Dead Debate

Dead Debate

“Listen though Bill, the Book of Lilith completely ignores the second story of Cain, the story where Cain and Lilith come upon the murder of Abel, this is a pivotal story in the religion of the Vampires,” I said.
“But these are human influenced translations of corrupt scriptures,” said Bill.
“This translation is done by a bunch of scholarly Vampires from Oxford. Besides, it is the Book of Lilith that excludes the books and prophesies the Blood Bible contains. And nowhere in the Book of Lilith does it say that fairies are an abomination. It says that the inordinate worship of fairies by mortals and immortals alike is an abomination because the fae are no more or better than the other children of the creator,” I said.
“It simply is beyond you to understand the blessings of the mother because you are not Vampire,” said Bill.
“Don’t. I have a master’s degree, I was reading before I was walking. I was reading the Bible for myself since I was a little girl. I think I feel fairly confident I can work out the gist of your Bible,” I said. Bill smiled his smug smile. I darted him a hard look.

“Okay, Aslinn, okay, then what do you say to the passage where it says in Thelicitudes that Vampires were meant to drink blood,” said Bill.
“Okay, but look, biology was going to dictate that anyhow, you have to drink blood, but there is a passage in the Book of Endowment that says to be worthy of the blood, Vampire must work for it, they must care for, nurture and love the humans they feed from, for to starve and beat and betray your mortal brothers and sisters is to betray yourself and foster self loathing. Now you and Lorena were going after people like they were an all you can eat buffet and you cared nothing for them. You hated yourself, because even though you knew next to nothing about the Vampire Bible, or the Book of Lilith, you were being set upon by the words of your scriptures, given the punishment it assures will come to Vampires who don’t respect their brothers and sisters,” I pointed out. “And it comes from your own book.” Bill looked away. I glanced at Eric and he nodded minutely. “And look here, in the Book of Blessings, it says in the third chapter: For the Creator loved Lilith because she was his own great creation and meant for great things and the greatest thing she was to be was the mother of the Children of the Night and to be the protector of the Children of the Day for from them we are nourished and from them we come, for there cannot be vampire without human though there can be human without vampire for from them we spring and siblings we are and we are the keepers of one another’s lives and hopes and dreaming in daylight and darkness.”

“There is even the love story,” said Jessica. “The Vampire Lucius fell in love with the fisherman’s daughter, and they lived together for many years till the moment when she decided she was ready to become Vampire and the Blood Bible said they were blessed by both Lilith and God because they truly loved each other and defended them from the people who were afraid of the Vampire. Lucius loved the human girl and lived with her as her husband till she became Vampire. If God or Lilith thought it was wrong to love humans, they would have said it straight out…Thou Shalt Not Love Humans.”

“But it is wrong to love humans,” said Bill. “Look at all the misery you have experienced because of humans.”
“No Bill, my first taste of real misery was when I first became Vampire,” said Jessica. “In the Book of Lilith is says the maker is to be devoted to the child and forsake all others to rear the youngling to become a strong Vampire. If it hadn’t been for Eric and Pam and the humans here, even Sookie, I would have been a puddle a long time ago. You were disobeying Lilith.”

“I had no understanding of Lilith’s design,” said Bill.
“Therefore there is no ignorance for your understanding is simple and in the blood that animates you that if you by virtue of your kiss bestow upon a mortal immortality and abandon them, you yourself will find yourself being abandoned when your essence stands before Lilith in your true death for this is wisdom from the bone and the marrow,” said Jessica. “It even says that a Vampire who would abandon his progeny should be given the true death to their body and then the true death for their soul for they are bastards and unworthy of the blessings of Lilith.” Bill glowered at Jessica. “I forget the chapter and verse.”

“Bill, you can’t go in for the bits that attract you and then ignore the bits that don’t mean anything to you. Church is not a social club, that is what people don’t understand, Vampires or human. If you can’t agree with the way it is, you have to either reconcile it to your heart or you find somewhere else to be and move on. You are doing neither, you are just choosing the pieces that allow you to not feel anything. You beat Jessica. In the Book of the Progenitor, it says that is wrong, a sin and evil for an elder Vampire to force his progeny to submit to physical punishment for this is does not teach love, but fosters fear and hatred and you subject her soul to the possibility of Sin for to hate one’s maker is to hate God and Lilith. Besides, slapping Jessica around was a sign you had run out of ideas, that you were treating Jessica the way her human father treated her, and you know how close to killing her human father Jessica came,” I said. “Bill…Lilith expects more from you than screwing Salome and arranging for the murder of Roman and getting all those Vampires and Humans killed by bombing the Tru:Blood factories. Please you have to see this…that what we are saying is right.” Bill pressed his lips together into a straight line and shot out of his chair and went like a blur to the magik room. I slumped over and Jessica put her arm around me.

“You did good Aslinn,” she said.
“Yes, she did, she almost had me believing that horse shit,” said Pam.
“Pam,” said Eric. “You have really read the two books, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, you can’t bull shit your way through and argument with a fanatic,” I said.
“So what do we do now?” asked Nora. She had said nothing, but she had been listening and she nodded when we made certain points.
“We let him think this over,” I said.
“Why was I able to let go and Bill can’t. I was Sanguinista for years,” she said.
“I think it is because you have Eric and you both have Godric in some form or other,” said Renee. “Bill doesn’t have anyone but us, we humans and his child. Bill wants only a few things out of his existence, but the one he wants the most but really can’t have, is a family. There will always be some limit to the sort of family he can create.”
“How much longer?” asked Minnie.
“I don’t know, you have to do this slow or they will just give up hope altogether and they can decide to greet the sun or just wander off, we want to break him, but only to a certain extent, then build him back up again,” I said. “I just don’t want to break him all the way.”
“We can’t wait forever though Aslinn,” said Eric. “I need Bill to be up and ready to hit this case. If we don’t find out about these murders, we will be in real trouble. It could compromise what I have managed to do thus far to diffuse the problem with the Sanguinistas.”

Bill was quiet for a while. He still got up at dark and he began to talk to us a little at a time and even asked about his database and asked if it was up to date. Aolani and Renee and I had been entering the information, keeping it up to date, and he watched the news and talked to Eric about the case they had been looking into before the summer’s adventures. He seemed to be troubled by the case. He even got up to watch Minnie and Pam sewing on the new quilt she was making and Pam was embellishing it with some embroidery as she went along, her project long finished and gracing our supper table. He watched Jessica working with us on her witch studies and watched as we invested Jessica with her first degree initiation and Renee’s second degree. He watched me as I did research on mediumship and put together some books for Lafayette. Then he would go and enclose himself in the magik room to meditate.

I don’t know what it was that prompted him to have something of an epiphany, but I was on the couch, reading, listening to the rain and he came and sat on the edge of the big coffee table. I put my book down and he looked at me. “I don’t know what to say.”
“The truth Bill is never the wrong thing to say,” I said. Renee sat up and listened.
“I don’t know how I feel about this and about myself, but I want you to know, I heard everything you have said, all of you, and I don’t know what to believe anymore, but I know that I do still care about you, despite all of this that I thought I believed, might still believe to an extent,” he said.
“So a definite maybe…maybe not?” I said. He nodded.
“I want to…rediscover what I have lost,” he said.
“That is good,” I said.
“I want to have time alone with you and Renee again,” he said.
“Well, I think that would be good,” I said. “I think it would be healthy.”
“I don’t know if I can trust myself,” he said.
“Bill, I have never feared you, feared for you, but never feared you,” I said. “Just…let it happen naturally.” He nodded and leaned over and kissed my lips. It was a firm kiss, but chaste. “See, not so bad, your lips didn’t fall off.” He smiled.
“I am going to go to ground. Renee, will you come with me and say good night?” she nodded and took his hand they went to bed. Eric stood up from the computer and came over.

