Chapter 62 – Hiding in Plain Sight

Chapter 62 – Hiding in Plain Sight

Credit to:  California Kat for the ideas behind a spell in this chapter.  If you’ve read Back and Forth – you’ll understand the spell I mean.  If you haven’t read it – what the heck are you waiting for?

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August 23, 2004

Sookie was walking through the Casino for her human meetings as regularly scheduled.  Tonight, the vampire group was smaller than usual but Dario was there giving her a feeling of safety.  To keep his cover as Eric’s spy, he mostly ignored her, whether it was at the Casino or in court which he now attended on a regular basis, but knowing he was on Eric’s team helped her.  As had been happening in other weeks, the Casino had rounded up some problem humans suspected of cheating or stealing and Sookie needed to read them.  Again, she kept her mouth shut on the fate of these humans, fearing the worst.  Likely, they became part of the unwilling donor pool.  She heard the thoughts from that group on a regular basis:  The fear, anger, and disbelief that they had been captured.  Many of them were taken to Appius for his pre-dawn fun; they never returned to the donor room.

Tonight she spared a glance at the dollar slots based on the visit from Barry last week.  She heard them before she saw them:  Hoyt and Holly were playing a machine at the end of a row.  Holly was focused very hard on the machine, but Hoyt spared a glance her way and smiled.  He even put his hand over his heart and the feeling it gave Sookie made her stumble.  Hoyt was horrified as Bill yanked her up from her knees and spoke harshly to her.  ‘Jesus Sook, I’m sorry.  I . . . We wanted to be here so you’d know you aren’t alone.’  She put her hand up, a rare movement out of her normal slave stance and then placed it over her own heart.  She wanted him to know she returned the sentiment and her stumble was worth seeing them there.  ‘I’m gonna assume that hand motion was for us.  Anyway, hope you can hear me as you walk.  Eric built a playroom for the kids since they can’t go outside.  They use a tunnel that starts under your old bedroom and takes them to Tara.  The room is huge Sookie.  He’s got a bouncy house, play tug boat, jungle gym. . . we saw it when we were up for a donor visit.  While we were there, Eric was playing in the ball pit with his Father, Hunter and Cecelia.  It was kinda weird seeing that huge vampire husband of yours diving into a bunch of balls to tackle Hunter.  Holly wishes we could sneak Cody in.  Hey – just to be clear, Holly and I are an item.  I think I’m in love.  Hell, is this the kind of information you wanted to hear?.  I hope so, I’m babbling all over the place.  Lemme tell you about Andy.  He’s got a girlfriend now.  Her name is . . .’

Hoyt talked to Sookie and she listened all the way until they got to the meeting room.  She kept her poker face on so nobody knew that inside her head, she was sitting at Merlotte’s getting the town gossip from her brother’s best friend.  This friend, she’d discovered, was coordinating donors for her family and vampires at the farmhouse.  This friend packed a bag and left town with his girlfriend so he could think at her while she walked by.  This friend was training with others from her town to participate in the fighting.  Yeah, she’d finally heard it from Quinn’s head.  THAT scared her, but she’d been assured they were going to do reconnaissance and weapons deliveries, no actual fighting.  These little visits and thoughts from friends and now spies were what kept her going for herself and for Roo.  She thought to Roo just before the readings were going to start.  ‘Hang in there baby.  Daddy’s gonna get us out, I promise.’

Bill spoke to her.  “Let’s begin.  These first humans were trying to cheat the house, you know the drill.”

She sighed and began her work.  Her mental vacation was over.

They returned to court several hours later.  As they walked by Hoyt again he continued the Bon Temps review.  It put her in a good mood which helped when Felipe started taunting Sookie back at court.  “Your leg hair is too long.”

Silence, she figured he hadn’t asked her a question so she kept her mouth shut.

“I don’t like it like that.  It ruins the look of the outfits I have selected for you.  Some of them custom made.”

Silence.

“What are you going to do about it?”

“I’m sorry your Royal Supreme Sovereign, I can’t do anything about it.”

“You can shave them you idiot.  What else do you think I mean?”

