready to make decisions for herself, not when it came to Eric anyway. She should have known better. He was a vampire, after all. But then again, so was Bill. And Bill would never do such a thing, or else Sookie wouldn’t be with him.

“You can come too, if you want. Two telepaths is better than one, I suppose.”

Sookie frowned. “If I go to Dallas and help you find your friend, then you’ll let Lafayette go?”

“You are not going to Dallas,” Bill protested. “You almost died last night!”

“I am old enough to make my own decisions, Bill.”

“I will pay all of your expenses, of course,” Eric interrupted the couple. “And, yes, I will release your friend.”

“And I want $5000. For both of us,” she said, looking at Brooklynne who feared it wasn’t a good idea to be bargaining with Eric right now. Bill gave her a reproving look to which she responded: “What? I’ve missed a lot of work and I need a driveway. And Brooke’s never worked a day in her life, she could use the money.”

Brooke chose to stay silent and avoided Eric’s gaze when he turned to look at her. She felt stupid for trusting him. For spending the night on his lap while Lafayette was suffering in the basement. She was ashamed of herself.

“Your human is getting cocky,” Eric said silently. He obviously didn’t appreciate her negotiating with him.

“They will take $10000 each, and I will escort them,” was Bill’s response.

“I don’t think so, no.”

“Yes,” Sookie insisted. “Ten thousand and Bill comes with me or it’s a deal breaker.”

Eric considered it. She gave another look at Brooklynne who was still looking at her feet, looking like she had just been caught doing something bad.

“You surprise me,” he told Sookie. “And that is a rare quality in a breather.”

“You disgust me,” Sookie merely replied.

“Perhaps I’ll grow on you,” he said, as his eyes fell on Brooklynne once more.

“I’d prefer cancer.”

Bill tried hard not to smile too much at the exchange.

“You need to leave immediately,” Eric told the vampire.

“I will make the travel arrangements. But I will need your credit-card number.”

Eric nodded. “See you in Dallas.”

**********

Tags: @thepoet1975 @nerdysandwichqueen @catchmeupimgettingoutofhere @raegan-hale @colie87

[alonely-dreamer]

The Valuable Sun | Chapter 4

Summary: Brooklynne Stackhouse is Sookie and Jason Stackhouse’s little sister. Like her older sibling, she is a telepath, but her powers are far more stronger and far more uncontrollable than her sister’s. After a series of murders in Bon Temps, Sookie takes it upon herself to investigate, taking her younger sister with her in a club called Fangtasia, where they meet vampire and sheriff Eric Northman.

Pairing: Eric x OC

Warnings: 18+ (language, violence, blood)

A/N: Please, note that I am French so there might be some mistakes here and there.

Words: 5064

Schedule: A new chapter will be posted every Monday. Chapter 5 to 9 are available on my Patreon for early and instant access.

Masterlist

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

Sookie didn’t have to tell Brooke that Jason was in jail. She had heard it as soon as Sookie had. Jason had called from the police station to let her know. It put her in a rage. Jason had confessed to crimes he hadn’t committed because of guilt and grief. Because his girlfriend who was a V addict had died and he had no better explanation for it. “What an idiot,” Sookie had said, right before she left the house. She drove to the police station where René, Arlene’s future husband, was already visiting Jason. She told her brother not to worry, that she was really close to finding out who the real killer was, but he didn’t want to believe it. In his mind, it was set, he was the killer. He had killed them all, somehow, even if he didn’t remember it. All but Adele. He knew he hadn’t done it, he knew he couldn’t have.

Brooklynne didn’t want to stay inside, she wanted to be out there, looking for Drew Marshall with Sookie. But even Sookie couldn’t do that. She had to work. She’d go out there on her own but the last time she did that, she had needed Eric to bring her back home.