“Think that is a good idea Aslinn?” he asked.
“He won’t hurt her,” I said. “And maybe it will wake him up a little.”
“True,” he said. He leaned over and kissed my cheek.
“You Vampires are kissing fools,” I said. “Going hunting tonight?”
“No,” he said. “I am fine. Dr. Ludwig says there is nothing inherently different in the blood. Bill is still chemically the same Vampire.”
“So whatever mystical transformation that occurred is all in Bill’s head, not in his physiology,” I said. He nodded. “Well, then we will have to work with his head.”
“You are very stubborn Aslinn,” he said.
“So is the rest of us,” I said.
“Where is Barrister?” he asked.
“He took Jessica to Baton Rouge for the night,” I said.
“So you are all alone?” he asked, that smirk on his face.
“Nah, I still have this vamp porn book Pam was reading. Fifty Shades of Red? Original title.”
“Well it is what it is,” he said, grinning. “Wanna read me a bedtime story?”
“You never change, I thought an injection of religion would clean up your dirty mind,” I said.
“Me? Never, I like my mind just the way it is, nice and filthy,” he said.
“Go play somewhere else Eric,” I said. “I’m busy.”
“Let me borrow that book after you are finished with it, might learn something,” he said.
“I doubt it, it would not surprise me at all to discover you wrote this book,” I said. He laughed and went in search of another like mind to share his dirty thoughts with.

Wake Up....Wake Up Dead Man

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Wake Up…Wake Up Dead Man

One Week Later

Bill was finally released from his silver bonds. He said very little and drank the Tru:Blood without complaint. We tried to treat Bill normally, but that was sometimes hard to do. We were often at a loss for words and he would usually squelch some conversation by mentioning something about Lilith. Though we had seen his death, transformation and regeneration, he did not stalk around the House and rage about being “god”. If anything, his lack of doing just that was unnerving.

He spent much of his time reading the Blood Bible. He was often found in a quiet corner reading and not saying much. Jessica was resuming her magikal training. Nora, Eric’s sister, didn’t think much of it and often voiced her opinion. Eric would shrug at her or take her outside to discuss (read quarrel) with her that would end with Eric telling her to mind her own affairs and keep her opinions to herself. Bill watched us teaching his progeny but he said nothing.

All the while we were watching VNN, keeping up with the news. It was bad but truthfully, there were not that many sanguinistas and there were only a few out there making Vampires so the attacks were lessening though there were also a lot of Vampire deaths.

Finally Bill closed the Blood Bible with a snap. Renee looked at him warily. She had tried to talk to him about how happy she was he had not met the true death and his response was more or less: “Of course you would be happy, I am Vampire and you are only human.” It didn’t help he had given me the same answers, it still stung. Whenever he said that, Renee had moved to leave the room and Eric stood up and reached out to her and pulled her to him and held her as he told Bill to stop being an ass.

Late at night, after Bill had gone to day rest, Eric would meet with us in the secure magik room. Bill, I suspected, was leaving before dawn to escape our surreptitious observations of him. Eric was upset and he was at loose ends about what to do with Bill.

“Just give him more time,” said Aolani. “He just finished the Blood Bible, let him digest it, compare and contrast it.”
“I’m afraid,” said Eric. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to give him the true death. I’ve done all the damage control I can. I’ve had Desmond disseminate the news that Russell Edgington and Steve Newlin did the planning to blow up the Tru:Blood factories.”
“Are they buying it?” I asked.
“I keep waiting to hear of it in the news, but nothing has come up yet,” said Eric. “There is a chance they don’t believe it.”
“Who else knows what really happened?” asked Aolani. “I mean between you and Nora and Jason Stackhouse and the rest when they finally got freed, you killed most of the Vampires who were at the AVL.”
“Most, not all,” said Eric. “What I am counting on is there may only be one of two left who will lay low because they don’t have the back up of the AVL and the Chancellors and they will just clam up. Self preservation.”

“Be patient with Bill,” said Aolani. She looked thoughtful. “Aslinn you have read those two books haven’t you?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“Enough to have theological discussions with him?” she asked. I shrugged. “I have an idea, I think we should give Bill a place to pray.”
“I beg your pardon?” asked Eric. “Aren’t you throwing gas on the flames?”
“It might work. It says faithful followers are supposed to worship at least three times a night: At rising, at midnight and before dawn. I haven’t noticed Bill doing a lot of praying,” I said. “It would show we aren’t totally against Bill believing in something so long as he didn’t use it as a reason to hate and despise us.”
“And what is that supposed to do?” asked Eric.
“Open up a dialogue with him. He will know it is to try and get him to argue with us of we just come out with it. If we tell him we are clearing a place for him to pray, then maybe we will be able to approach him with innocent questions and then ask him even bigger questions, debate with him,” I said.

“I don’t know Aslinn. I would worry about your safety,” he said. “And Nora..she misses her old routines, her old prejudices. She doesn’t understand why I would make Pam a Vampire or care about Bill and why I care about you, the group.”
“Do you think she and Bill will sort of feed on one another metaphorically speaking?” I asked. He shrugged.
“This has to be killing you, Aslinn, you and Renee,” said Eric.
“It hurts,” I admitted. “But I’m not through with caring about him just yet. I love Bill and I will not abandon him.”

“I hesitate to mention this, there is something going on in New Orleans, something to do with those Christian Vampires. You have read about them?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Something about some murders. I think it is very likely the Fellowship.”
“Bill and I were investigating them before,” he said.
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” said Aolani. “You aren’t telling me that we are going to have hustle this version of Bill into another vampire church thing are we? In the state he is in, he will never get well enough to clear his own head.” Eric looked at Aolani. He wasn’t necessarily looking worried but he was a little concerned.
“Well, we can always use this situation to our advantage too. If they are weird and fanatical, we can show him extremes in any ism is a dangerous thing,” I said. I reached up and pecked Eric on the cheek. “Have a good rest Eric, I am going to bed.”

"For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised…and we shall be changed."

"For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised…and we shall be changed." I Corinthians 15:52

The clamor at the door sounded like the end of the world. Alcide jumped up and growled and Len took a similar posture. I went to the door and looked out of the peephole. Eric and Nora and Pam and Jessica were at the door. Eric had something bloody wrapped in a sheet over his shoulder. I opened the door.

"Invite us in, hurry, for the love of God," he said. Hearing Eric evoke the creator frightened me a little and I invited them in and Eric stepped in and then crouched down and laid the thing in the red sheet on the wooden floor. He unwrapped it. It was Bill. "Can you help him?" he asked.
"I don't know," I said. Bill was bound magikally but he was fighting it. "Bill?" He looked at me and hissed.
"Can't you take him to that place in Faery, the pool you bathed me in when I was berserked by Edgington?" asked Eric.
"We had the permission of Niall Brigant, but I don't know if he will let us take Bill to the Water of Life," I said.
"Please Aslinn, we need to help him," said Jessica.
"Come on, let's get him into the magik room," I said. Aolani went ahead of us and Renee trailed behind. Pam and Tara and Jessica and Nora followed him as he carried Bill into the magik room. I went to the door and knocked. It seemed to take forever though it was only a few seconds and finally the door opened. Niall looked as he always did, dressed in his customary black and his long blond white hair was smooth and his delicately lined but beautiful face was calm. “Niall, we need your help.”
“What has happened to him?” asked the faery. “He smells bad.”
“It’s Bill, Niall, he has drunk something that has made him…wrong. Jessica cast a binding spell on him but he needs the Water of Life,” I said. He looked coldly at Bill, his head hanging limply over Eric’s arm the sodden and bloody sheet dripping.
“Please,” said Eric quietly. The faery looked up into Eric’s face.
“Come,” he said. He turned back to the door and opened it and Renee, Aolani and I led the way for Eric. “You ladies must stay here.”
“We need Jessica,” I said. “She is our fourth.” Niall looked at her.
“Young woman, you are admonished from biting anyone or anything in my world,” he said sternly. “Aslinn, you and your friends will likely be shut out after this, I have endangered my kind too often for Vampires.”

“I understand,” I said. He led us through what must be his office and through another door. It was night in Faery and the night skies were way different in Faery than in Humanity. Remember the way the night skies seemed to Tara? Triple that to the 10^th degree. Though the day hours in Faery did not burn Vampires, I was still happy it was dark. I hated the way Bill looked. He was monstrous. We followed Niall along a tree lined path and came to the pool where we had baptized Eric. Eric stepped into the water to his chest. Bill was laying there passively as though asleep.