“But your Royal Supreme Sovereign you’ve given me no razor stating it’s too dangerous.”  Her face was stoic and her tone even, but she was adding ‘fucktard’ to her words in her mind.  She was hoping his solution was the spa.  She’d heard from Quinn that Felipe and several other vampires were already grumbling about her legs and this topic would come up.  She also heard from Quinn that the spa had no cameras and the manager, a Were named Allison, knew of Sookie’s plight.  She was prepared to pamper the girl if she could only get her hands on her.

Felipe was quiet then as well as they continued a staring contest.  Normally, Felipe did not permit humans to look at him, but he found these little face offs with Sookie entertaining.  Sookie did blink before him, since Vampires could prevent their blinks, but she went right back to her gaze.  No human had EVER held up under his staring like Sookie.

HE finally turned away and looked at Bill.  “Have arrangements made for her to go to the spa once a week.”

OOOoooOOOooo

‘OK Sookie, today we’re going to do the fake insemination.  That should make Felipe happy.  I’ve got it all rigged up with the Amy’s help in case they’re watching closely.’  Finard warned her as she walked in his room.  “Well Sookie, based on your temperature and what we charted about your cycle before . . . well before we came here, it’s time for the insemination.”  ‘You might want to be upset or something; I don’t know what they’re expecting.’

“Doctor, I’m scared, but I know this has to be done.”  She got out a few tears.  “It just doesn’t replace Roo, you know?”

Moving to envelop her in a hug, he soothed, “I know Sookie, I know.”  ‘Good job.  Let’s get this show over with.’

Dr. Finard made a show of the Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) for the camera and was done quickly.  Rather than sending Sookie back to her room, she slept in a bed that had been brought in for after the procedure.  Per a prior agreement, Sookie would not be in court at all tonight or even her meeting room; she would stay with Dr. Finard to ensure there were no problems.  Finard had stressed that whatever day the IUI was done, she needed bed rest for the following 24 hours and Felipe agreed since he was so invested in the pregnancy.

About two hours later she started to wake.  He quickly sent her a reminder.  ‘Pretend you have cramps Sookie.  If they read anything, they might be looking for that.’

She started with moans and he went to her bedside.  “Sookie, are you in pain?”

“Just the cramps like the last time.”

“I have some Tylenol for you.”

After taking the pills, she looked at the table in the room, she hadn’t noticed before but now she did.  “What’s that?”  Her finger pointing to the food.

“A reward for ovulating from Felipe.  It’s nothing too exciting but  . . .”

“Bread – I see bread and is that a baked potato?  Oh god – CARBS!  I haven’t seen a carb except oatmeal since this diet restriction started.  Is the potato hot?”

“No, but they even brought in a microwave.”

She was out of the bed and at the food immediately.  There was a piece of grilled chicken, a staple in her diet at the palace, which she ignored and instead she buttered the bread and popped the potato in the microwave.  “Oh God Harold!  BUTTER!”

He laughed at her enthusiasm.  “Sookie, I swear, there’s an 8 year old child in that body sometimes.  I’m glad she can still visit us – even under these conditions.”

“Butter will do that.”  She answered in a muffled voice as she chewed.

Appius scowled at the image on his monitor.  At his age, he had had already risen for the night and was watching Sookie and Finard from the security cameras.  While her eating habits were disgusting, he was quite happy about the IUI.  It was just another part of his long term plan finally coming true.  He couldn’t wait to see Godric’s face when he found out about the babies and that HE, Appius Livius Ocella, would be keeping them all for himself.  Godric would never be ‘Pop-pop’ to her children – nobody would.  Appius planned to cage the babies like the animals they would be.  He would eventually teach them to speak so their telepathy would be useful, but it was the experimentation, the blood that he really wanted them for.  Telling the Gaul all this would certainly teach him about taking things from others.

Still smiling as he saw his plans in his head, he moved onto his designs for Eric – the beautiful warrior that should have been his child.  He couldn’t wait to see Eric submit to his will, forever, in exchange for his wife’s safety and comfort.  Yes, taking Sookie and holding her physical and mental torture over the Viking’s head in exchange for his obedience forever would be a just reward – almost worth the 1000 year long wait.

