Chapter 32

Pam sits on the throne in Fangtasia staring at the sea of vermin before her.  She is both disgusted and excited by the vermin.  She hates the costumes she has to wear; she prefers soft fabrics and pastels to the leather and black she must wear.  She abhors the pathetic nature of many of those that come to the bar.  They ask the same stupid questions night after night and they act desperate.  But they are an easy food source, which means she doesn’t have to work hard for her nightly meal.  She enjoys the amount of money they spend in her bar.  She secretly gets a thrill out of the attention they lavish on her.

She stares at the vermin with disinterest and suppresses a sigh.  She misses her maker.  Eric has been gone for some time.  And before that, he was distracted by Sookie Stackhouse.  Pam didn’t know what to think of the petite buxom blonde.  Pam could see the attraction and fascination his maker had with Sookie, but it wasn’t like him to completely lose himself over a human.  He is putting Sookie before himself, before her.  Part of Pam hated the human girl for taking Eric’s attention away from her.  She had been the only woman who Eric had cared about for over a century; it was hard to share him with someone else.

The new dancer, Yvetta, draws Pam’s attention.  Pam hired her right before Eric left.  Without his presence in the bar, Pam needed something new to attract the vermin.  Yvetta is dancing on the pole in front of the throne.  Her legs wrap around the pole as if it were her lover’s waist.  Her body slides up and down the pole as if she were on top of her lover.  Yvetta’s dancing is inflaming the lust of all the patrons in the bar, and the smell of arousal makes several vampire’s fangs run out.  Yvetta spins around to stare at Pam and gives her a seductive smile as she slides her body down the pole.

Pam’s fangs are out and she licks her lips as she watches Yvetta spin and twist her body.  Pam knows that Yvetta’s expectation is to become a vampire’s pet.  She wants someone to take care of her, to buy her trinkets; she’s a gold-digger.  But, as Pam gestures for Yvetta to follow her, she’s a gold-digger that’s good at her trade.

Yvetta strolls in the office to find Pam sitting in the chair behind the desk.  Pam watches as the dancer pushes the door closed and locks it.  Yvetta turns around and leans against the door.  She starts unsnapping the closures of her bustier, freeing her perky fake breasts from their confines.  She drops the garment on the floor and walks towards Pam in her heels, stockings, and thong.  She sits on the corner of the desk and crosses her legs.

“You wanted to see me?” She speaks in Russian to Pam as she places her hands on the desk and leans back, thrusting her breasts out.

Pam runs her hands up Yvetta’s legs, and slowly pushes them open.  She inhales and smells the arousal coming from Yvetta.  Her hands move up to Yvetta’s thong and she moves a finger along the outside of the material.  Yvetta moans wantonly and thrusts into Pam’s touch.

“Sit back, and dream of Estonia.”  Pam dips her head and Yvetta’s moans fill the air.

Pam walks out of the office an hour later; her cheeks are noticeably pinker and she is wiping off her lips.  She stops by the womens’ bathroom.  She hears moans coming from inside and smells blood.  She kicks open the door and stalks in. “Well, well, well, what do we have here?”

***

After the funeral, Eric brought Sookie back to his house.  He carried her to the bedroom and undressed her.  He stripped himself of his own clothes and placed her under the covers in the bed.  He slipped in beside her and held her in his arms.  Soon her tiny body was wracked with sobs as she cried for the loss of her beloved grandmother.  Eric stroked her hair and rocked her gently.  Once she calmed down, she had gone to the bathroom to clean up.  She came out of the bathroom to find that Eric had lit a fire in the fireplace and brought her a tray of food.  She smiles at him gratefully and climbs back in bed, resting her head on his chest.  They lie in silence as Eric traces patterns along the length of Sookie’s spine.

“You need to eat Lover,” he murmurs.  These are the first words either of them has spoken since the cemetery.

She sighs against his chest. “I’m not hungry.”

“Sookie, you must eat,” he admonishes gently.  He shifts so that he is sitting up against the headboard.  The covers pool in his lap.  “Lover please?  I worry about you.”  His blue eyes plead with her as he cups her face in his hand.

Sookie sighs and sits up next to him, tucking the sheet firmly under her arms.  Eric reaches for the tray he had sat on the table and places it across his lap.  There is an assortment of fruit, cheese, and crackers on the tray.  He also brought a bottle of water.  Sookie reaches for the food, but he grabs her wrist.