“So what do we do now?” asked Jessica.
“We pray,” said Aolani. “And bathe Bill in the water. We have to get that sheet off him.” Eric held Bill out and we pulled the sopping sheet from him. I wadded it up and tossed it to the ground away from Niall and Eric turned Bill so his head was against his chest and his legs and torso floated free.
“I don’t believe in God though,” said Jessica.
“Well, call upon the elements,” said Aolani. We began to splash the faery water onto Bill’s chest and Eric was even scooping up water in his hand and pouring it on Bill’s face and wiping at it with his palms. His fangs looked huge and leonine and his eyes rolled around and his lips were a snarl.

We began to say our prayers, the same prayers we said over Eric. Eric’s lips were moving but I could not hear what he was saying or who he was praying to. Jessica was calling for the healing elements of the earth, air, fire and water to come and heal her maker.

“Freaks, abominations, witches,” he growled, his usually soft southern voice so smooth and comforting sounded like sharp gravels in his throat. “Take you hands off me you filthy bitch!” he said, as I stroked the blood and mess off his face and neck. I took his hand and whispered: “Let my cry come unto thee Oh Lord of Hosts,” in response to his curse.
“Eric, lower him into the water all the way, let’s get more of this off him,” said Aolani. He pulled Bill into the water and he thrashed around a little and tried to get away but Eric held him fast. We worked, rubbing the material and blood off his skin, out of his hair and Eric pulled him back up and he sputtered choking up the water. Bill could not drown, but he could not consume the water. He seemed to be sick on the cleansing water. Renee wiped the water from his face and eyes, getting rid of the gunk.
“Bill, please come back, please,” wept Renee. “Please, we love you.”

Bill began to shiver and seize. “Jessica, grab him and hold his ankles.” Bill’s body arched and he screamed. Suddenly, a light began to emanate from his body. Eric maintained a hold on him and Jessica struggled with the kicking of his legs. Suddenly he went silent and slid almost completely under the water. He was calm, and his features were calm and he looked relaxed, as though he was sleeping. Eric looked around. “We have company.” We looked around. There were fae all around us. Some were coming out of the water and stepping up on the bank.

“Niall, why have done this?” asked a Faery woman standing by him.
“They are my friends and I want to help them,” said Niall.
“That Vampire is very sick,” said the woman. “He is very wrong, even more so than most Vampires.”
“Will he be well Niall?” asked a male Faery.
“I don’t know, perhaps for a while, perhaps not at all. You must go now and I must close the portal between us,” said Niall. I nodded. I suspected this would be the case. Eric pulled Bill up and slung him over his shoulder and stepped out of the pond. We followed him and the Fae backed up.
“Thank you Niall,” said Eric. “I am in your debt.”
“Go now and be well,” said Niall.

When we stepped through the magik door, it disappeared. We did not have time to brood about that, we led Eric into Bill’s room. Minnie saw us and hurried ahead of us. She pulled the blanket and sheet down and Aolani put a thick towel down under him and he laid Bill on the bed. Renee got us some towels and we began to dry Bill off. The rest of the group joined us. “Will he be okay now?” asked Barrister. “Is it safe to have him here?”
“I want to secure Bill to the bed with silver chains,” said Eric. “Dress him and wrap towels around his waist and arms and legs until we know for sure.” Minnie went through Bill’s dresser and got him a Henley and some lounge pants.
“Alcide, under the sink is a roll of duct tape,” I said. Eric brought out a large canvas sack of silver chains. He was slipping on a pair of leather gloves. Renee and Minnie and Aolani and I were dressing him. Len and Barrister were folding the towels around the silver chains and Alcide was taping them up with duct tape. Eric pulled out locks made of silver and opened them. We chained Bill to the bed and secured them with the silver locks. He looked like he was asleep. Renee and I pulled the sheets and the blankets around him and Renee stroked his hair. “There is Tru:Blood in the fridge so you guys can eat.”
“Have you eaten anything?” asked Eric.
“Yeah, Spookie Tooth brought us some lasagna,” I said.
“You and Renee should rest,” said Eric.
“We will,” I said, lying to the Viking. “Where will Nora be sleeping?”
“She can have my room, I will go to my rest with Minnie,” said Eric.
“Alcide, it is time to put the storm blinds up,” said Pam. “It will make the whole building light tight.”
“Anything else?” asked Alcide, sullenly.
“Adjust your attitude,” said Pam.
“Take it easy. Be nice,” I said. I put my hand on Bill’s head. It was warm. “Jessica, can you get me the thermometer?” She went into Bill’s room and came back with an oral thermometer. I put it in Bill’s mouth. I was relieved Bill’s fangs retracted. I held his mouth shut around the thermometer. I waited a few minutes and then took it out. Bill had a little bit of a temperature. “Jessica, get a spoonful of feverfew and grind it up and boil it in some water and when it has steeped for about 10 minutes, bring it back with some clean towels.”
“Is it like the Death’s Door?” asked Jessica.
“No, it is like a normal fever, well, normal for you guys,” I said. She went to get the feverfew out of the magikal cabinet and make the tea.

Eric went out and Nora came in. “Why do you care? Witches hate Vampires,” she said I her clipped British voice.
“Not us,” I said, stroking Bill’s hair. Renee was sitting by his bed, holding his elegant hand hers. “Your brother is my best friend and this Vampire is my lover.”
“But you are married to a human man,” she said. “Pam told me.”
“Yes, and he is Jessica’s lover,” I said. “I’m sorry, Nora, I would be all for a session of twenty questions with you, but I am not in the mood right now.”
“Sorry,” she said.
“I am sorry,” I said. “I am just worried about Bill.”
“Can I help in anyway?” she asked.
“No, thank you,” I said. Eric came back in.
“Nora, Minnie will show you where you are sleeping. There are some clothes there and she is heating you some blood. Eat something before you to ground.” Nora nodded and walked away. “You have to be patient with Nora, she has been out of the outside world for a very long time. She has also of course been subject to that blood,” said Eric.
“I understand,” I said. Aolani came back in. She handed Eric a Tru:Blood and he kissed her and put his arm around her shoulders. He sipped the blood.
“How much of this do you have?” he asked.
“Practically an ocean of it,” I said. “We have been stealing, mostly from Bill but from bars and other establishments that sell Tru:Blood. It will last a while if you guys will be careful to ration.”
“We can do that,” said Eric. “We will hunt too, but you needn’t worry, we won’t kill anyone.”
“I know you won’t,” I said. “Renee, I will let you have the first watch and then I will take the second.”
“Minnie and I will take a watch too,” said Aolani. Minnie nodded emphatically.
“Okay,” I said. Jessica came in with a ceramic bowl of water and Tara followed with a stack of towels. Jessica sat the bowl on the side table and Tara handed me the stack of towels. Renee took them and handed me one and I soaked it in the greenish grey water and wrung it out. I handed it to Renee. “Do his face, just wipe him down.” Renee nodded and she began to wipe him down.
“Go on to bed guys, we got this,” I said. “And thanks everyone.”
“You think he will be okay?” asked Tara.
“I hope so,” I said. “We will know more when he wakes up.”

Bill slept for two days. He did not move and the only thing we knew for sure was he was alive, a relative term for Vampires, but he had not reverted back to a pile of goo, so we had to assume he would wake. He would wake and either be mad and unreachable, or he would be back to his self if a little confused. I was there when he turned his head and looked at me. I saw the movement over my book as I read quietly at his bedside, my itty bitty book light shining blue white light on the page.

“Aslinn,” he whispered. I put my book down and leaned forward.
“How are you Bill?” I asked.
“Confused, scared. What happened? How did I get here?” he asked.
“Do you remember everything?” I asked. He swallowed and nodded. He shifted a little in bed and realized he was chained to the bed with silver.
“Was I dangerous?” he asked.
“Only to yourself,” I said. “We don’t know how long this…lucidity…will last.” I put my hand on his head and he was back to his same cool self.
“Then you should give me the true death,” he said.
“Nope, it’s not as simple as that,” I said. “Are you hungry?” He nodded. “I will get you some Tru:Blood.”