Being alone in the house made her feel uneasy. That unfamiliar feeling helped her focus. It was like she was in someone else’s house, a house she didn’t know, and the unknown made her feel anxious. Her routine had crumbled when Adele died. No more exercises, no more games to help her control her abilities. But she had no one to talk to now. Or someone to talk to her. She felt lonely, and somehow that helped her focus. Because, for the first time in a really long time, she was bored.

Maybe it was because there was no one around, no one to listen to, no one to hear, but she felt different from her usual self. She could hear herself think, and maybe that was why it was easier to focus. She thought about Adele, she thought about Jason, she thought about Eric. But the one thing she wished she would stop thinking about, dreaming about, was blood. She saw blood every time she closed her eyes. Her grandmother’s blood all over the kitchen floor. Longshadow’s blood all over Sookie. How the vampire had exploded into a disgusting pool of red liquid. It made her sick.

She decided to keep herself busy. To try and see how long she could stay focus and do normal things without accidentally mentally slipping into another world. She remembered Sookie saying they’d have to wrap up their grandmother’s things at some point, and Brooklynne thought she’d make herself useful by starting to clean Adele’s bedroom. The boxes were already there and marked ‘to keep’ and ‘goodwill’. She started going through her grandmother’s jewelry, giving a look at the old wooden clock on the wall wondering how long it’ll take her to get distracted. But she never did. She worked for two hours in silence and was only interrupted by the ringtone of her phone. She saw a text message from Sookie, letting her know that her car broke down and that René was driving her home.

Brooklynne had never met René, but she had heard of him. He was a colleague but also a good friend of Jason’s. He had probably been at Adele’s funeral, but she had left too early to get the chance to meet him.

She was happy to have some company. She wanted to try and see if she could stay out of their heads. Or, at least, if she could stop their thoughts from invading hers.

She had just finished sorting out her grandmother’s clothes, when she heard a car stop in the driveway. She heard Sookie and René enter the house as she started walking down the stairs.

“It’s hotter in here than hell on a Sunday,” she heard René say.

“Yeah, Gran used to leave the windows open all day but… I haven’t felt safe doing that in a while… Especially with Brooke staying here alone. Have a seat, I’ll fix us some iced teas.”

“Sounds good.”

Brooklynne watched from the bottom of the stairs as he turned on the ceiling fan, before he stepped inside the living room. She didn’t even get the chance to try and block his thoughts as she saw him look around and the first thing he noticed was the shotgun leaning against the fireplace. Brooklynne heard him plan to remove the bullets from it. She heard him plan to take Sookie by surprise and strangle her with his belt like he had Maudette, Dawn and Amy, the girl from Fangtasia, the girl Jason had loved, the girl he had confessed crimes he hadn’t committed for. She took a deep breath. She should be afraid. The thought crossed her mind. Why wasn’t she afraid? But it seemed like she was on autopilot at the moment as she calmly walked down the rest of the stairs, knowing she was going to face him, her grandmother’s killer, the man who had been terrorizing the town and her sister for weeks. She took him by surprise, appearing in the doorway as he was placing the shotgun back where he had found it.

“Got ya,” Brooke said with no special emotion in her voice or on her face.

“Oh,” he chuckled after he turned around and saw her standing there. “I was just looking at it.”

She tilted her head, wondering if no one had told him about her, about how she knew everything. She knew he must have. It was probably the reason why he had avoided her. But there was something he didn’t know about her, something he wasn’t ready for.

“You killed my grandmother,” she told him, calm and composed.

The look on his face didn’t change. He was still wearing that stupid smirk even though he knew he was made. Even as he made the decision to kill her too.

“Don’t,” she said as he tried to take a step forward. Of course, he obeyed, he didn’t really have a choice.

“Brooke?” Sookie asked as she appeared from behind her with a jug of iced tea in her hands. “What’s going on?”

She didn’t get the time to reply as René launched himself at them. Brooke’s command had been for him not to step forward, so he had to find another way to move.

“It’s him! He’s Drew Marshall!”