“Let me take care of you Lover,” Eric says while dropping a kiss on her hand.  He places her hand in her lap then reaches for a few grapes. He holds one up to her lips.  When Sookie opens her mouth, he places the red globe inside.  He feeds her this way for several minutes until she indicates she is full.  She reaches for the bottle of water and drinks deeply while Eric removes the tray from the bedroom.  He returns swiftly and throws another log on the fire.  He stands up to find Sookie watching him admiringly.

“You really are a beautiful man, Eric,” she says as he stalks towards the bed.

He slips in bed again and sits next to her.  He drops a small kiss on her shoulder.  “Men are not beautiful,” he scoffs.

She looks at him with a small smile.  “You are.  I don’t mean just your face,” she says while reaching up to stroke his cheek.  He nuzzles into her hand with his eyes closed.  “You know you are handsome; a real live Adonis.  But it’s more than just what’s on the outside.  You’re deep, there’s love in you,” she says softly.

His eyes open and are blazing with emotion.  “Only for Sookie,” he whispers.  He leans forward to touch his lips to hers.  Eric conveys with his lips the depth of his feelings for Sookie; the kiss is gentle, sweet, and worshipful.  He pulls away from Sookie’s face with a growl when his cell phone starts ringing.  He looks at the caller id and answers.

“What?” He snarls through the phone at his progeny.  He had told Pam that he was not to be disturbed this evening unless it is an emergency.

“Blah, blah, vampire emergency, blah,” she says in a bored tone.

“Pamela,” Eric begins in a harsh tone, but he is quickly cut off by his progeny.

“I need you to come to Fangtasia.  I caught a vampire feeding in the bathroom.”

“Deal with it.  You know what the standard punishment is,” Eric growls.  He will deal with his insubordinate progeny later.

“It’s Jessica,” Pam says hurriedly.

“So call her maker and punish them both for breaking the rules.”

“That’s the problem, Eric.  She says she doesn’t know where Bill is.  She hasn’t seen him in over a week,” Pam explains.

Eric looks at Sookie with regret, “I’m on my way.”  Eric ends the call and turns his attention back to Sookie.  “I’m sorry Lover, but I have to go to Fangtasia.  There has been a problem with Jessica and I need to handle it.”

Sookie looks concerned. “Jessica?  What did she do?”

Eric vamps to the closet and returns fully dressed in his customary uniform for Fangtasia.  “She was feeding on a human in public.”

Sookie moves to the end of the bed to plead with Eric.  “Please go gently on her.  She’s still a newborn, and something tells me that her maker isn’t very good at teaching her how to survive.”

“There are rules, Sookie, and she has broken one of them.  I cannot allow her to go unpunished just because you feel sorry for her,” Eric says harshly.

Sookie jumps to her feet to stand in front of the angry vampire and pokes him in the chest.  “I know there are rules, buddy!  All I’m asking is that you give her a break this time.  She didn’t kill the human for Gods’ sake!”

Eric’s fangs pop out and he growls.  Sookie is standing in front of him completely naked.  Her ample breasts are heaving; her skin is flushed because of her anger and her eyes sparkle with passion.  She completely disregards the fact that she is challenging a thousand year old vampire.  Eric picks her up and pins her to the wall, crushing her lips in a bruising kiss.  This kiss is a battle between the two of them for dominance.

Eric pulls back and stares at Sookie.  A bead of blood is on her lip from where he nicked it with his fang.  He leans forward to lick it off, and his eyes roll back in his head.  “We will finish this later Lover.  I have to go,” he says gently.

“But,” Sookie begins but Eric places a finger against her lips to silence her.

“It will be alright.  Trust me.”  She nods her head slowly in understanding.  Eric places a gentle kiss on her lips before vamping out of the house.

***

Eric lands on the roof of Fangtasia and enters the building through the hatch.  He vamps down to the basement where Pam has secured Jessica.  He finds Jessica chained to the wall, secured by silver chains around her wrists.  Eric picks up a pair of gloves from the table and slips them on.

“Do you understand the rules about feeding in public Jessica?”  Eric says as he slowly walks to stand before the baby vampire.

Blood tears are running down her face and she whimpers in pain.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.  I was just so hungry…”

“That is no excuse!  We must control our urges now more than ever since we have come out to the humans.  Your maker should have explained all of this to you,” Eric states coolly.

“Bill?  Bill doesn’t tell me anything!  I don’t even know where he is; I haven’t seen him for days!  That’s why I was feeding on the human in the bathroom.  I ran out of True Blood days ago.  I don’t have any money to buy more.  Bill said if I was ever in trouble, I was to come to Fangtasia.  I was waiting to speak with Pam since you weren’t here, but then this guy offered himself to me.  I didn’t mean to break the rules, but I was so hungry…” Jessica finishes with a whimper.