 I got up and went out. Eric and Nora and Tara and Pam were there as was Alcide and Diantha and the rest of us. We were all tired. The Vampires were suffering from cabin fever and Eric and Nora bickered on and off. Pam was embroidering an elaborate table cloth with no design imprinted on it. It was beautiful thing, full of amazing things from the Vampire’s imagination. I went to heat up and Tru:Blood and Renee came over. Eric stood and followed her. “He’s awake, he is oriented to time and place and he has his memory intact and he spoke to me gently. He is hungry. Let me bring him some blood and then you can go see him Renee.” Renee nodded.

“Don’t free him yet Aslinn, we don’t know how he will react if he is free and refuse him even if he begs you,” said Eric.
“I promise, Eric,” I said. When the blood went off in the microwave, I grabbed it and a straw and went back to the room. Bill was still awake.

“Can you undo my chains?” he asked.
“No, I can’t,” I said. “Let me prop you up a little so you can drink this.” I set the blood on the table and went to him. He raised his head and shoulders as he high as he could and I pulled up the pillows and helped him squirm up a little. I sat on the edge of the bed and held the bottle and the straw. He sipped some and made a face, grimacing. “That good huh?”
“Can I drink some of your blood?” he asked.
“Better not, not just yet, you have been living on human blood for a long while, so synthetic blood tastes bad to you. Eric and Nora had the same problem. Just keep drinking,” I said. He wrapped his lips around the straw and drank more. He made another face.
“Nora and Eric escaped?” he asked.
“Yes, as did Pam and Jessica,” I said.
“And Sookie?” he asked.
“Sookie is fine, she got away,” I said.
“Thank Lilith,” he said. He looked at me. “You don’t like that do you?”

“Bill you can worship any god you like so long as you are reasonable and don’t think I am the scum of the earth or food and nothing more,” I said. He looked at me. “And I am not a filthy bitch, by the way.”
“But you are human and a witch, and the book of Lilith says you are not worthy of the blood,” he said, calmly.
“Yeah, and you are a blood drinking demon of the first order cursed by God and will never see paradise when the Rapture really comes,” I said. “Drink.” I pressed the straw toward his mouth. He looked at me as I fed him his blood. When he finished the bottle he looked at me.
“If you really think that of me, why don’t you give me the true death?” he asked.
“Because I have something I want to show you,” I said. I went to his bureau and picked up two books. “This is the Book of Lilith. Do you know how old this book is?”
“More than five thousand years old,” said Bill.
“Nope, not even close. It is about 200 years old, and it was written by a degenerate old Vampire who spent his time drinking the blood of morphine addicts in the opium dens all over the world,” I said. “Now, do you know what this book is?” Bill shook his head. “This is the Blood Bible. Eric gave it to me to read. It is quite something. Martin De Haave and I spoke of it. He told me this book was over 4000 years old. It tells quite a different story of the creation of Vampires and their relationship to God and to us and how they came to be. Lilith is the mother, you are quite right, but she wanted peace for the children of day and the children of night. When you get to feeling better, I want you to read it.”
“You want to convert me?” he said, lowering his eyes and glowering at me.
“Bill, if I wanted to convert you, I would try to convert you to the Catholic Church. No, I don’t want to convert you. But I had a wonderful priest once. He told me to beware the man of one book. Consider this book as another point of view about the god of the Vampires,” I said. “Renee wants to see you. She is very fragile. She will likely be upset as it is. Please do not upset her anymore. And do not ask her for blood.”

“You have no right,” he said.
“I certainly do have the right. Right now, you are a guest in this human habitation. If you go against the rules of this house, you will be put out. Eric will probably want to stake you if you do,” I said. “Do we understand one another?”
“Yes,” he said. “I thought you loved me.”
“I do, Bill, this is tough love,” I said. I got up and took the bottle with me. “Be nice to Renee, she loves you.”
“I will try,” he said. I leaned over the bed.
“You do more than try, Bill. I don’t get you. You are so steady and so reasonable. You are smart Bill. Think about it. This only happened when you drank the blood. Otherwise, you don’t see Lilith here,” I said, motioning to the room.

“Do you see Mary here?” he asked.
“No, not physically, but I know she is here,” I said.
“Then Lilith is here with me too,” he said.
“I give you that,” I said. “Bill, listen to me. No god takes your will away, no god leaves you without choices. You have free will to be a believer and treat all living things as brothers and sisters or you can be an animal.”
“Your god has fought wars,” he said.
“No, he hasn’t, religions fight wars. And believe me, my god is no more impressed with his human representatives on earth that your god is with her representatives. Think about Godric, Bill. He was 2000 years old and he was…amazing. He was so disappointed in Eric. You want to evolve? Evolve to peace and happiness and love,” I said.
“And what if I can’t love you, any of you?” he asked.
“Then that is your misfortune,” I said. “Because we will always love you. Jessica says she doesn’t believe in god. Maybe she doesn’t but I can tell her and you and Eric this, god believes in you. You said you spent all your Vampire existence being an apologist for Vampires. But we never felt the need for you to make an excuse for your life. Religions did. God never did. So maybe, your war is not so much about what god says of you but what humans say of you. And not all of us feel that way. I could give a shit less about what some undereducated mouth breathing scum of the earth bigot says of you. If I don’t care, why should you? Beware the man of one book Bill, don’t become as fangy version of the cretins who say you are the devil incarnate.” I stood up. “Renee will be in here in a minute. So be nice.” He nodded.  I went out to the main living area. “Renee hun, you can go in. He drank his supper but he will ask you for human blood. Don’t give it to him.” She nodded and went in.

I sat down by Eric and leaned against him. I felt the hot tears on my cheeks and he patted my hand. “Don’t cry Aslinn,” he said.
“I’m not crying,” I said, wiping my tears off my face. He watched me sucking up my tears and he looked somehow proud. “He is still all Lilithed up.”
“Be patient,” said Eric. “Keep talking to him.”
“I will,” I said. I wiped my face and got up again and went to the sink. I ran hot water and washed up the few dishes there in the sink and cleaned out the sink and put the dishes away. Pam was on the computer, reading her emails. Tara and Jessica were playing some game Eric taught them and Minnie and Aolani were sewing patches together for her next quilt and Barrister was reading one of his course books and Len was cleaning his gun. Eric watched me. He got up and came over to stand with me.

“Where is Nora?”
“She went hunting, she will be back soon,” said Eric. “I know this is hard.”
"Harder than Chinese Arithmetic,” I said.
“But you can do it. I called Dr. Ludwig to come and see Bill, take some blood to see what or who he is now. Do you still have any of Bill’s blood?”
“In the fridge in the egg space, it is clearly labeled,” I said.
“Until we know what this is, don’t drink blood from the source,” said Eric. “If you need blood, and you won’t have mine, take Jessica’s blood, or Pam’s blood.”
“I will,” I said. Eric grabbed me and held me to him, his big hand cupping my head. I cried into his body and stood there and just patted me. I finally stopped. “I got you all snotty.”
“I don’t care,” he said. “Just be brave, Aslinn, all of you just be brave, like when you were brave for me.”
“I’ll try,” I said.

Lilith in the Sky with Diamonds

Eric and Nora tipped the Tru:Blood and sipped it. They made faces. Nora had not drank the synthetic blood in a long time and neither had Eric, but he kept drinking it.Tara was drinking hers as well. She looked sideways at Eric. Pam was gone to the AVL and I was scared we would not see her again.

Eric came to the door and we promised to rescind his and Nora's and Tara's invitation when they left. "What are you going to do Eric?" asked Aolani.
"I don't know," said Eric. "I came to Fangtasia and found Pam gone and Tara alone. She told me Pam had been arrested for the death of Elijah Stoner, someone assigned from the AVL to be the sheriff."
"She is at the AVL, she will be tried very likely. What are you going to do about Bill?" I asked.
"I will try very hard to reason with him and get him out, but I am afraid we will not be able to get him, or ourselves out," said Eric. My heart hurt at the idea they may not be able to get out. I just wanted Bill to come home and be safe, and Eric too. I loved both of them in strong if differing ways.
"Are you going to take Sookie with you?" asked Barrister.
"Very likely," said Eric. "If she will consent to go."
"She better go," said Renee. "I will go and strangle me some blond fairy half breed twit." Eric gave her a dark look. Like Bill, Eric did not  like it if we bad mouthed Sookie.
"We have to move carefully," said Eric. "It is difficult to get in and out of the Authority just now."
"Get arrested," suggested Len. "They know you two have betrayed them by now." Eric nodded.
"That is likely the best way to do it," said Eric. "But I am hoping to get in there and take Sookie with me." Nora gave Eric a suspicious side long look. Aolani looked Eric.