Sookie would have guessed and she would have given a sassy reply to her sister if it hadn’t been for René jumping on her, making her fall hard on her back. He moved his hands to her throat and started strangling her.

“Stop!” Brooke ordered him.

“You stop,” he growled, tired of being manipulated. He got up and slapped Brooke so hard she fell over.

“Don’t touch her!” Sookie snarled as she jumped on his back and started punching his shoulders and his chest.

He shook her off and she fell on her ass. He then proceeded to kick her once, then twice, giving Brooke enough time to recollect herself. She knew she had to choose her words carefully to stop him.

“Stop it! Don’t do anything! Don’t move!”

He stopped. Sookie took a deep breath, bringing a hand to her stomach and another to her bruised face, before she pushed herself away from him.

“You’re never going to kill anyone again,” Brooklynne said. “You’re going to surrender to the police and confess everything.”

“Fuck you!”

“You killed Gran!” Sookie yelled at him. “Fuck you! She didn’t do anything to you!”

“I came for you, you stupid cunt!”

“Shut up,” Brooke ordered him. “Don’t say another word until the police arrives. Don’t do anything until the police gets here, don’t move.”

“How do you do that?” he asked silently but she didn’t reply.

“Are you okay?” Sookie asked her sister as she brought a hand to her sore face.

“I’m fine,” she nodded.

Catching him might not bring her grandmother back, but at least it would bring justice to his victims, and it would clear Jason’s name.

“Poor Arlene,” Sookie shook her head. “She’ll be heartbroken.”

“Sookie!” someone called from outside. Sam appeared in the doorway. He was out of breath, as if he had run all the way here. “It’s him,” he said as soon as he saw René standing in the living room. “It’s him, he’s the killer,” he made his way towards who he had thought was his friend and seized him by the shirt.

“We know,” Sookie told him.

“He’s stopped. He won’t move or say a word until the police gets here.”

“You bastard,” Sam growled before he punched him in the face so hard he knocked him out.

“Well,” Sookie sighed. “At least that would be easier to explain to the police.”

***

A coward. Of course, he was. Changing his name, killing women… only a coward could do such things. Just like only a coward would use his belt to hang himself in his cell. Brooke couldn’t say she was sad to see him go, in fact, she’d be lying if she did. Sookie wasn’t particularly hurt by the news either and life started to feel normal again as the days went by. It was as if his death had made Adele’s more real somehow. More definite. As if she hadn’t really been gone until her murderer had been caught. Or maybe, her granddaughters just weren’t good at letting go. And who would be? Especially Brooklynne, as she now spent her days alone, reading her grandmother’s books, playing cards by herself… She had no one to talk to, not even Jason who had disappeared as fast as he had come back.

After they arrested René, they had released Jason, who had been over the moon to hear that he wasn’t a bloodthirsty murderer. Neither Sookie nor Brooklynne knew where he had run to, or where and how he spent his free time. But at least he showed up on time to work, and he was clean, according to Hoyt Fortenberry.

Bill had showed up to the house as soon as the sun had set on the night when they caught Drew Marshall/René. He had felt her fear and had tried to intervene, but the sun had stopped him from going far. Sookie forgave him, of course she did, she could barely remember why she was mad at him in the first place. Brooklynne remembered, but she wasn’t about to remind her sister. Not when she was literally glowing with happiness.

The glow of happiness didn’t last long, however, as Sookie came back home one night, after finding a dead body in Andy Bellefleur’s car. It looked like Bon Temps had gotten itself another murdered. And another vampire.

It turned out, as punishment for killing a vampire, Bill had had to create a new one, and her name was Jessica, and Bill had kept her a secret for two weeks, which Sookie didn’t appreciate. She didn’t appreciate it at all.

One afternoon, a few days after René’s arrest and death, Sookie and Brooke were finishing up on cleaning Adele’s bedroom, when a notary came knocking on their door. Having company was a good exercise for Brooke, especially when it was only one person. She could try and focus on staying out of their mind and staying inside of hers.

