You're So Cruel

I disappeared in you,
You disappeared in me
U2- So Cruel


Don't believe what you hear, don't believe what you see
U2-Acrobat

I was crying in the parlor. Sean was patting me and Renee and Vi and Westexan and Bella, Bill’s sister wives. He was handing out Vi’s tissues and consoling us the best he could and when the sun went down he placed a discrete call. About an hour later, Eric came into the parlor when the tears were winnowed down to sniffles and we sipped the aforementioned Vampire’s Napoleon brandy in Waterford snifters. He stood there, his arms folded across his chest, looking at us with our red watery eyes and stuffy noses.

“What is he doing here,” I said.
“I thought he could help,” said Barrister. I turned my back on the Viking, curling up into the corner of the couch, refusing to look at Eric and his cold, but somehow smug look on his face. Renee got up to busy herself in the kitchen but the Viking put his arm out to stop her and he gently motioned for her to sit down.
“Ladies,” said Eric. “Whatever is the matter here?”
“Go away,” I said. “I don’t know why you thought he could help.”
“He is a Vampire,” said Barrister. “And a man. Won’t you please turn around and speak to him.”
“He is not Bill and right now, that is who I want to talk to,” I said. Though I could not see them, Renee, Westexan and Vi were nodding their heads.

“What would you say to Bill if you had him in front of you?” asked Eric.
“What the hell were you thinking, Bill?” said Vi. “Have you lost it all together?”
“Why didn’t you just kill her,” said Renee. “Why did you have to do all that?”
“Why are you risking your humanity when you fought so hard to get it back,” said Bella.
“What would you ask him Aslinn?” asked Eric.
“All those things,” I said. “Doesn’t he realize he is playing into her hands…he acted the way she wanted him to, to lose himself in the savagery that he fought to leave behind.”

“So romantic,” said Eric, sitting down in the chair, his hands resting on the arms of the chair. I turned to look at the beautiful, regal, smug face. I made to hurl myself at him, my teeth bared to him. I didn’t know what I would do with that face if I got my hands on him, but I wanted him. I wanted to make him feel what we felt. Barrister held on to me.

“Retract your fangs at me Aslinn… The more I know you the more convinced I am you would be a good Vampire,” he said, looking steadily and calmly at me. I tried to get away from his cool expression but Barrister held me fast. I sat down but pushed Barrister’s hands away. I wanted the Viking to feel my anger, not the subsiding of my emotions.

“If you will calm yourself, I will tell you a few things,” said Eric. “I did not mean to imply there is anything wrong with the way you are feeling.” I said nothing, but I looked away. “Lorena is Bill’s maker.”
“Boy, thanks for clearing that up, I would have been puzzled about that one. That was a real head scratcher. You are a genius Eric,” I said sarcastically.
“Are you finished?” he said pointedly. “You know, I almost sent Pam to see you, and she has fewer feelings about Bill than I do, but I decided to come. I know what you are feeling.”

I said nothing. I was being unfair to Eric. But I hurt deep in my soul, and I know the other wives were confused and hurt. Bella was crying again and Eric reached for the tissues this time and gave them to the most faithful of Bill’s wives. She took them and dabbed her tears and blew her nose.

“One’s relationship with their maker is very complex. You see this as a failing on his part, I see it another way,” said Eric, finally, letting us calm down. “Bill has done something extraordinary and I can’t believe you have turned a blind eye to it. You are so perceptive most of the time.”
“What do you mean?” asked Westexan.
“He has stricken his maker. He has drank from her and overpowered her,” said Eric. “Come, see it with your heads and not your hearts.”
“Did drinking from her make a difference?” asked Westexan.
“Aslinn, does having my blood in you make a difference from having Bill’s blood?” he asked.
“Of course it does, you are older,” I said.

“Bill’s drinking Lorena’s blood resulted from two things: his natural instinct in battle. Vampires always bite whomever they fight with. And his over whelming anger. Vampires have a built in rage. It really is barely in check, even among the oldest of us. It the nature of our being, the animal, the brute,” said Eric. “And it did two things for Bill. It empowered him and gave him power through her blood, which is older.”

“So, why the other stuff? Why did he have sex with her?” I asked.
“You know the answer to that, Aslinn, you have been with men before,” said Eric. I looked up to look at his face. It was blameless. “He had been the one overpowered for so long. Now he overpowered her. He brutalized her the way she brutalized him.”

“Is she dead Eric?” asked Westexan.
“That I do not know. It would be quite something in the annals of Vampire lore. There are instances where Vampires have killed their makers, but this is unique. Bill’s motivations are not as clear. Oh, they seem that way, he simply hates her, but there are other things deep inside Bill Compton’s psyche that has motivated him,” said Eric.

“What will happen to him now?” asked Vi.
“Do you mean to his soul? That Human Soul you all believe we will be resurrecting?” asked Eric. She nodded. “Violet, I simply don’t know. I could not tell you if Bill will be the same Vampire he was when he left. I do not know if he will be able to feel the same way as he has about his chances as a Vampire mainstreaming. I do not know if he will love again. For your sakes I hope it is so.”
“Do you really Eric?” I said.
“Of course,” he said. “You write so eloquently of the Vampire soul. And Bill seems to be an example of that. And you are searching for my soul, even more than I am, but I suppose I too am on that path, it is a path I am resisting, but I find myself asking questions, particularly with the death of my maker.”

“If Bill fails, will you give up your search?” I asked.
“You think very little of Bill if you think he will give up. Vampires are very stubborn, we like having our own way and if that way includes finding a soul, then we will do to it until we are in final death,” said Eric. “As for me, I love a challenge. I crave it. So whether it is battle with another creature or a battle within me, I look forward to it.” He looked thoughtfully. “You know, you are overlooking something very crucial here. Again, I am surprised you have not realized it yet.”

“What?” asked Barrister.
“She could have overpowered him. She is the elder Vampire here,” said Eric smoothly. “If she really wanted to stop him, she could have.”
I sat there for a moment. I had not thought of that. I sat up and dried my face. “Are you hungry Eric? I could fix you a Tru:Blood?”
“That would be delightful,” he said.