"Eric, come into the magik room with me," she said, putting her hand out to him. Eric took her hand they went hand in at first and then his arm passed around her waist. She opened the magik room door and she slid in with him. He pulled her up to him and kissed her. "Whoa, I just need to talk to you a minute without anyone hearing me." He did not let her go but looked into her face. "I don't want you to be mad at me, but I have to say to you that I am not really easy about Nora." Eric's face got tense. "Wait, wait...I just want you to be careful with her, she was under their influence for a very long time, I don't think she is strong enough to have her newly recovered sanity challenged by her former co-religionists." Eric closed his eyes a little and shook his head.
"I want to believe so much that she is with me, but I know what you are saying, she is fragile,"  he said. "But I still have to use her as much as I can, I am alone here, I need help."
"Are you taking Tara with you?" she asked.
"Yes, like I could keep Miss Thornton at home, waiting," said Eric.

"So, my brother built this place?" she asked.
"Yes," I said. "It is our home." She looked around at the place.
"You have known Eric for a long time?" she asked.
"Not as long as you, but yes, we know him a little, we know him enough to trust him and look to him," said Barrister.
"I never dreamed he would care for humans again," said Nora. "He hasn't for a long time."
"I know," said Minnie. Nora flared her nostrils at her.
"You are his aren't you?" she asked.
"Yes," said Minnie. "Aolani and I are bonded to him."
 "Do you love him?" she asked. Minnie nodded. "He is easy to love."
"He is," I said. "Eric is not my lover, but he is my friend." She nodded. "Are you okay?"
"It just seems so strange, you are nothing like the way the AVL and the Sanguinistas say about humans," said Nora.
"No, I suppose not," I said.
"Why can't I hear Eric's voice?" she asked.
"He is in our magik room, Renee, Aolani and I are witches, we have a magik room back there and we have it spelled for privacy."
"What do you do back there?" she asked.
"We do magikal work," I said. "And we counsel people back there, Vampires and weres and others who need a chat."
"Eric goes back there for counseling?" she asked.
"Not often, but he has been known to. I think the only Vampire who has never been back there is Pam," said Renee.
"Are you religious?" she asked.
"Religious? Depends on how you define it?" I said. "Deeply spiritual is the way we like to put it."

Our conversation was cut short and Alcide Herveaux came in. Nora stood up and bared her fangs at the were. "Nora, this is our friend, Alcide. Alcide, this is Eric's sister, Nora."
"I didn't know he had a sister. She don't look anything like him?" he said, looking at the small dark haired Vampire who had snicked her fangs away.
"She is his Vampire sister, Godric was her father," said Minnie. "Are you hungry Alcide? Aslinn made some beef stew."
"Yeah, and cold beer please," he said. He sat down.
"Going up against the pack Alcide?" asked Len. Len was a werewolf too. Alcide nodded.
"I can't tolerate that Vamp," said Alcide. "Any word on Sam and Luna?"
"They have gotten themselves at the AVL and they can't get back out with Luna," said Renee. About that time, Eric strolled out with Aolani.
"Good, I need you to come to New Orleans with Nora and myself," said Eric.
"I can't," said Alcide. "I am challenging the pack, cleaning out Russell Edgington."
"You will need more than just yourself to get Russell Edgington," said Eric.
"Well, once I get control of the pack, I will be able to command it, together the pack can take down Edgington." Minnie brought him a bowl of stew and some buttered bread and a beer. He settled into it with gusto. "Sorry about your troubles."
"One of your smallest pack members are in the AVL," said Eric.
"I know, and I am sorry, but I can't help her from here," said Alcide. He bent again to the bowl which he had nearly finished in a few bites. With a graceful flick of his hand, Eric sent the bowl and the plate he had been eating from flying across the room and it hit the wall behind him with a clatter. Alcide stood up and growled and Eric crouched in a fighting posture, facing the were. Nora was in the same pose. Tara was standing and alert but her fangs were not out.
"No, not here, if you guys want to throw hands out you get," I said. Eric looked at me a growled and his fangs were retracted with a snap. "Eric, you just have to gather up your allies where ever you can. Alcide has bigger fish to fry."
"We have to go," said Eric. He kissed Aolani and Minnie good bye and Renee and I stood up. "I will try very hard to get Bill out." He pecked Renee and me on the cheeks. He nodded at Barrister and Len.
"Do you need weapons Eric?" asked Len.
"I always need weapons," said the Viking.
"Come on out to the arsenal, I have exactly what you all need," he said.

"Nora, Tara, you guys take care of each other, and take care of Eric. He is counting on you," I said. Nora nodded and went out and Tara came up to us.
"Thanks for everything," she said.
"Take care of yourself Tara, do what Eric says, watch Pam's back," said Aolani. Tara impulsively hugged us and went out and joined Eric and Nora.
"Rescind their invitations...We have a long fucking wait...." I said.

Beware the Man of One Book

When I became a Catholic, my priest told me, "Beware the man of one book." Since then, I have definitely held to that concept. Unfortunately, Bill was never in a position to do that. Now he is the man of one book. And that's what me and the rest of the gang were still worried about.

We were all outside in the barbeque area, grilling steaks and drinking beer and Tru:Blood. Pam and Tara were there. We had not asked them in, but we felt pretty safe with our magikal wards around the property. Any unfriendly Vampire would get a shock they would not soon forget. Having Marnie's Book of Shadows and anything else we were able to snatch was a gift beyond measure. Still there was no book in our arsenal that would wake up Bill from his problem and now he had Jessica.

"So, what have you heard?" asked Pam.
"Not a blessed thing, nothing from Eric, nothing from Bill, nothing from Jessica except when she emailed us last night about glamouring Hoyt," I said. "Now she is in the AVL and there is no way to get to her or Eric because their calls may not go through or are automatically monitored."
"How are you two doing?" asked Aolani.
"Better now that we are able to drink a little Tru:Blood," said Tara.
"Yeah, we have several cases, so come and get some from time to time. We know you are out there feeding, but try to be careful, and for goddess's sake, don't get caught out feeding," said Barrister. "So, good job dealing with Isaiah, Tara."
"Yes, she dealt with Isaiah but now we may have to answer for where he is," said Pam. She didn't give Tara an unloving glance, there was a part of her that was proud of her progeny, but still, it was risky business to kill a vampire.
"Well, it needed done," said  Renee. "He was a bad vampire."
"I wish Eric would come home," said Pam. "I could use the help."
"We all could," said Minnie.
"I don't think Eric is all that up into this stuff. He is still playing the game, only now it is for keeps. But did you see the looks they gave each other when Russell went ballistic?" said Len. "That has a ring of hope to it. I don't care what they say about god or Lilith, they are still in love with Sookie. Bill won't let them drain her."
"I don't know about that," said Minnie. "I am really worried about Bill."
"Yeah and you know Jessica is not going to stand for it much. I mean she was made Vampire and the first thing she was happy about was getting away from her dad and his tyrannical religious zeal. Being Vampire was relief from all that," said Renee.
"Yeah, he is going to have a fight on his hands," I said. "On the other hand, she is going to know how to play the part. That may help her."
"Are you sleeping at home these days Pam?" asked Aolani.
"We had been sleeping at the bar, but now I don't know what we will do," said Pam.
"Go to Sookie's, you can sleep in Eric's cubby. You guys might have to curl up together on the bed, but it's safe and the last place anyone would look," said Barrister.
"Yeah and Sookie might shoot us," said Tara.
"She won't shoot you guys, she knows you. It is strange Vampires she has to worry about," said Len. "Speaking of strange Vampires, how in the hell are Sam and Luna gonna get Emma out?"
"You know, I think Steve Newlin likes Emma enough to decide it was a bad thing to have her around Nigel, especially if she keeps shifting back to human form. He may decide to help Sam and Luna get her out," said Minnie.
"He might, particularly since Russell has gone hog wild and set loose," I said.
"So what might happen next?" asked Renee. Pam and Tara shrugged. "I think we should invite Pam and Tara in, so they will have a safe place to go. I mean, they aren't like the others and we can protect them of the day at least."
"No, Eric, said for you to keep up all out, you have to do as he says," said Pam. Tara looked disappointed at her. "Besides, we might get hungry."
"We have all that Tru:Blood," said Barrister.
"No, Eric said no," said Pam. "We will go to Sookie's if we have to, or back to my house or to Ginger's in Bossier."
"Pam, if any fangbanger in that bar deserved to be made, it is Ginger, she is your most faithful follower," said Aolani.
"True," said Pam. "If push comes to shove, I will make her, but only as a last resort."
"Has anyone heard from Alcide?" asked Tara.
"No, we haven't heard from him. He has his own troubles," said Len.
"Do you guys know a Vampire named Warlow?" asked Minnie.
"I don't know anyone by that name. I will sniff around and see what I can find out," said Pam.
"Please," I said. "It may help Jason and Sookie if they know who this Vampire is," I said.
"You know Aslinn, very old Vampires have several identities in a long lifetime. It may be an old name he went by for a time," said Pam.
"You may be right," I said.
"We are going," said Pam, draining her Tru:Blood. "We'll keep in touch."
"Take care," said Aolani.