“Is there a problem with my grandmother’s papers, Mr. Lancaster?” Sookie asked as they settled in the living room. “I know you asked for a copy of the deed to the house.”

“Oh, no, no, that’s all okay,” he said, then paused, then sighed, “I have some terrible news, I’m afraid. Your great-uncle Bartlett has passed on.”

A chuckled escaped Brooke’s lips. The notary gave her a weird look, which she ignored.

“Excuse her, she has ADD,” Sookie explained.

“Ah,” he nodded, he obviously didn’t know what it meant. “I know it’s so soon after your grandmother. This must be quite a shock.”

Brooklynne laughed again. Of course, she wouldn’t be sad about it, but her reaction was the exact opposite of Sookie’s who was stunned by the ‘tragic’ news.

“Tell me what happened,” she asked, ignoring her sister who was trying to stop smiling.

The notary stared at the youngest Stackhouse for a moment before he returned his attention to Sookie. “Well… the Lincoln Parish Fire Department found him a few miles south of Simsboro. He’d washed up on the shore.”

“How’d he get all the way down there?”

“The Walnut Creek runs behind his house. Sheriff’s guessing he got too close and fell in.”

Brooklynne burst out in laughter. She first thought she’d thank karma for it but then heard from her sister that Bill was potentially responsible, which instantly made her like him more.

“Brooklynne!” Sookie reprimanded.

Knowing she wouldn’t stop laughing, she left the room and walked back up to her bedroom. She wasn’t happy by the news, though she wasn’t unhappy either. It was a mix of surprise, exhaustion and nervousness that had set off this reaction from her. She knew her grandmother would be deeply ashamed of her, but she’d be really proud to hear that she had managed to keep away from Mr. Lancaster’s mind.

***

$12,000. Maybe that’s how much Sookie and Brooklynne’s innocence and dignity was worth to their great-uncle Bartlett, or maybe that was really all he had left, but either way, the sisters didn’t want it. They didn’t want anything from him. Sookie had given it all to Jason, and Brooklynne hoped he’d be smart with it.

A week passed, during which Sookie and Bill kissed and makeup. Sookie was motivated to get to know Jessica better as she was Bill’s progeny, and therefore, they were a package deal. It was both of them or none of them. So, she had taken the night off and asked Bill to leave them both alone so they could have some alone time together, something the vampire had reluctantly agreed to.

Brooklynne wished her sister would spend some alone time with her, but she was getting used to being alone. She had begged Sookie a few times to take her with her to work so that she could try and control her powers, but her sister always refused. And she wasn’t about to say yes now that she had found a dead body in the parking lot of the restaurant.

Resigned to spend the rest of her life alone and doing nothing, Brooklynne had collapsed on the couch with a sigh. Bored out of her mind, she started to wish something, anything, would distract her. At some point in the evening, her wish had come true as she ended up walking around barefoot on the wet cold grass.

The pond was surprisingly bright considering it was nighttime. As usual, nobody could see her, but she could see them all. They were all very happy, almost glowing, as they drank and laughed and danced. She started dancing with them, enjoying the music, enjoying the silence inside her head. Maybe it was because she wasn’t physically there, but she couldn’t hear any of their thoughts. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she enjoyed the fresh air on her skin, and the happiness around her. But suddenly, the laughed were replaced by cries and gasps and the dancers quickly scattered away in fear as the lights faded away and darkness took over the pond. Brooklynne looked around, confused, trying to find what they were running away from. But she only met silence, and darkness.

A knock on the door brought her back to her living room. She stood up slowly, as if she had just woken up, wondering if she had imagined it. But she heard it again. She knew it was a vampire, because she couldn’t hear their thoughts. She stood up and walked barefoot to the front door. She immediately recognized the tall figure standing behind it. She opened the door and saw Eric standing on her porch. He was wearing blue joggers and a matching jacket, and his hair was shorter than the last time she saw him.

