Chapter 22 – Curiosity

January 22, 2004

“So how does this work? You’re telepathy I mean.”

“It just is. I actually have to work to turn it off, and since I moved in with you I get very little practice doing that so when I do go out in public it’s overwhelming.”

‘Another thing to feel guilty about.’ Eric thought. “Hence your headaches.”

She nodded. “I’m surprised you haven’t asked if I can read your mind.”

“When I started to suspect, I sent you images, things you would’ve reacted to. I was already thinking you couldn’t since the difference between you at home and out was remarkable, but I had to be sure. You were so poker faced I doubted my theory that you read minds was correct.”

“You HAD TO be sure?”

“Sookie, a telepath that could read vampire minds wouldn’t live long if it got out. Vampires are just too secretive.”

“Well I’m glad I can’t read your minds then, not just for the quiet, but so I can – you know – live.”

Her shoulders tensed and she turned her body, just slightly away from Eric during the discussion on hearing vampire thoughts. He could also feel some fear. “Sookie, I’ll alwaysprotect you, you have nothing to fear from me even if you could read my thoughts.” He reached for her hand and kissed it. She softened at his words. “You’re sure we can tell Pam?”

“Yes, and Potts too.”

“You can tell Potts tomorrow, can you read her?”

“I can get emotions from her, no thoughts. Guess that’s a daemon?”

“Why don’t you two just talk tomorrow about it, she may have insight into why you only get her emotions?”

“Good idea.”

“Can you hear Weres or any type of shifter?”

“It’s mostly red and swirly but I can only hear bits and pieces. If I make physical contact, it gets clearer. Actually, while not necessary, physical contact makes even humans clearer.”

“Good to know.”

Sookie thought for a few minutes about what she would see when they got to the warehouse, and images of what she’d seen in Fangtasia’s basement flooded her head, she realized she also felt guilty and she told him about it. “Eric. I’m sorry I walked down to the basement last night. I should have known better.”

He was going to wait to bring this up; she really shouldn’t have left the office at all, now that she gave him the window though….. “Sookie, I’m mostly upset that you left the office at all. I thought we talked about that. I never told you to stay out of the basement, but well, now you know. Unless I take you down there, it’s not a place for you.”

“Ok, I won’t go down there, but I can’t be stuck in the office for that long either. I know it hasn’t happened before – you know it’s not like you normally need me to stay in the office, but we have to work something out.”

“We’ll make a better plan the next time we’re together at Fangtasia. Why did you go downstairs anyway?”

She sucked in air past her teeth, knowing he wasn’t going to be happy. “Well, I needed you for some questions on the reports. SHIT, they aren’t finished!”

“We’ll get to them.”

She nodded in agreement. “Anyway, I was looking for you and Yvetta found me instead. She goaded me into going down. I’m such an idiot, I fell for her taunts that you were downstairs with a ‘dark beauty’ as she said. Well the vampire was a dark beauty, but obviously nothing for me to be jealous about.”

“I’m surprised you fell for her taunts. The vampire was being punished for selling his own blood as V. As far as Yvetta; she will be gone from the bar before you go back again. I’m yours Sookie, Yvetta is just a jealous whore and I’m sorry I let her near you.”

“Well, she thinks you’re her boyfriend.”

“Never.”

The rest of the ride was made in silence. Eric took the time to plan his moves. A telepath would be a prize for any vampire and he needed to protect her. He wished she wasn’t special like this, it would make it easier for him to keep her hidden but if he had figured it out, that meant that others could and she’d be in danger. ‘I’ll need to call Cataliades for advice. I’m unsure if my companion registration will protect us if we aren’t bonded. A contract for an asset might be better, but that could expose her if someone actually reads the fine print. I DO need to petition for her release since she saved my life. I can probably get approval to cancel out Jason’s punishment for such an act of bravery. Then she can be free to choose. I can’t bear to think she would leave me, but it has to be her choice.’ He felt an actual ache in his chest at the thought and unconsciously squeezed her hand harder, she squeezed back not understanding it was his pain that caused him to clench. She thought he was sending her reassurance.

They arrived at the warehouse and found Pam taunting the prisoner with her toys, or rather torture devices. She hadn’t touched him, but she certainly let him know what was coming. “Sookie, I will move our guest to a chair in the meeting room while you and Pam talk.” She nodded.