He pulled out a calendar and counted four weeks from today.  Per the information on IUI, they should be able to conduct a pregnancy test on the telepath on September 21^st.  “PERFECT!”  He exclaimed to the empty room.  Felipe and Freyda’s anniversary was September 23^rd, and he knew they were already planning a party.  Well, he would just steal the show with his announcements.  He sent a note to Freyda instructing her to invite Eric, Stan, and the Gaul to the party.  He knew she would obey; she’d already received a ‘lesson’ from him when she tried to ignore his orders.  ‘Yes, it’s finally coming together.  I will make up for the loss of my Carlos by finally having the Viking and I can continue to breed the telepath until I turn her.  I’ll need to get my hands on Barry so we can continue to use his seed.  I do still need to capture and kill Godric’s Toni and her child – this child that none of my resources can find– I will be sure to motivate my seekers tonight on succeeding with that task.’

He continued to watch as Sookie devoured the food Felipe had allowed for her.  ‘She is a disgusting creature – all women are.  Hopefully she produces sons.  I can work with boys and men.  It will be fun to play with her though – to cause Eric pain.’  After she ate, she did something truly disgusting:  She vomited.  He’d heard about this problem but thought the blood exchange was going to solve it.  Turns out the doctor was correct; taking the blood from the bag wasn’t the same thing as a true exchange.  He would need to determine if bonding sickness would cause difficulty with the pregnancy.  If it did, he’d need to allow the exchange in person at least until that blood bond could be broken.

When she returned to the bed as the doctor instructed, he turned off the monitor.  Satisfied with the doctor’s progress with Sookie, he left his chamber using the tunnels to make his way to Adam for his nightly feed and fuck.

OOOoooOOOooo

Felipe was bored.  He really missed his nightly visit with the telepath:  Her submission, her tiny outfits, her disgust.  Oh, she hid it well, but he could tell Eric had kept her too soft and in the dark of the true vampire world.  He was sure many nights when they punished or killed in front of her she would be ill, but even given her condition from bonding sickness, she never wavered.  Well, at least her absence meant something very important tonight:  She’d had her IUI and that made Appius happy which made all the members of court relaxed as well.  A celebration using the donors Sookie had . . . recruited at the casino the other night was planned for the hours before dawn.

“Clear court for my next meeting.”  He ordered after he snapped out of his thoughts.

“Bring in the witches.”

Ahmed and Octavia were led into court.  Ahmed was smiling.  “Ahmed, the look on your face makes me think I have even more to celebrate tonight.  You called this meeting, please proceed with your update.”

“We have found a spell to break the bond.”

“EXCELLENT!  We’ll do it tomorrow.”

Octavia interjected.  “Your majesty.”

“Yes witch?”

“The spell is very invasive to the body of the human.  I can only speak to rumors I’ve heard, but aren’t you trying to get Mrs. Northman pregnant?  If that’s true, this spell is so harmful it could terminate a pregnancy.”  She’d been approached by Quinn and had been informed that Sookie was in fact pregnant already – but with a child she and Eric wanted to keep.  “Based on what I’ve read, the spell acts like a virus and kills the vampire blood in the human.  Humans observed during the execution of the spell convulsed, burned from a quickly spiking fever and many lost consciousness, sometimes for days.  The vampire is unaffected since it’s the human’s reaction to the vampire blood magic that creates the bond.”

Felipe was silent as he thought through the information.  First he confirmed it.  “Ahmed, is that information accurate?”

“Yes, I read that as well.”

Felipe was off the stage and struck the witch.  “And you didn’t think it was important enough to tell me?”

Holding his face where the blow landed he tried to respond.  “I . . . I’ve not been privy to the same gossip as Octavia.  I was unaware of the pregnancy plans.”

“You’re either lying or completely unobservant.  Get out of my sight and pray that I don’t make your family pay for your error.”  And with that comment, Octavia’s suspicions were confirmed:  Ahmed wasn’t loyal willingly.  That was news she needed to get out to the spy.