“Brooklynne,” he smirked, as if he thought she’d be happy to see him.

“Eric.”

“Did I wake you?” he asked as he saw her rub her eyes, though he didn’t sound particularly concerned.

“No. What do you want?”

“Well, I want a lot of things, you’re going to have to be more precise.”

“You cut your hair,” she said, and he wondered if she were already distracted.

He didn’t bother to answer. “Have you thought about my proposition?”

“Your what?” she frowned.

“Don’t tell me your forgot,” he said as he took a small step towards her. “You said you’d think about it. I gave you plenty of time to do so.”

“Oh, that.”

“Yes, ‘that’,” he repeated as he placed a hand on the wall, above his head, and leaned forward. “Let’s talk about it inside.”

She tilted her head and stared at him. She had thought about it, like she said she would, but she didn’t have an answer for him, or at least, not one he’d like.

“I’m not supposed to invite people in,” she said in a whisper as she looked down at her bare feet.

“Now, now. I won’t bite. I promise.”

She looked up at him and hesitated. Inviting a vampire in her home was a stupid idea. Though, Sookie did mention it was possible to revoke the invitation, so, maybe it wasn’t such a big deal.

“Come in,” she said as she stepped aside.

A victorious grin appeared on Eric’s face before he stepped inside the house, his eyes never leaving hers.

“You have a lovely home,” he said, and she didn’t miss the mockery in his tone. “You must be bored stuck here alone.”

She shrugged as she closed the door.

“If you were mine,” he said as he trapped her between the door and his body, “you’d never be bored a day in your life.”

Her eyes grew big and a gasp escaped her lips as his body approached hers. He was so tall it was hard to meet his eyes, but she could see the smirk on his face.

She swallowed. “Sookie says I should stay away from you.”

He chuckled, as if it amused him. “Well, aren’t you a disobedient little human.”

“Why do you even want me anyway? I’m not… like other humans.”

“But that’s exactly what makes you so… interesting,” he said as he ran a finger down her neck and onto her shoulder, brushing her hair aside. His gentle touch sent shivers down her spine, though she had no doubt he had his eyes on her vein.

“If I had been yours the other night, and Longshadow had attacked me, would you have killed him like Bill did?”

“No. I’d have been smarter. I’d have stopped him, and then I’d have taken him away.”

“Away where?”

“Where no one would have seen me.”

“So… you would have killed him?”

“Probably. Vampires should know better than to attack other vampires’ humans.”

“Bill got into a lot of trouble for what he did.”

“It could have been worse. Trust me.”

“You wanna know what I think?” she asked, and he raised an eyebrow. “I think you only want me because you can’t have Sookie. I think if Sookie were available you’d want her instead.”

“Now, why would you think that?” he said as he stepped away from her.

“Because… Sookie’s better. She’s not…” she paused, looking for the word. “She doesn’t glitch.”

He laughed. “And you do?”

“All the time.”

“You think you’re broken? You think you’re… malfunctioning?”

“Sookie can control her ability. I can’t even leave my house.”

“I think it’s all a matter of self-control. What you need is practice, not self-pity.”

“I tried to practice. But Sookie won’t take me anywhere.”

“I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

She frowned and tilted her head. She knew he would. But did she want to go with him?

“Why did you come here tonight?”

He sighed. He obviously had more troubling things to talk about. “The sheriff of Area 9 in Texas has gone missing. His name is Godric. He’s… a friend of mine. I want to take you with me to Dallas, so you can help me find him.”

She opened her mouth, but then closed it. “I… I want to help you but… what can I do? My powers are useless against vampires.”

“There are always humans around to interrogate,” he said. “Besides, I have a theory on who’s behind it.”

“Then why don’t you just go yourself?”

“I can’t. I have no jurisdiction there. And no proof. The humans who may have taken him are idiots but they’re idiots prepared. We’ll know more once we’re in Dallas. One of Godric’s trusted friend is waiting for me. But…” he paused, as if what he wanted to say was hard for him to admit, “I could use your help.”