“Ok pop-tart, what’s going on?”

“I’m a telepath.”

“No, really.”

“I’m a telepath, I can read human minds.”

“What am I thinking?”

“Live human minds Pam. You have no brainwaves, so I can’t read you – at least that’s my theory. I’ll be interviewing our guest, Jerry, in a moment.”

“How is he going to keep you alive and with us now?”

“What?”

“PAM! Skrämmer henne inte. Jag har inte diskuterat dessa problem ännu. Jag kommer att tala med min advokat för vägledning.” (Do not frighten her. I have not discussed those problems yet. I will be speaking with my lawyer for guidance.) He reached for Sookie. “Your interviewee is ready now.”

“Pam, can you take notes as I repeat his thoughts?” She nodded. Sookie looked at Eric. “It will be faster if I can touch him.”

“Yes, I guessed that, so I chained him down with an area of his arm exposed.”

Jerry was in fact chained down well to a hard wooden chair with arms. A cushioned seat was placed in front of his, and there was a bottle of Excedrin and a sweet tea on the table. She saw him throw stuff into a backpack at home for the meeting, but she hadn’t known what the items were until now. She wanted to say ‘aww’ for his care, but it just wasn’t the place; instead she took her seat and placed a hand on his exposed arm. “Jerry, who are you working for?”

“Go to hell bitch!” He spat back.

Ignoring his verbal response, she repeated his thoughts back to Pam. “He works for a man named Archie Hammond. He’s part of the Fellowship of the Sun. They look for vampire, um companions, and offer money for information. From there, they track down vampire day staff and offer more money or …” she gasped and scowled at Jerry. “YOU ASSHOLES, you threaten family and friends – in the name of GOD?” Sookie could only shake her head at Jerry while he stared wide eyed at her.

“What kind of vampire whore are you?”

Eric moved to hurt him and she put her arm up to block the hit. He was a bit pissed at first that she stopped him, but she explained quickly. “He’s got more in there. If he’s too hurt that all he thinks about is the pain, I can’t get any more out of him.” He nodded that he understood and she answered Jerry. “I’m not a whore, but I am a telepath.” Jerry’s eyes widened in fear.

They went on to ask more questions about Archie, the plans and their methods and Sookie gathered everything she could. An hour later, she felt there was nothing left in his head and she was exhausted. “He’s done, nothing more I can get. I’m not sure what happens next, but it’s close to 5AM and I’m beat. Can one of you take me home?”

“Pam, you will stay here and take care of Jerry. Sookie, I’ll take you home.”

The exhaustion took over and even though Sookie wanted to talk more about what her telepathy meant, AND Pam’s comment about keeping her alive, she couldn’t stay awake. Eric carried her to his bed; certain she would yell about it tomorrow, removed her shoes and jeans and tucked her into the blankets. His work on how to best keep Sookie safe and with him began. He worked well past sunrise and even needed to push himself for another thirty minutes to arrange security for Gran and Jason, as they could be taken for leverage, and he hadn’t thought of that until he was being pulled to his daydeath. His fear for Sookie and her family kept him going. Technically, nothing had changed; Sookie was as safe, or unsafe, as she had been the day before but that logic didn’t work to calm him. He was almost in panic to put the pieces in place to secure her.

OOOoooOOOooo

When he rose the next night, Sookie was by his side. She had changed, so he knew she hadn’t just slept through the whole day. He loved having a small personal warmer on one side and he moved so he could wrap himself around her even more. Usually eager to start some work while he was trapped in his light secure chamber, he just stayed in his curled up position around Sookie and waited for her to stir. About 30 minutes later he felt her move and smile against his chest. “Good evening.”

“Good evening to you. This is quite a surprise.” He paused and looked down at her face as it rested on his chest. “You aren’t mad that I put you in my bed last night?”

“No. When I woke up around noon, I was a little disoriented, but decided to just go with it. I even tucked back in with you just to enjoy it for a while.”

He noticed she sounded a little subdued but he guessed she was just slow to wake. “I know about that; I’ve been up for about a half hour just holding you.”

“That’s sweet. Are you trying to live up to the name cuddle bear?”

