The Other Road Home chap 10

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They went to a bar the Dallas vampires owned, The Bat’s Wing, where Jason was already waiting for them. Unfortunately he rushed Sookie when he saw her which almost got him pushed across the room by Godric.

Godric controlled himself, Sookie on the other hand almost had her hand around his throat and her fangs were already down before Godric was able to call her off. “JASON! Don’t EVER rush at somebody in a vampire bar!” she yelled at him.

“Sook, why do you have fangs? You never had them before.”

“Why do you think I have fangs? I’m a vampire now. That’s why I wanted to meet you in person, to tell you.”

“But why? How?”

“The how is fairly common knowledge. The why is because stuff happened the night I last talked to you. We were all almost killed in that bomb blast. Godric gave me the options and I chose to be a vampire.

The more important question, at least as far as I’m concerned, is what were you doing in the Fellowship in the first place?”

He looked away from her, ashamed, especially now that she was a vampire.

“Jason?”

He explained to her about what had happened while he was sitting in that jail cell, bored to tears, trying to figure out how he had gotten into such a bad spot and how to get out of it.

“Jason, you do realize not all vampires are as horrendous as he portrays them, right?”

“After seeing how they were that night? Yeah, I know. I don’t know everything that went on but I know a good person, vamp or not, when I see one.

That was the biggest problem I had with you seeing a vampire Sook, that Compton! Something didn’t sit right with me about him.

Godric? Yeah, him I like. That Eric guy? I could get to like him, too.”

“Jason, unfortunately one of the Fellowship ended Eric that night. I think it was the one who detonated the bomb that night and, technically, ended me as well.”

“Who? Luke? Yeah, I can see him doin’ somethin’ like that.”

“How do you know who it was?”

“Sook, I heard them talkin after, heard him braggin’ about endin’ a vampire. When you told me Eric was ended I put two and two together and came up with his name.”

“Oh.

How do you think folks back home’ll take to me bein’ a vampire?”

“I know a few who’ll want to sharpen a stake and take it to you themselves. There’s a few that won’t but most of the town would have been happy to hear that you were ended in that bomb blast.”

Godric could feel how upset her plainspoken brother had made her but she needed to hear the truth just as much as he did. He didn’t know the people in Bon Temps, Sookie and her brother did.

“Even before Bill came to town some of them already had stakes in their trucks, right there on their gun racks, handy for just in case.

Sook, I know you want to keep your friends but it would be best if you stayed far away. I’ll feel out Tara and Lafayette if ya want me to but I’m thinkin’ that Tara’d be one of the first with a stake in her purse. After all the shit she’s had in her life I can’t say I blame her.

Lafayette might be about the only one who wouldn’t really care.

All things considered Sook I’d say stay dead to the folks at home, give your friends a sense of closure. Let ’em hold their funeral and wake, get their grievin’ and eatin’ in.

I’ll tell them mostly the truth, that you was killed when the place you were was bombed and no one could find you until it was too late to do anything about it.”

Godric?

He raised an eyebrow at her. He had been wondering when she would try this.

Yes?

Could you help him with his memory please? He believes what he’s saying but folks back home, especially Tara, know him and will be able to tell that he’s covering something up.

Of course.

Thank you!

“Jason, Godric’s going to help you with your story. Folks back home’ll know you aren’t telling the whole truth if he doesn’t and they’ll try to get the full story out of you.”

“Whatever it takes to keep you safe Sook. If keepin’ you safe means not rememberin’ you’re still alive I’ll do it.”

Godric finally spoke up, “You will still be able to remember she’s walking this earth, you just won’t be able to tell anyone. In a few weeks you’ll be able to see her again, just not in Bon Temps.”

“Okay, let’s do this then.”

“Look in my eyes then Jason.” Once he had Jason’s gaze he told the story, “Sookie was killed in the house that the Fellowship blew up in Dallas. You just came back from identifying her remains. She was so badly mangled you decided to have her cremated rather than put her friends through the torture of a closed casket.

You will remember that she’s among the undead now but you will be unable to speak of it with any but Sookie and myself.”

Jason nodded when he was through and looked her straight in the eye, “I love ya Sook, ya know it’s gotta be this way, right?”

Red tears were streaming down her face and she was clutching to Godric like he was the last stable thing in her world: He probably was. “I know Jason, that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too sis. Godric, please take care of her for me?”

“I will. She’s my child now. I could no more harm her, or let harm befall her, than I could have harmed Eric.”

“Okay then. Sook, my flight leaves soon. I need to get to the airport. Just remember I love you.”

“Thank you Jason. I love you too.”

Godric took her to his office in the back, one which was hardly used, to tend to business and let her grieve in private. There was no need to give the gawkers in the main bar anything more to talk about.

She sat in a chair in a corner by herself and he let her. This was a hard blow for her, not being able to return to her home. She wasn’t the first vampire to be in this situation by any means but it had been a hard blow to all of them when they realized they couldn’t go back to their former lives. At least she had Jason, even if she couldn’t see him very often.

He arranged for an urn with some ashes in it to be delivered to Jason’s address in Bon Temps and for repairs and modifications to be done to her house through Jason. Through him they would rent the place out. He also made arrangements for them to fly to Shreveport for a few days so he could wrap up Eric’s affairs. He needed to reserve a house or two for them to use when in the area, transfer his investments to Pam and himself (Sookie too but she didn’t need to know that right at this moment), declare him as legally having met the true death…there was a lot to do and there was a time frame for most of it.

After Shreveport they would be flying to Sweden and England so he could deal with Eric’s holdings there. After that their time would be their own for he was resigning from being a Sheriff. He needed time to grieve and he had a new child to teach and protect.

Once he was done with his paperwork he took her to hunt and feed then home. Dawn was still a few hours away but he could feel her need to be alone and she wouldn’t get that in such a public space.

Once they got home, just the thought brought fresh tears, she stripped and went to bed. She didn’t even bother with a night shirt. She couldn’t be reminded of anything from before just then.

He lay down behind her and pulled her to him and began his stories again.

Tonight I will tell you about Eric’s rising night and how he fought me over not being able to go back and say good-bye.

As it was with you I could feel him when his rising started. First the rigour started loosening, freeing his body from its hold, then his senses returned to him, bringing him great pain. His hearing was so great that he could hear me whisper across an open field with a waterfall close by. His sense of smell was very sensitive too. For many years he worked as a tracker for the King of Finland once he had settled enough to not need me constantly.

He rose and nearly doubled over in pain from the sounds of the birds and other animals in the forest I had buried us in.

He was ravenous when he rose. It took twice what you consumed that night to sate him.

When he finally realized he couldn’t go back to his life he was angry! So angry!

He would only talk to me if he had to for several months. He was miserable, even after I removed him from the area. I did not find out until he started talking to me that his family had been killed shortly before I found him, he was King by right of ascension and had no heir to leave things to.

He would argue with me to let him go back, to appoint someone in his stead but I could not let him go back. They would have stoned us, thrown garlic and garlic oil, silvered us, tried to behead us, anything to prevent us from taking them. He did not understand this at the time.

Years later we talked about it and he did understand why I couldn’t let him near his people but at the time it was happening he was too emotionally involved to understand.

He could feel her relaxing as he talked.

“I know this is hard on you my child. Very hard, but it is the way it has to be if you wish to continue to survive. You will still be able to stay in contact with Jason, just not frequently.”

He felt the dawn take her, her emotions had been just as hard on him even though she had hid them, at least externally, very well all things considered.

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