“I’d like to help you but…”

“Let me guess,” he sighed, “Sookie.”

“She’ll never let me go.”

“If you were mine, your sister wouldn’t be able to tell you what to do anymore.”

“If I were yours, my sister would kick your ass.”

Eric laughed. “She’s welcome to try.”

“I’ll help you,” she said. “Or at least I’ll try.”

“That’s all I ask,” he nodded before he stepped towards her once again. “Now. Let’s get out of here before your sister comes home.”

“Sookie’s with Jessica tonight.”

“Bill has her babysitting?”

“No. She wanted to.”

Eric raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t she take you with her?”

“I… I don’t know,” she shrugged. It hadn’t even crossed her mind. She hadn’t even met Jessica.

“I wouldn’t complain about it, if I were you. Jessica’s unbearably annoying,” he said as he put his hand on the handle of the front door. “You might want to put some shoes on.”

She looked down and remembered she had left her shoes in the living room.

“Where are we going?”

“Fangtasia. We’re going to put that little head of yours to the test.”

***

Fangtasia, as always, was loud. The music was insufferably bad and so were all the thoughts of its human costumers. Sitting on Eric’s lap, Brooklynne had a good view of the club, and the club had a good view of her. She was trying to do as Eric told her, to focus on a man’s thoughts, and his only. He was a short man, though he was probably taller than her, a little heavy, wearing a red shirt and khaki shorts, seemingly out of place among the leather-wearing vampires dancing around him. It took her minutes to slid inside his head. She had had to go through all of the other thoughts that were invading her mind. Pushing them away, and keeping them away, was like building a wall inside her head and it was harder than anything else she had ever tried to do. Every time she put a brick, another one disappeared, taken down by someone else’s thoughts. She wished she could just let Eric’s silence replace the deafening noise inside her head, but he insisted on making her practice, and if she were honest, she needed it.

“No one’s ever going to make me a vampire. Nobody’s even looking at me. I just want to find a nice vampire lady, maybe I came to the wrong place. I’ll take anyone. I’ll fuck anyone, just make me a vampire!”

“He wants to become a vampire,” she told Eric. “That’s all he can think about.”

“What else?”

She sighed. “I don’t know. I’m tired.”

“Just focus. How does your sister do it?”

“I don’t know. She says she just stays out of their head. But I’m not even in their head, they’re in mine.”

“Then push them out.”

“I don’t know how.”

“Just do it.”

She sighed again. She closed her eyes as she shook her head. She had a headache. And a big one. Focusing on Eric would be cheating.

“Focus on your own voice,” he told her.

Well, that wasn’t a bad idea, actually. Brooklynne had never tried that. What was she even thinking right now? She didn’t know. She wandered among the loud voices, trying to ignore them, trying to focus on something else. How many people were here? Too many.

Her body relaxed suddenly, and he thought she had managed to cast the voices out of her mind, but as her head fell lazily on his chest, he knew she hadn’t. Her eyes were open, but they weren’t focused on anything. She had gone somewhere else.

“Brooklynne,” he called, snapping his fingers.

She blinked once, then twice, then straightened up.

“Stay with me.”

“Sorry,” she said as she ran a hand through her hair. “I’ll try again.”

She tried to do as he had said, focus on her own voice. She had to find it first. She tried to cast aside the disgusted images and thoughts, wondering how Sookie did it, how she managed to keep them away so well. She eventually found her own voice, and it was like a snake biting its own tail. “Focus, focus, focus, focus, focus.” After a while, all she could hear was this one word. And as all she could hear was her own voice, she took the opportunity to build a wall inside her mind. She wanted it strong, unbreakable, and with a door, a door only she could open.

“Focus.” Brick. “Focus.” Brick. “Focus.” Brick. “Focus.” Brick. “Focus.” Brick.