Now that Octavia’s warning was confirmed Felipe was seething.  If they’d only known a day earlier he could do the spell right now then waited just a month for the telepath’s cycle again.  But now, his maker was quite pleased with the IUI happening today and the resulting pregnancy, well possible pregnancy.  Maybe they could just risk it.  The bond HAD to go.  He decided a test would be more prudent.  They would need a pregnant human and a vampire for a bond.  An idea came to mind.  Bill had been very loyal since the takeover, and Felipe knew he’d had trouble with the vampire named Rasul who had been spared for his administrative knowledge in Louisiana.  He also recalled this vampire had a pet for a while.  He snapped his fingers and Bill approached the dais.

“Yes your majesty?”

“That vampire in New Orleans, you know – Rasul.  He had the human pet he cared for so much.  She left him to have a baby or something?”

“She did, poor Rasul.”  He made an exaggerated pout to Felipe.  “What are your orders my king?”

“Find out the status of the girl.  If she’s pregnant, have her brought here.”  He tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair as he thought through the plan.  “Summon Rasul once we have her in custody.  You better look for backups as well – other pregnant humans.”

“Yes your majesty.”

Octavia was horrified at Felipe’s plan.  ‘I’ve got to get word to the spies; maybe they can hide the girl.’

OOOoooOOOooo

“We missed her.  Victor was loading her into a van when we drove into the neighborhood.”  Indira was reporting after her trip to New Orleans with Eamon to try and hide Cynthia from Felipe’s goons.

“Thank you Indira, are you on your way back?  I don’t want you in New Orleans for long.”

“I am.”

He simply ended the call and started cursing.  “SHIT.  Another casualty.  We need to form a plan and get her out of there.”  Eric was extremely upset about Cynthia.  It was yet another one of those times he wished he could take Sookie’s Excedrin.  Waiting for word was painful and now to have lost her by only minutes?  He wanted to contact Rasul or anyone who was closer, but with Victor lording over all the New Orleans vamps, that wasn’t possible.

Pam could feel his frustration and offered, “Maybe Cynthia’s baby will survive the spell Eric.”

He shook his head.  “Pam, that’s optimistic but I doubt it.  Let’s focus on the good news from Octavia.”

“Yes, when can they get the bracelets to Sookie?  They’ll disguise her body from the baby and cover the heartbeat?”

“Ludwig is delivering the fake pair tomorrow; Frannie will hide the spelled bracelets the day after for Sookie’s retrieval.  And yes, both her physical appearance and Roo’s heartbeat will be hidden.”

“Is it safe for Frannie to deliver these bracelets?”

“It

“It’s as safe as possible but the girl clearly risks her life with just about everything she does to help Sookie.  She’ll be rewarded when this is all over – Quinn too.  For this situation, Frannie is using shoes; Quinn’s had specialty shoes made where they can spin the sole and hide items.”

“Ingenious – I love the strategic use of shoes!”

Eric chuckled.  “I knew you’d like that Pam.”

“So far, the spies don’t believe she is showing yet?”

“Dario, Quinn and Frannie have been told and they don’t believe so.  We figure if they’re looking for it and don’t see anything, the casual observer won’t.  They can’t hear a heartbeat either, but this will ensure that can’t happen.  It’s the right time to get the mask on.  If she starts to show and then puts on the bracelets, her appearance could alter too much.”

“That could still happen.”

“Frannie is going to tell Sookie to swap the bracelets while she’s in the room to be sure.”

“Frannie doesn’t have supe eyesight Eric.”

“I know that.  But according to our spies, even with being pregnant, Sookie is losing weight due to the restrictive diet.  That can help explain any appearance changes.  GOD!  I hate waiting.  When will Niall have his army ready?  When will we have our window of opportunity?”

“You already know the answer.  It’s their anniversary party.  We received the scrolls today.”

“Scrolls, like their union deserves such elegance.”

“Still, you know it’s our window.  We have a plan to continue concealing her pregnancy.  She continues to find ways to defy Felipe without punishment – she’s staying strong.  We must do the same.”

“She is staying strong.  I love the shaving thing.”