“No.” He moved so he could to pull her closer to his face. “Right now, I’d prefer to live up to the name make-out at rising bear.” Her face came fully into view; she’d been crying. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?”

“The wedding is canceled. Dawn lost the baby.” She was crying now and he returned to the bed to hold her. “She was cheating on him Eric. She was cheating on him as a fangbanger. That restaurant in Monroe where those vampires took that girl, you know the one?” He nodded. “Apparently she went there a few nights a week for some extra waitressing shifts, telling Jason it was to save for the baby.” Her crying became harder now. “Well, sh… she wasn’t just picking up extra shifts, she was picking up vampires. Jason had no idea. Anyway, it all c..caame out today cause she never made it home last night, and she finally called from the hospital. The vampire she was with got too rough and he killed the b…baaby. She had t .. to go through labor only to” She sobbed. “Only to d … deliver a lifeless baby girl.” She was blubbering now, and all Eric could do was rock her.

He was thinking of several things. First was finding out who was too rough with a pregnant woman in his area; they would pay. He also needed to call Alcide. He’d contracted for some surprise work to be done in his daychamber for Sookie since they were supposed to be at Gran’s for three nights and four days. Their away time was about to be canceled.

“Sookie, should we go out there, see Gran and Jason?”

“Jason is distraught and Gran doesn’t want me around him right now.”

“I don’t understand.”

“She’s afraid he’s going through so much that it would hurt me to be near him. I still want to just go and hug him, and I want to see Dawn in the hospital, get more information out of her, if you know what I mean.”

“Ok, we’ll go visit, and then come home.”

“Actually, can we still stay at Gran’s? I mean the bags are packed, you made arrangements at work, right?”

“I may have to leave to take care of some things with this Soldiers of the Light emergency, but sure, we can stay at your Gran’s.”

“You’re going to punish the vampire that would hurt a pregnant woman, aren’t you?”

“Yes I am, just as soon as you get the details from Dawn.”

“Eric, can we talk about Pam’s comments about keeping me safe while we drive?”

“I wish she had kept her mouth shut about that.”

“I don’t. Look, I appreciate you want to protect me, but shouldn’t I understand what’s going on? Shouldn’t I be as prepared as a fragile, weak human can be?”

Eric didn’t like that. He wished he could lock Sookie away from the world and keep her protected, but he also knew she would wither under such conditions. He considered her comments. He would fill her in, of course, but was there more they could be doing? Potts was a formidable fighter, perhaps Sookie should train. Once in the car he started to explain. “Sookie, in the SUPE world your skills as a telepath would be sought after. You will be considered a prize to whatever vampire owns you.” He looked at her face change. “Don’t scowl; it ruins your beautiful face. I know you don’t like the terminology but it’s our reality. I’ll work with my attorney in the very near future to secure you, and I WILL keep you informed of our plans.” He took an unneeded breath and continued. “As for you being prepared? I reluctantly agree and I’ll discuss a training regimen with Potts. She can start with teaching you defense and expand to other skills as you progress. I can teach you some knife skills. Perhaps we can find some daggers or something similar you can easily carry with you as defense.”

“I hate that this is my world, but I refuse to sit back and let something happen. I hate that you would OWN me, but if that is how it must be; then you are my choice.” She looked back at him for a moment then asked her next question. “What did you mean, you reluctantly agree for me being prepared?”

“I wish you didn’t need to be prepared. Even more, I’m selfish and I would rather you sat as a lady of leisure while I worked or rested, then loved me and spent time with me when I rise.”

“A housewife?”

“A rich, spoiled housewife. No house chores, no hard labor gardening, no other work. Maybe spending time on your studies.”

She cackled. “It’s bad enough that winning the lottery made Gran a lady of leisure. That’s not gonna happen with me.”

He sighed. “It was worth a shot.”

OOOoooOOOooo

It only took a few minutes at the hospital to get the information on the vampire and for Sookie to be thoroughly disgusted with her almost sister in law. Eric could feel the anger rolling off Sookie as they visited, but she kept it to herself. After leaving the hospital, Sookie drove the car since she knew the way to Jason’s and Eric needed to send some directions to Pam. In the car he asked. “Why didn’t you say anything to her about how mad you are?”