She didn’t stop until the wall surrounded that trail of thoughts, her trail of thoughts. She imprisoned the snake and it released its tail.

Silence.

“I did it.” She heard, and it took her a few seconds to realize, it was her own voice.

“Welcome back,” Eric said, and it made her jump. “You’ve been gone for two hours.”

“What?” she breathed out. She looked around and saw there were still a few people around, but most of the crowd was gone. She laughed. A wholehearted laugh she didn’t recognize, but that was coming from her. “You know what she’s thinking?” she asked as she pointed at the girl who was flirting with a vampire near the bar.

“No,” he shrugged with a raised eyebrow, wondering what was so funny.

“Me neither,” she smiled, clapping her hands in victory.

“Well, what a productive night,” Eric smiled back, though with a little mockery. “Can you try and read her mind?”

She stopped laughing. She didn’t want to. What if she opened the door and the wall crumbled?

“I don’t know,” she mumbled.

“Now, in the span of two hours you went from hearing everything to not hearing anything. How about we find a middle ground?”

She sighed. He was right. That’s why she had built that door. She focused. She locked her eyes on the girl and slowly unlocked that door. She held it tightly, firmly. She didn’t want it to open fully because she was afraid she’d never close it again. She had spent her entire life stuck in that house, not being able to go to school, not being able to go play with the other kids. She had grown up thinking her ability was uncontrollable. It turned out she just hadn’t tried hard enough. She closed the door shut, however, when a thought crossed her mind. Sookie didn’t let the voices inside her mind, it’s her mind that found the voices. She shouldn’t open the door to let anything in, she should open it to let something out. She focused again and tried to slip inside the girl’s head.

“How much is he gonna pay me if I let him bite me? I won’t do it for less than a thousand bucks. I know girls who do it for more than that. And if I fuck him, he’ll give me more.”

“She’s more interested in his money than anything else,” she told Eric who chuckled, like he already knew that.

“See what happens when you’re with me? You control yourself. Imagine what else you could do if you were mine?”

“Are you ever going to stop asking me that?”

“Once you’re mine, I won’t have to ask you ever again,” he smirked, and she rolled her eyes.

She brought a hand to her forehead, trying to massage her headache away. All this wall building had exhausted her. She rested her head against his chest and felt herself falling asleep. To her surprise, he didn’t stop her.

She didn’t know how long it had been but when she woke up, the club was empty. She was sitting alone on Eric’s chair, and Bill had just burst through the front door with Sookie unconscious in his arms. Brooklynne practically jumped off the chair.

“Eric!” he called, panic and desperation in his voice.

The blond vampire appeared instantly and asked calmly: “What happened?”

“I don’t know. She was attacked by a creature.”

“Sookie, oh my God,” Brooke breathed out as she ran towards them.

“My blood won’t heal her!”

“Pam,” Eric called, still calm, but alerted.

“What?” his progeny asked with her usual annoyed tone as she appeared behind them.

“Go fetch Doctor Ludwig. Now.”

Pam’s eyes fell on Sookie. She saw the blood on Bill’s shirt and the scratches on Sookie’s back that were dripping blood all over the floor. She grimaced then disappeared as fast as she had appeared.

“Did you see the creature?” Eric asked.

“No. She said it was half bull half human,” he said, like he didn’t believe it.

“What?” Brooke breathed out. “Does that… Is that possible?”

“I don’t know,” the sheriff replied. “I’ve never heard of such creature. Which is odd.”

“This… Doctor Ludwig,” Brooklynne asked, “how do you know he’ll be able to help her?”

“She,” Eric corrected her, “specializes in supernatural diseases. She’s our best shot at saving your sister. If she doesn’t know how to heal her, no one does.”

Brooklynne’s heart tightened as a gasp escaped her mouth. A serial killer, a woman found with a hole in her chest, and now this? A Minotaur like creature? What the hell was happening in this town?

**********

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