I don't like your tragic sighs as if your god has passed you by

Minnie was not the only one who was pacing the length of the House. I stubbed out my cigarette and stood up from the desk. I had no hope of hearing from anyone with fangs and I was nervous. I don't normally drink this early in the day but it was all I could do not to grab that bottle of Jack and have a long discussion with it.

But being sloppy drunk was not the answer to our problem. Renee was red eyed and crying. Bill was crazy, in the grips of demon pussy and religion...I could not believe our Bill would be so easily fooled. But, then again, if you don't believe in something, you will go for anything and right now Bill was going over the deep end. I wanted to drive a stake into the heart of Salome. Whoever made her needed his head examined. I almost felt sorry for her, being sold by her mother Heroditas to her husband's brother to get the head of the Baptist made Salome the golden prize winner for Slut 'o the Century. I was willing to look at it from a revisionist feminist pov....Forget it now lady...You got my Vampires between a rock and a hard place and praying over your food doesn't mean you are going to heaven...Oh, and by the way Steve...I have a better prayer for you: Good Food, Good Meat...Good God...Let's Eat....Hope you choke you supercilious prick....

Calm down Aslinn...go to your corner and chant....OOOOOmmmmmm....Fuck it...

Alcide came in about that time with his dad. I had not met this were before and I really had to have a talk with wolf boy about bringing in new people into the House. I shook hands with the were and Renee sniffed and offered to get him something to drink. He asked for a beer, and Renee hesitated but decided it was Miller Time somewhere and went got him a Bud.

"I need to talk," said Alcide. Aolani looked up from her battered copy of the Deprogrammer's Guide to Living a Nut Free Spiritual Life.
"I bet you do," said Minnie. "You have real problems with this pack and the pack is going to have real problems with Russell Edgington."
"I know," said Alcide.
"Yeah? Well what are you two big Alpha males gonna do about it?" asked Diantha, coming out of the back rooms.
"We don't know yet," said Alcide.
"Well, you may have a friend in JB if you boys will lay down your grudges and behave like you have more sense than the average mushroom," said Renee. She shook her head and sat down.
"You guys haven't heard from Bill and them?" asked Alcide.
"Have you been in cold storage?" asked Minnie. "Eric is in trouble and so is Bill."
"What?" he asked. "Why is that any different than any other time."
"Bill has gone batshit crazy and he betrayed Eric. Maybe he thinks he is saving Eric, giving him a chance to believe and repent," I said. "But he has really gotten a taste for religion in a big fucking Vampire way and I have to say, I don't like it. He is the one who came up with bombing those Tru:Blood factories and now the Vampires are going to be starving and human hunting."
"Fucking Vamps," said Alcide.
"Yeah, and Eric is now their prisoner. He was trying to get Bill and Nora out when he should have just gotten himself out and come back for them. And he made us rescind his and all our Vampire's invitations to this House," I said.
"I don't have time for this shit," said Alcide.
"Make time werewolf, who do you think has Emma?" asked Minnie.
"What?" he said. "I just heard she was missing."
"She has been given to Steve Newlin as a pet by Russell Edgington," said Minnie
"What?" he asked again.
"Yes, fucking Russell Edgington stole one of your little werewolves. So you got bigger fish to fry now," said Aolani.

Hold on...Hold to yourself...This is gonna hurt like hell.....

Persona Non Gratis

Persona Non Gratis

Eric came into the House and we were at the table having supper. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the door. “Rescind my invitation,” he said.

                “I beg your pardon?” I said, jerking my wrist from his hand. “I will do no such thing.”

                “You have to, all hell is about to break loose,” said the Viking. “Please.”

                “What if you guys need a safe place? What if we need help from Vampires? We can’t have you out there and them in here,” I said.

                “You don’t understand, the Vampires are in trouble, the Sanguinistas are about cause a civil war. I don’t know if any of us will be able to help you and I am trying to get Bill and Nora out,” said the Viking. We knew there was big time trouble brewing and we knew Eric had a reason for being in the middle of it. “We may not have control. Rescind our invitations.”

                “No,” I said.

                “Do you want Bill to come in here with his friends and drain you dry?” asked Eric.

                “What if Pam needs to come here? Or Jessica or you for that matter?” I asked.

                “Rescind our invitations. We will take care of ourselves,” said Eric.

                “No,” I said. Eric pulled my head up and I jerked away from him. “No you don’t. Don’t glamour me.”

                “Aolani, dearest, rescind my invitation, rescind all our invitations,” said Eric. “If I have to drink anymore of that blood, I will not be myself. I will not be reasoned with.”

                “But Pam and Jessica? What about Tara?” she asked.

                “They will have to take care of themselves. Please,” said Eric.

                “Do it Aolani,” said Renee. “We have to do as he wants, he would not tell us to do something like that if he wasn’t afraid for us.”

                “Aslinn, please, help me,” said Eric.

                “Fine, Eric, I rescind your invitation,” I said. Eric was moved out of the house like a wind picked him up and swept him out.

                “I will contact you soon,” he said at the threshold. “Pam and Jessica knows you are doing this and so does Tara. You have to rescind their invitations. Don’t forget to do this for Bill as well.”

                “Okay,” I said.

                “And no matter what, don’t invite any of us back into the House. If we are under the control of the Sanguinistas, we will do whatever we must to get in this House. Do you understand? Even if we appear to be injured, don’t invite us in and don’t look us in the eye,” he said. “When this is over, you can invite us back in.”

                “Fine,” I said.

                “Aolani, Minnie dearest promise me,” said Eric. Aolani nodded and Minnie looked away, wiping her face.  “Minnie, lover, this is to protect you.”

                “But what if you are really in danger?” said Minnie. “What if you are really in trouble?”

                “I will not come back here. I will go elsewhere,” said Eric. “Please help me keep you safe.” Minnie nodded.

                “Pay close attention, don’t over look any detail. Diantha Cataliades will be here. I can’t say Alcide will be there. If I must, can I send Sookie here?” he asked.

                “Yes,” I said. “If you think she needs to be here.”

                “Thank you,” he said. “I will do my best to get Bill out of this, and I have to try to get my sister out.”

                “Be careful Eric,” said Aolani. He nodded and was gone.

                Aolani rescinded the invitations of all our Vampires and Diantha Cataliades appeared not long after. “Some troubles huh?” she said in her teletype way.

                “Yeah,” said Aolani. “Do you all think Bill is really in with them or do you think he is faking him out?”

                “I would like to think he is faking them out, what with his hesitance to drink that woman. But I don’t know,” said Renee, despondent.

                “It’s a fifty-fifty thing,” said Len. “We just have to watch, pay close attention.”

                “This really sucks, we can’t help them in the summertime,” said Minnie, still hurt that we had to rescind our invitation.