“I was mad, but she knows she did wrong. Her own guilt over what happened to the baby, what she did to Jason, it’s eating her alive. Nothing I could say would ever make her feel worse than she already does.”

“You have sympathy for her?”

“Do you feel any?” He shook his head. “I don’t. But I’m not going to waste my energy getting upset at her either. We got what we wanted. You get to be all badass Sheriff on that vampire, Steven, I’ve faced her and I know she’s suffering. I’m good.”

“You’re fine knowing what Pam and I are going to do to Steven?”

“Like the guy I stabbed last night, I would rather nobody be in this position, but Steven overstepped, well I’m guessing that’s the case since you’re about to kill something.”

“I can’t say that we’ve ever had the rule on the books to not hurt a pregnant human, but he’s in my area where Dawn was listed as under my protection. That and it’s just common sense and decency.”

“Dawn is under your protection?”

“Yes, you, Gran, Jason and Dawn. Technically not the baby, but I still feel justified. Dawn will be removed shortly to be honest.”

“I had no idea.”

“Hurting them hurts you Sookie. I need to cut back on the tears anyway I can.”

“Sure sure, it’s all practical. What about the decency thing. Do vampires lose control around pregnancy hormones or something?”

“Pregnancy can cause women to taste sweeter, but it shouldn’t cause a lack of control. I just believe some lines shouldn’t be crossed.”

She saw a flash of sadness cross Eric’s face. “Eric.” She grabbed his hand. “Did you have ….. when you were human, did you have children?”

“I did. I had to leave them behind when I was turned.”

Seeing his hurt, she quickly backpedalled. “You don’t need to talk about it. I’m sorry I asked.”

“I’ve never spoken of them. I’ll tell you the story when we have a long evening together.”

“I’d be honored to hear their story.” Wanting to move off the topic of Eric’s children, she asked about something he’d mentioned a moment ago. “Explain what you meant about the baby not being part of the protection. How could a baby still in the womb not be part of the protection?”

“Vampires are very literal and while I would certainly agree with your comments, some vampires would twist the protection order verbiage stating it did not specifically include wording for the child.”

“That’s stupid.”

“Well, don’t worry about it. He will be punished.”

They pulled into Jason’s shortly after their discussion and as predicted, Jason’s thoughts in his grief and anger were too much for Sookie so they only stayed a short while. Eric waited outside since Jason was so lost to his feelings he couldn’t issue the invitation without a struggle. Since Gran was spending the night with Jason, they headed back to the farmhouse. To Sookie’s surprise, Pam was waiting on the porch for them. “What’s going on?”

Pam looked to Eric so he answered. “Steven has been picked up and is in the basement of Fangtasia awaiting me. I need to hand down the punishment since his harm of Dawn was an act against my protection order. He will meet his final death tonight at my hands.” Sookie looked down, but nodded in understanding. “Pam will be staying with you until I return. You can have girl time.”

“Ok, I understand.”

He leaned down to give her a kiss. “I’ll be back a few hours before dawn.”

Before she could allow the melancholy start, Pam called. “Come on croquembouche, we have nails to paint.”

OOOoooOOOooo

“What are you searching for now, Pam? More lingerie? How many bras could you possibly need?”

“I’m searching for you, Sookie.”

“ME? I have plenty of underthings.”

She turned to Sookie and took on a very serious look. “Sookie, can I ask you something?”

“Sure Pam, anything.”

“Do you love Eric?”

She was taken aback by Pam’s question for a moment, but answered her truthfully. “I’ve been thinking about this a great deal Pam. I know that’s where I’m headed. I just can’t say for sure that I love him yet.”

“That’s fair. Have you considered that you just aren’t admitting it to yourself?”

“Yes, I’ve considered that. I do know I’m no longer worried about how we started. His persistence paid off.”

“Are you afraid to move forward?”

“No we grow closer every day.” Pam was silent for a moment. “Oh, you mean sex?”

“I’m not pushing, I’m just offering to talk about it, and buy you some stuff I know he’ll love.”

“It’s going to hurt. He’s huge Pam.”

“I won’t lie to you, there will be some pain; whether is just a pinch or something more can depend on your size, his size, and how prepared you are.”

“Yes, when I commented on his size Eric mentioned preparing me.”

“He’s not new to this, you couldn’t wish for a more skilled lover Sookie. He’ll be very gentle, that is until you’re ready for more.”