“Well, I’m sure she hates being waxed since she never took me up on those offers, but we’ve been told the woman the runs the spa at the palace is very kind and gave her other comforting treatments when she spent the day there.”

“I can hear her mental conversation now when Felipe dug himself into the corner about the hair on her legs.”  He laughed out loud at the thought.  “Dario told me he had a hard time keeping a straight face with the way Sookie responded – perfectly within protocol but making Felipe look like a fool.”

“Yeah, she’s not broken.”

“Not at all.”

“And now we’re hiding Roo.”

“In plain sight.  Assholes picked the wrong people to mess with.”

OOOoooOOOooo

The next night, after Sookie was brought into court and in position, Octavia was summoned.  A naked woman was in chains on the floor and the witch suspected her warning to Dario did not yield the desired result:  Bill must have found Rasul’s former mate already.  When Rasul arrived an hour later from his flight, she got her confirmation.

“Cynthia?  What are you doing here?”  He looked around the court for an answer; puzzled by the small number of vampires in attendance.

“Rasul?  Help me!”  Cynthia pleaded as she reached her head out towards him.

He removed his jacket and covered his former lover.  “Your majesty.  May I inquire as to why this woman is here at court?”

“Yes, we need her for an experiment.  You’ll be bonding with her over the next three nights, then we will use a spell we found to remove the bond.”  Sookie forgot herself and looked up suddenly in shock, but then quickly put her head down.  Her concern that they’d found a spell was evident, but Felipe would taunt her after Rasul was gone.  At Sookie’s reaction, Octavia began sending her as much information as she could about the spell, the risks, and what she knew of the situation unfolding in front of them.  Sookie continued to be horrified and had Octavia begging her through the bond to calm down.

“I don’t understand your majesty.”  Rasul commented to Felipe, but his gaze was on Cynthia trying to send reassurance.

“It is not for you to UNDERSTAND only to DO.  I have a room prepared for your bonding.  The only request I make is that you don’t engage in any rough sex or punishment of any kind.  You see, Cynthia is pregnant,” he paused for effect.  “And we don’t want her to lose the baby. . . yet.”  Octavia didn’t miss the look of hurt that crossed Rasul’s face at the mention of the pregnancy and the look of longing as he focused on her stomach and noticed the bump.  There was clearly more to the relationship than just a former pet and master.

“Mr. Compton will take you to a light tight room where you will be sequestered until court on Saturday night.  Food will be delivered for the human.  You will come back to court bonded, or suffer the consequences.”  He turned to Bill.  “I trust this will satisfy your need for revenge on Rasul?”

“I believe the final chapter when we watch her go through the spell will satisfy that need.  Perhaps I can videotape both of them while it happens.”

“A fine idea indeed.”  He turned to Sookie.  “And speaking of fine ideas, your Doctor friend came up with something to aid in your . . . illness.”  He sneered the last words like it was beneath him to mention her sickness.  “She has procured these bracelets for you.  Apparently they apply pressure on your wrist and it should help.”  With a nod of his head, Bill approached Sookie and handed her the bracelets.  “Don’t think this in any way expresses my concern for YOU.  I have learned that your vomiting has become a problem to my vampires.  You will wear these at all times.  Do you understand?”

“Yes your Royal Supreme Sovereign.”  Sookie knew from Barry that these were intended to cloak her pregnancy, she also knew she would need to reduce her vomiting or she would lose them.  Her plan?  Less eating = less vomiting.

OOOoooOOOooo

The next day, Fran was helping Sookie with her outfit for the night.  She was speaking constantly through her thoughts about the spelled bracelets, hidden in the soles of the platform sandals she’d brought for Sookie to wear.  After Frannie confirmed she had studied Sookie’s stomach for their test, Sookie went to the bathroom to switch the bracelets out.  When she emerged, she was sure to stand and move in several ways so Frannie could get a good look.  To Frannie’s eyes, she could see nothing that raised concern.  The timing was good because Sookie felt the void approach her room so she moved to the floor, knelt and waited for Bill to lead her to court.  Mentally, she decided to do some garden planning for the new house.  With all her practice, she was getting quite good and losing herself mentally while still sitting at court.  Like vampire downtime, she could now keep a bead on the room so she could respond immediately if spoken to.  For Sookie, her nights became simply the routine, the escape to her own thoughts, and waiting.  Always the waiting.