Eric looks at the weeping vampire in front of him.  He can tell Jessica is telling the truth; she doesn’t have the skills yet required to lie convincingly.  He pulls a key off the wall and moves to the baby vampire.  She shrinks back from him in fear, but he merely undoes the lock on her restraints.

“Come with me,” Eric says softly.  He walks up the stairs out of the basement and moves towards his office.  Jessica follows quickly behind him.  He opens the door to his office and gestures for Jessica to have a seat on the couch.  He walks over to the refrigerator and grabs several bags of blood.  He heats them up in the microwave.  Jessica is practically salivating as the blood warms up.  When the microwave dings, Eric removes the bags of blood and gives them to Jessica.  She quickly sinks her fangs in the first bag; the wounds on her wrists healing as she drinks.  She tears through the second bag with equal fervor.  By the time she finishes with the second bag, her cheeks are noticeably pinker.  She sips the third bag of blood more slowly.  Once she is finished, she leans back against the couch.

“Thank you,” Jessica gushes.  “I really appreciate you doing that.  I know I broke the rules, and I’m so sorry.  It won’t happen again.”

Eric holds up his hand to silence her.  “Jessica, what do you know about being a vampire?”

Jessica stares glumly at her feet, “Not much.  Bill doesn’t want me feeding off humans; he says we are mainstreaming.  But I know he feeds off of them and other things,” she mumbles.

Eric raises an eyebrow in amusement.  “You mean he fucks them?  It’s what vampires do; feeding and fucking go hand in hand.”

Jessica looks at him in horror, “Ewww!  I don’t have to do that do I?  I mean, I don’t mind the feeding part, but…” she looks away from Eric in embarrassment and mumbles, “I’ve never done the other thing before.”

Eric cannot help but laugh at the girl.  “You will get over your embarrassment very quickly.  You mean you haven’t fed off that boy you were with at Merlotte’s?  You haven’t fucked him?” Eric asks the last question just to embarrass the girl again.

Jessica shakes her head emphatically no.  Eric chuckles again.  “Jessica, you are clinging to being human.  Modesty no longer applies.  If you live long enough, you will do whatever the fuck you want when you want and to whom you want.”  Eric calls for Pam through their bond and she appears a moment later.

“Pamela, you are in charge of young Jessica while I search for her maker.  She needs someone to guide her in the ways of vampire.”  Eric walks to his progeny’s side and holds her face in his hands.  He switches to Old Norse and says, “You are ready to be a maker, my child.  Think of this as practice.”

Pam’s eyes fill with tears. “Are you releasing me?  Do you wish for me to leave your side?”

Eric hugs her. “You are my child; I will always want you with me.  But every child will one day leave their maker.”  He kisses her forehead softly before he steps back.  He reaches for his wallet and gives his black American Express to his beloved progeny.  “Take this; Jessica is in need of clothes, and you deserve a reward for all your hard work as of late.”

Pam smiles gratefully at her maker.  She turns to the young vampire. “Come on, Baby Vamp.  We have some serious shopping to do.”  Both female vampires leave the office.  Eric takes one last look around the bar to make sure the staff closed down properly.  Once he sees everything in order, he flies through the night sky towards Bon Temps.

Eric lands in the yard outside the Compton house.  Even though it has been several days, he is hoping to find a clue about where Bill has gone.  He looks in disgust at the state of the house.  Why hasn’t Compton attempted to make any repairs if he and Jessica are living here?  It doesn’t make sense; Bill lived the life of luxury while he was in Sophie-Anne’s court.  Eric moves inside the house and finds the inside in worse condition than the outside.  He inhales deeply, sampling the smells that permeate the air.  The smell of rot and decay is very strong; he can also detect the odors of Jessica and Bill faintly.  There is another faint odor, a vampire, but it is not one that Eric knows.

Eric quickly peruses each room upstairs, but finds nothing of interest.  He returns to the main level.  He opens a door and finds the daytime resting place of Compton and his progeny.  Eric closes the door in disgust; sleeping in the ground is something to do only if necessary.  Why in this day and age would anyone voluntarily do it with all the comforts available to them?  He searches through the living room and kitchen, but finds nothing.  In what would have been the dining room, Eric finds a sideboard with many drawers.  He searches each drawer and finds nothing.  Just as he is about to give up, the last drawer he tries is locked.  Eric easily breaks the lock and looks inside to find a manila folder.  He opens the file, quickly perusing its contents.  An angry snarl fills the air before Eric snaps the file shut, shoving it inside his jacket.  He needs to discuss this with the others at the meeting with the Ancient Pythoness.  In the meantime, he needs to get back to Sookie.

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