“How do you know all this stuff about him and what if I don’t want more than gentle?”

“Eric and I were lovers when he first turned me. Actually, he took my virginity before he turned me. There is nothing between us – well like that – any longer.”

“Are all makers and children like that?”

“Many, but it’s not a rule. Now, as far as if you ever want more than gentle? I’m pretty sure you will, how much or to what extent will be up to you and Eric.” Sookie was still quiet at her answer so Pam asked back. “Did you ever have that talk Sookie? You remember you were concerned about some of the things he might want in a sexual relationship?”

“No, I’ve been a bit afraid about it.”

“Muffin, you need to have that talk. This weekend is the perfect time.”

“You’re right Pam.”

“Now that we have that settled, let’s talk about some mechanics.” Sookie’s eyes grew wide, but Pam pressed on. “Come on crumbcake, listen to your friend and take some advice.”

Pam and Sookie finished a very detailed and blush-inducing conversation on many of the, mechanics of sex. Sookie had seen many images over the years, but having Pam describe the details WAS helpful although extremely embarrassing. In the end, Sookie was grateful for her friend’s help. “Thank you Pam, for the talk. Let’s look at some of this stuff from La Perla, don’t tell him we shopped.”

“Of course, secrets are part of being besties.”

OOOoooOOOooo

At the basement at Fangtasia, Eric was taking his aggression out on Steven very LOUDLY, reminding any vampires that could hear about his protection orders for the Stackhouse family and just what would happen to anyone who fucked with them. He decided that Steven needed to suffer, mostly so he could repeat the claims for several nights before finally ending him. Touching anything that was Eric’s carried the penalty of final death after torture. The vampires in the bar knew that very well at this point and word would spread quickly. Feeling satisfied with his message for the evening, he drank several bloods to slake his blood thirst, cleaned up and flew back to the farmhouse.

Dealing with Steven didn’t scare him; a legion fully armed soldiers didn’t scare him. Pam and Sookie conspiring on the couch and snickering when he walked in: That scared him. “What are you two up to?”

Simultaneous ‘nothings’ didn’t bode well. He raced to see what was on Pam’s laptop screen but when he got there, it was a picture of a kitten playing with a butterfly. He didn’t fall for it, but they weren’t talking. “I’ll take my leave now.” Pam said as she stood from the couch. “Good night crescent roll.”

HOP! Eric took Pam’s place by hopping over the back of the couch. “Now that we’re alone.” He started with an eye waggle. “I have something I want to do.”

“I’m sure.” She reached to kiss him but he pulled her hands away from his face. Puzzled, Sookie asked very eloquently, “huh?”

“I want to talk about how you and Dawn found my resting place.”

“THAT’S what you want to do since we are alone?”

“I’ve been dying to know.

“You can’t be dying to know if you’re already dead, goof.”

He rolled his eyes at her. “You know what I mean. You have to tell me, there could be a huge gap in my security.”

“Did YOU just roll you eyes?” He ignored the comment. I’ll tell you, I just want to grab a snack, hang on.”

He got up to follow her and immediately thought of puppies that follow their humans. “You haven’t had dinner yet, have you? We were supposed to have that here, and with everything that happened….”

“I’m fine; I found some leftovers in the fridge. I really only want something small to eat. Why are you following me, you can hear me just fine from the living room.”

“I have to strain my neck too much to watch your ass as you walk away from the couch.”

“ERIC!”

“I’m just being honest. Ok, now you have your snack, tell me.”

She told him every detail of the investigation, planning and execution of her brother’s rescue. She started with her probing of Lala’s mind and ended at the part he saw on the security tapes from the warehouse. He was mesmerized. She truly would have gotten away with it if the other guard that had the key had stayed behind instead of walking the perimeter. He would have eventually recaptured and probably killed Jason, but that was beside the point. The information she got through telepathy helped her, but only to confirm Jason was in the building. If anyone was trying to follow Eric to find his resting place, a similar plan of patiently following a few turns a night in a different car with disguises would work. The more he praised her, the more she stated it was her telepathy or disability as she called it, which made the plan work.

“So you see all those times you thought me clever, it was my mind trick.”