OOOoooOOOooo

On Saturday night, Felipe and Freyda sat on their thrones with almost giddy smiles.  The area in front of the dais was being prepared for the blood bond spell and Rasul and his bonded, Cynthia would be brought in shortly.  Sookie felt like she was going to be ill but she knew she had to keep it together.  With glee, Bill had warned her that she would be at court for most of the night and just that was enough to make her sick.  Whatever was going to happen to Cynthia was not going to be good.  Were workers were laying down some type of matting in the area around the floor drain.  Into Sookie’s head, Octavia explained.  ‘I requested something softer than the marble for the convulsions Sookie.  From what I’ve read, this is going to be bad; you must focus on your poker face.  I WON’T let his happen to you.  You need to listen to Ahmed.  I think he’s here unwillingly.  If I’m right, then we can get word to your bonded to see if he can help.  I understand that Barry can hear you, I’ll notify the spies that you need to think to Barry soon.’

Immediately, Sookie started listening to Ahmed.  ‘Oh God!  I need to get this done so I can get my family out of the cells.  He’s got my 2 year old down there for God’s sake!’  With this news, Sookie hoped that Octavia could get word quickly about having Barry do a drive by soon.  Possibly, they could use this information to sway Ahmed, or at the least ensure someone was going to help the family when the attack started.  Her disgust for the vampire next to her, the giddy idiot waiting for the fun to begin, grew if that was at all possible.

Some type of bindings were being put into position as well and Octavia immediately explained mentally.  ‘Sookie, I asked for those.  They’re padded and I believe it will prevent Cynthia from hurting herself once we begin.’

Ahmed and Octavia inspected the area and deemed it ready so the Were’s were dismissed.  Several vampire guards escorted Rasul and Cynthia into the room next.  Rasul was holding Cynthia as she was simply unable to keep herself up any longer.  Most in the room, including Sookie, suspected that she would just be killed after the experiment.  Hesitant but committed to helping the girl in the only way she could; Sookie listened in, vowing to get her last thoughts to Rasul or whatever other significant other she had.  ‘Oh GOD, they’re tying me to the floor?  Should never have left Rasul, maybe he could have hidden me away or something.  I wound up getting IUI after all my talk about having a normal family anyway; we could’ve left New Orleans and lived happily.  God, I never stopped loving him.  Oh he’s sitting here on the floor with me.  I can feel his love, he said I can send feelings, I wonder if he can feel me?’

Sookie stopped.  It was clear that she would tell Rasul someday how the woman loved him and regretted her actions.  Even if Cynthia hadn’t thought about how much she loved Rasul, the look on her face as she gazed at him from his stance by her side spoke volumes.  Of course, Felipe had to tease them about the ‘love’, but Sookie decided to cut his words off in her head.

Octavia and Ahmed addressed Felipe.  “We’re in position and can begin the spell now your majesty.”

“Proceed.”

Sookie and Rasul watched in horror as Cynthia reacted to the chanting.  Her body flushed and started convulsing after only about two minutes.  While her hands were bound to the floor, Rasul did try to keep hold of the one closest to him.  Her screams grew until she finally lost consciousness, though her body continued to convulse.  Octavia and Ahmed chanted while waving their arms for a while until they finally declared the spell complete.

Felipe leaned into the area in front of the dais and asked, “Is the bond broken?”

Rasul answered.  “I have no way of knowing.  I don’t feel anything, but I recall that when Mrs. Northman was knocked out by Bill earlier this year, Eric couldn’t feel her then, but the bond was intact.  We’ll need to wait until she wakes to be sure.”

Nodding his head in understanding, Felipe asked his next question.  “Did she lose the baby?”

Octavia answered that one.  “We’ll need to get Sookie’s doctor involved.”  She paused.  “Actually, Ludwig and the one working with her pregnancy, I don’t know his name.  She may still be pregnant at the moment, and the fever could still cause a miscarriage in a day or so.”