                “We have to trust Eric that he can keep his head,” said Barrister. “And Alcide. He is in so much trouble. “

                “Man, he needs some guidance,” said Renee. “The only thing working for him at this point is his fine ass, but that didn’t seem to impress JD.”

                “And that whole thing about hunting humans. Weres didn’t hunt humans,” said Diantha. We all looked up at her. “Really, they didn’t, they may have caught a human out being stupid and being out at night and all that, but wolves hunted animals. It was more sporting. Wolves are really smart as a pack. They liked to chase and hunt. Weres would not find humans a sporting chase.”

                Len was nodding. “We have killed humans before, but hell, we are humans most of the time. I think the V enhances blood lust. Makes us more willing. It is like the V makes us a tiny bit Vampire.”

                “Well, I would never poke holes in the Werewolf collective coat. Vampires hunted humans too,” I said. “Is Luna gonna die since she shifted into a human?”

                “I don’t know. Being a Skinwalker is a dicey thing, and we have to remember, Tommy was beaten really bad too. When two natured shift, they are metabolically different. We heal differently and we tolerate injuries differently. Even when Tommy shifted to Sam. He was Sam but more. That would make everything different,” said Len.

                “Lafayette was sort of funny when he had his Rita Mae Brown moment,” said Barrister. “Of course then he got jumped by the spirit of that woman. Do you think Terry and Patrick will really face off?”

                “Yeah, both will be desperate to get this thing away from them. The thing is, Lafayette does not know what he is doing, that is how you have trouble with the spirits,” said Aolani. There was a knocking on the door. It was Jessica.

                “I know I can’t come in, but please do something for Hoyt. I know he is mad at me, but there has to be something you can do for him,” said Jessica.

                “We will if we can,” I said. “But honestly, I don’t know. You know our hands are tied.”

                “Well, that woman, do you think it might have been his momma?” asked Jessica.

                “Well at first I admit I thought so but then Luna smelled menthol cigarettes,” said Len. “I don’t think it is Maxine.”

                “Well, I gotta get out of here, I’m headed to Fangtasia,” said Jessica.

                “Be careful. Don’t go with just any Tom, Dick or Harry,” said Aolani.

                “I have learned my lesson,” she said.

                “That Sookie, she could be a lot of help now, if she would pay attention,” said Renee.

                “Yeah, wasting her magik like that,” said Aolani. “And who the hell in Warlow?”

                “I don’t know,” I said. “I could have sworn it was Russell, but maybe not.”

                “I would not count it out. It is hard to say how many names that Vampire has had. It still could be,” said Minnie.

                “True enough,” said Renee. She flopped down on the couch. “I am so sick about Bill.”

                “Bill will be okay,” I said. “He doesn’t have Godric to keep him on the path, even Eric was dicey for a while. Bill is lost, but he will come back.”

                “I hope so,” she said.

                “He will.”

I hope.

Blood of My Blood

Blood of My Blood

“So what will happen now?” asked Minnie.

“Hard to say,” said Barrister. “Pam do you know anything about Lilith’s blood?”

“It’s a myth,” said Pam, shrugging it off.

“Well, evidently not,” said Len. “Evidently it is something else our vamps wouldn’t be having a Vampire smorgasbord in a juke joint with Russell Edgington.”

“Unless it is fairy blood mixed with Vampire blood,” said Aolani.

“But they have had fae blood before,” said Renee.

“Yeah, it knocked Eric out,” said Aolani. “What if that is a concoction?”

“And they are told this is the blood of Lilith and it becomes what, the power of suggestion?” asked Barrister.

“Why not. If it is some sort of blood, say one of the chancellors, mixed with fae blood, they would be knocked out,” said Aolani. “They would already have her on their mind, she would be real to them in the intoxication.”

“But Eric was shaking it off,” said Pam.

“Eric is hotwired to the definitely dead,” I said, coming in. “Godric sobered him up a little.”

“And Bill,” said Jessica. She looked really upset about her maker.

“He has such moral conflicts. He can’t be human, and he hates being totally Vampire,” I said. “That is the blood’s influence on him. Under its influence, he doesn’t have to give a shit about anything.” I looked at Jessica. “You okay Jess?”

“Yeah, I’m okay, I just don’t wanna talk about it,” she said. “Do you think Eric will get Bill out? I mean, he can, can’t he?”

“I don’t know,” said Aolani. “I hope so.”

“So, Jason, Jess we have to talk about him, but not you guys,” said Renee.

“And by the way, humans can’t tell the difference between blood and Tru:Blood. It is all the same to us,” I said.

“Oh..okay…nice to know,” she said.

“So, Jason is really into this thing with his parents, he really wants this vampire who killed his parents,” said Renee.

“Yeah, he does, but he is getting one of us mixed up with all of us,” said Jessica.

“Well, biting him on the neck didn’t do him any favors,” said Pam.

“True,” she said.

“I think Jessica should be really careful, Hoyt is out there with those bigots,” said Minnie.

“What?” she asked. “Why?”

“Well, after he left you, he went and nearly got drained dry by strange fangs and those people gunning for supes, they gave him the true death and pulled Hoyt into their van with him,” said Len. “I don’t go anywhere these days without my bullet proof vest.”

“I can handle Hoyt,” said Jessica.

“Be real careful girl, that is all I am saying,” I said. I went to the computer and checked the house email account. “No messages.” I went to the fridge and poured myself a glass of wine. “And I was so mad when that were tried to give Emma V.”

“Me and you both,” said Len. “That was totally evil.”

“But Sam got that guy,” said Minnie. “Do you think he will be able to get anything out of him?”

“Only if Andy Bellefleur gets to come and arrest him. If Andy arrests them, he can lock that pus bag up with Sam and he can do what he has to do,” I said.

“What do you think about Sookie? Can she de-fae herself?” asked Renee.

“I am beginning to feel about Sookie the way Pam feels about her,” said Barrister.

“Thank you honey,” she said, smiling at him.

“Yeah, if I found I was I was all that fae, I would be like all about getting to know what all I could do,” said Renee. “She is so…nevermind…”

“No, please, go ahead, we don’t mind,” said Pam, turning her smile to Renee.

“Nope, I am better than that,” said Renee.  “I know one thing, if I were Sookie, I would be figuring out how to make this fairy thing work for me and help my friend Lafayette.”

“That was totally sick,” said Minnie. “He was going to kill Lafayette and give his wife his blood, to give that monster to the baby.”

“Yeah, he was, but I wonder of Maria is all that good, I mean, she snipped the strings off Lafayette’s mouth, but what is she really up to? She killed the daddy of her baby?” asked Aolani.

“I have no idea,” I said. “Okay so now we have this thing where everything is out in the open about Nora and Salome. She is the defacto leader but that Africa guy, I don’t know, I think he is not that impressed with her and he may actually try to help Eric.”

“Could be,” said Renee. “But of course Godric has given him a heavenly charge to help his sister. That is going to slow him down.”

“Yeah,” said Barrister. “You know all of this could have been avoided if Eric and Bill had killed Russell like they said they would.”

“Yeah, they thought this would be better for some reason, but really it wasn’t,” said Minnie.

The Road to Hell is Paved with the Best Intentions

“The first thing you better know, is this is our house. Eric built it for us and then gave us the deed, so it is by our will and pleasure that you or any Vampire comes into this building. Next, whatever goes on out there does not go on in here, we don’t care what grudges you may harbor, you don’t bring them in here. And you will check your smart mouth at the door, you are not a pet, and you are not a child. Is that understood?” asked Aolani, looking at Tara. She gave Aolani a sullen look.

“Answer her,” said Pam.

“Understood,” she said.

“You don’t have to like Jessica, she does not have to like you, but like Bill and Eric you will retract your fangs and put away your mean girl claws and you will both behave in this house,” said Aolani. “Jess? Clear?”

“Crystal,” she said.

“Hey, don’t piss Aslinn off, she will make you sit together and hold hands, even if she hears fingers snapping and knuckles grinding,” said Aolani. Tara stared daggers into Aolani. “I think you understand now. Tru:Blood anyone?”

Pam and Jessica and Tara said they wanted some blood. After everything that happened, we were very excited and worried. Bill and Eric would be here and so would Alcide. I got up from the computer and went into the dining room where Diantha Cataliades was drinking a Tab with a dash of Tabasco. I don’t know which was worse, Tru:Blood over ice with lemon and Tabasco or Tab.