“Sookie, you may have an added sense if you will with your GIFT (she rolled her eyes), but that in itself doesn’t make you smarter. Your idea to trade out cars and follow only for a few turns – that wasn’t telepathy. Remember when you first learned about shifters and I described the inbred panthers – you guessed hot shot immediately, YOU put the clues together. YOU decided to apply at Norse Enterprises, you were going to listen for your brother, but that was only going to happen after you made the plan to go in. You are clever, not your telepathy.” She shrugged his comments off and leaned into him on the couch. “Can you tell me more about the glamour or rather the memories you saw under Lala’s glamour?”

“What do you want to know?”

“I’m just amazed that you can see what we try to suppress. How did you find it?”

“Like I said, it was black spots in his mind. I needed to ask him questions about what I saw, and more memories would pop in. I don’t know how else to describe it. It hurt Lala like hell and tired me out.”

“Speaking of tired, you practically have me yawning you’re so tired. Time for you to go to bed.”

“Are you tucking me in?”

“I was hoping you’d come down to the daychamber.”

“What about during the day, there’s no food down there, I’ll need to come up.”

“You can still do that, just close the door to the stairs before you open the door to your closet, no light should get in. Or we can pack something.”

“OK.”

“OK? I thought I’d get more of a fight.”

“Just get your skinny ass downstairs.”

“I have to grab my laptop to finish those reports and write up the information on this drainer/Fellowship of the Sun group while you sleep. I’ll meet you downstairs in 10.”

Sookie was on the bed wringing her hands a bit when Eric walked down. “What has you so nervous?”

“You can feel that, huh?”

“Even if I couldn’t feel it, anyone could see it.” He sat and took her hands. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, I just need to talk to you about something.”

“Talking to ME shouldn’t make you nervous.”

“This topic does.” She took a breath and dove in. “Eric. Now that you know about my mind reading, you should know that I’ve seen what…. I mean, some of the women at Fangtasia, well, specifically Yvetta.”

He groaned and closed his eyes. “What did you see?”

“Stuff that I don’t think I’d ever want to do.”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t.”

“Then how can you commit…”

“Sookie, that was relief, and some of it not even sexual relief but anger and frustration. Yvetta was willing, eager in fact for most of that.”

“Yes, she was hoping for repeats.” She paused and started playing with her own hands again. “Is that what you want to do with me or to me?”

Realizing he needed to refocus Sookie a bit he took a different tactic. “Sookie, did you see kissing?” She shook her head. “Hugging?” Head shake. “Intimacy, caressing, talking?” Tears started as she was finally understanding what he meant. “I want to make love to you. Over and over again. Is that what you saw?”

“No, what I saw was violence. But surely you aren’t going to want soft and gentle every time.”

“I doubt you will either, but where we take things is something we will decide on together as we learn. I will never do something that you don’t want, and even if you decide to explore, we will never go as far as I went with Yvetta. You will never be an Yvetta to me. She was a prop, a place to vent my anger.” He smirked, “I usually went to Yvetta after we had one of our legendary fights.”

“I don’t know whether to feel bad for her or thank her.”

Picking her up to tuck her under the covers, he offered. “She should thank YOU, I’m not lying when I say what you saw is what Yvetta wanted.”

“Oh, I know she did, buuut enough about that topic.”

Once they settled into bed, Sookie asked about the next steps for the drainer issue. “Archie Hammond will be picked up today and at my warehouse tonight. I’ve already sent out instructions to my Were guards. I’ll need to leave your Gran’s to question him tonight.” He stopped, he hated to ask, he didn’t want her to think he was using her telepathy, that his interest in her had anything to do with the gift she called a disability.

“Eric, I’ll go to question him with you.”

“Sookie, I don’t want you to think I love you because of your telepathy.”

“Eric, you started pursing me before you knew any of this.. You call it a gift, and for us to share gifts is what couples do. You share your strength with me by protecting me and my family. You took me flying, it was scary as hell, but I want to try it again. If you were human, I would cook for you because I can. As it is, YOU cook for me because surprisingly, you can. This is just me sharing something I can do with you. We should probably read all your Fangtasia employees, even Norse if you want.” He sat with his mouth open at her statement. When he said nothing, she decided to test if he was still ‘with him’. “Besides Eric, I know you love me for my boobs.”