In command mode he called out.  “Bring her to Finard and have Ludwig called in.”  Standing now, he closed court.  “Get the room cleaned, we are adjourned.”

At first, Sookie was shocked that they were done, but a quick look at the time told her they’d been there for over 3 hours.  ‘Had the spell gone on that long?  Did I really lose track of time?’  The all too familiar yanking on her leash by Bill broke her out of her thoughts and they headed to her room.  She really wanted to go to Finard’s with Cynthia, but that would need to wait until tomorrow.

The whole night had been more upsetting than any of her nights so far.  She was sad for Rasul and Cynthia and of course, Cynthia’s baby.  She was guilty for her own thoughts:  She selfishly wanted Cynthia to lose the baby because if she did, then maybe Felipe wouldn’t try the spell on her.  If the baby lived she was sure she was next, and after seeing Cynthia’s experience, she was terrified.

The next day Frannie escorted her to Finard’s suite and when she entered, she could see Cynthia sleeping in the bed that had been brought in for Sookie the day she had her IUI.  Finard said to her immediately.  “The baby is gone.  It happened very early this morning.”  He continued in his thoughts.  ‘Sookie, keep your poker face on:  The baby survived.  I had to fake the miscarriage since it didn’t happen.  I was afraid if Cynthia didn’t lose her baby, they would believe it was safe to do the spell on you.  Honestly, I fear she’s going to be killed after this anyway, so I decided to lie.  She hasn’t regained consciousness at all, so I don’t know what that means for the bond with Rasul.’  Her tears started and Frannie grabbed her hand.

“Can . . .  can I sit with her for a while Frannie?  Do I have anything else on my schedule today?”

“No, you’re good.”

Her head was shaking before she started to speak.  “I don’t think I’m good, I don’t know that I’ll ever be good again Frannie.”

OOOoooOOOooo

The next day, Harold went to see Sookie in her room.  “You’ve never been here before.  What’s going on?”

“My room is being scrubbed right now.”  He moved to sit on the bed with her and took her hand.  “Sookie, Cynthia regained consciousness this morning – almost right at dawn.  Rasul came to see her and left with Felipe to seek shelter after both of them confirmed the bond was broken.  I had no idea that she was going to . . . I mean I wouldn’t have left her alone. . .”  Sookie gasped, she’d already pulled the information from Harold’s head.  As he continued, Sookie grabbed onto him and wept.  “She snatched a scalpel from my medical equipment and while I showered, she slit her wrists.  When I got out of the shower, I could see blood under the door of my other bathroom.  It was, it was too late.”  He shook his head, trying to make sense of everything.  “I called for Quinn and he removed her right away.  I don’t know what happened from there.  I’m sorry Sookie.”

“I’m pretty sure she would have been killed at court tonight Harold.  I think she wanted to go on her own terms.”

He nodded and stood to leave.  “I’ve only been given permission to tell you what happened.  They should be done with my room shortly.  I’ll see you tomorrow Sookie.”

Sookie could barely contain herself after that news so she had to focus on her inner world to keep up appearances.  She spent the rest of that afternoon and night coming up with her own happy ending for Rasul, Cynthia and the baby.  Using one of her downtime fantasies, she dreamed that they’d both been let go together and were now somehow rekindling their love.

OOOoooOOOooo

Two days later, the daily delivery truck pulled up to the Bon Temps farm house.  Today, they were getting a delivery of appliances for the underground kitchen.  Hunter texted Alcide to get his attention after he read the people in the truck:

H:  Alcide theres an xtra person in the back.

A:  I know Hunt.  It’s OK

H:  U sure?

A:  Yes, you’ll know more tonight

H:  Did I just feel Ludwig pop in?

A:  Yes Hunter.  Don’t you need a nap?

H:  Ok grownup stuff I get it

A few hours later, Hunter and Eric emerged from the tunnel into the playroom then met up with Alcide in one of the underground bedrooms.  Hunter stiffened at the new face in the room, but Eric just smiled and moved to the side of bed to greet their newest member.

“Hello Cynthia.  My name is Eric Northman and I’d like to welcome you to our safe haven.”