“So what do you think?” asked Renee.

“I don’t know,” I said. “Bill left a message on my email and he said he wanted to talk to us witches in private and then Eric…man, he is in a sorry state.”

“Well, we have told him so,” said Renee. “No one ever listens to us, we are just human after all.”

“I feel sorry for Eric,” said Minnie. “I had hoped she would be okay and she would be his sister.”

“Same here,” I said. Aolani had three warm Tru:Bloods ready. We got up and joined the others. “Alcide has not shown up yet.”

“He said he was on his way,” said Len.

“So what do you think is going on?” asked Barrister.

“I don’t know, I think the Authority is a snake nest,” I said. “We don’t know what  for sure has happened to Roman. Was he really completely staked, has he absolutely met the True Death?”

“I don’t know, I almost believe he has, but if he has, that can mean only one thing,” said Pam.

“The entire Authority has turned to Sanguinistas and they used Bill and Eric to bring him in so he would be in the same room with Roman and he would assassinate him,” said Renee.

“Could be,” I said. “If that is so, then it is a good thing Bill and Eric are playing sort of weird. I mean, Bill acts as though he is sort of falling for their line of BS and Eric is confused and hurt and angry. Jesus, Eric.”

“Someone mention my name?” asked the Big Viking as he slid into the door.

“Yeah, how you doing?” I said as Minnie hugged him. He hugged her back and walked over and kissed Aolani.

“Okay,” he said. Bill came in a few minutes later. He stood there, that strange hooded look in his eyes and his arms crossed over his chest.

“Bill?” asked Renee.

“I’m fine,” he said. “What do you think?”

“You guys are unwitting pawns in a game being played without your knowledge within the Authority. This is crazy, you guys are in danger,” said Aolani.

“I suspected as much,” said Bill. “It just took some of us a little longer.”

“Fuck you Bill,” said Eric.

“Eric…you know the rules…no outside shit in the house. If you want to fight, you and Bill take it elsewhere,  crystal? I said.

“Clear,” said Eric. Bill nodded.

“See Tara, those are the rules, this is how it works,” said Pam. Tara snorted under her breath.

“So what are you boys gonna do about it?” I asked. “Is Roman absolutely dead?” Eric and Bill looked at one another and then the ground. “I see. Well let’s take the position he is dead. If he is dead, what happens next?”

“We still have a problem with Russell Edgington,” said Eric.

“Yeah, nice job Eric, you could have saved us a lot of trouble,” said Renee. Eric bared his fangs at her and Bill moved to stand between her and Eric.

“Enough,” said Aolani. “One more time Eric and out you go for 24 hours. I love you hun, but we can’t do this, we need you and Bill to hold it together.”

“Bill, who killed Sookie’s parents?” asked Barrister.

“They drowned,” said Bill. Eric turned his back to us. “Do you know something about it?”

“I have only heard rumors,” said Eric.

“Did Vampires kill Sookie’s parents?” asked Minnie.

“Yes,” said Eric. “That is something I have heard.”

“Bill?” I asked.

“I have heard these rumors as well,” said Bill. “But I never knew for sure.”

“You had a file on her,” said Len. “Why don’t you know for sure?”

“Vampires have been killing humans for centuries and I had no way of knowing for sure,” said Bill.

“What would you say, if I told you Sookie’s parents may have been killed by the same Vampire who killed Eric’s parents?” I asked. Eric turned around and looked at us. Bill looked at Eric. “So does that motivate you two to get along and make some sort of plan?” They looked at each other. Well they weren’t baring fangs at one another and hissing at each other. I would have to take that as a yes.

Alcide came in. “Sorry I am late,” he said. He looked at Eric and Bill. “Well, fight, fuck or run a foot race fellahs or stand down. You stink of rage.” He sat down and looked at us. “Am I interrupting? Because I am in real trouble.”

“No, you aren’t interrupting,” said Renee.

“So did you all get rid of Russell once and for all or did you fuck that up again?” he asked. Bill and Eric got fangy. I rubbed my eyes.

“We aren’t sure what is going on,” said Bill, retracting his fangs.

“You are responsible to take care of Sookie,” said Eric.

“Don’t worry about Sookie,” he said. 

“So you have challenged this guy for the leadership of the pack. You need to know there are humans gunning for weres and shifters and Vampires,” I said.

“Yeah, I heard about Sam and Luna,” said Alcide.

“Be on guard,” said Len.

“I will be, you too, brother,” said Alcide.

“We witches need to have a chat with Lafayette,” said Aolani.

“He isn’t gonna like talking to us. He would not even speak to Ishee and Honey when we sent them to him,” I said.

“What about Terry Bellefleur?” asked Minnie.

“If we can help Lafayette, then he will be ready to help Terry too when the time comes,” said Aolani.

“Bill, you wanted to chat with we witches?” I asked

“Yes,” he said.

“May I join you?” asked Eric.

“This is a discussion Bill wants to have with us, if you want to counsel with us later, we will be happy to speak to you in private,” said Aolani. He looked at us and nodded and sat down in the seat Aolani had been occupying.

We took Bill into our private witch room, where the other Vampires could not hear what he said. We sat down on the bench there and Bill stood before us. “What is it Bill? You know our powers are limited in the matters of the summertime adventures,” said Aolani.

“What do you believe spiritually about Vampires?” asked Bill.

We all looked at one another. We knew the mythology of Lilith, even the Kabalistic belief in the Cain story and we had our own beliefs about their souls.

“That you have a purpose in this life that you are not lost to salvation or heaven or whatever reward there might be when you meet the true death, that you have a road to walk like the rest of us and it is up to you the path you take,” said Aolani.

“Do you believe that Aslinn?” he asked.

“Yes, I believe that,” I said. “I know you too well to believe otherwise, for any of you.”

“Renee?” he asked. “What do you believe?”

“I believe you are a good man Bill, the rest doesn’t mean a whole lot to me. Good men, good people are taken care of in the hereafter, and evil ones are done likewise.” Bill paced in front of us slowly. He looked at our altar and touched the cloth on it with all the totems we had made of our friends.

“So, if I do something, even if it looks wrong, you will know I am not doing it for any other reason but to keep Sookie and all of us, human and Vampire safe,” said Bill.

“Be careful Bill, a forgery for right is still a forgery and you may become confused about the reasons,” I said. Aolani shook her head. I was about to reveal too much we might suspect about the future.

“Do you know something?” he asked.

“Nothing concrete, just speculations,” said Aolani. “And that does not make it prophecy. Just use caution and let your good conscience guide you, you will know when you are going too far. Heed that voice Bill.”

“Thank you,” he said. There was a tap on the door. “It’s Eric.”

“Then go, and be careful,” I said.

He went out and Eric came in. He stood there, looking at the altar like Bill had.  “Most of the worst wars were fought in the name of one God or another.”

“That we know,” said Renee. “What can we do for you?”

“See…I don’t believe in any of this,” he said, waving his hand at the altar. “I believe in your ability to do certain things, but I believe it comes from you, whatever magic is in each of you. Whatever magic makes me live age after age. It’s like that. Not some great something else out there in the sky dictating who lives and dies and who gets saved and who stays lost.”

“We have never tried to convince you otherwise,” I said.

“No, you have not,” he said. “Does Bill believe?”

“We can’t discuss the counseling we give to any of you, especially in this room, it’s a place of secrets. You know the meaning of the word esoteric,” said Aolani. “And we will not discuss what you say to us to anyone else.”

“How come you have never tried to convert me?” asked Eric.

“I don’t do anything I can’t spell,” I said. “Besides, it’s okay if you don’t believe in God, He or She believes in you. So it is really out of your hands, and mine. I can’t save you. You can’t even save you.”

“Sounds like bull shit to me,” said Eric. “So if I crush my little talisman, does that mean I am doomed?”

“No, that little thing could be destroyed right now, but not what represents,” said Renee.

“And what does it represent?” he asked running his fingers over the hammer with the runes burned into it and the bits the sister wives had given to represent their desires for his happiness and safety.

“A lot of things, mostly love,” I said.

“Love?” he said. “Love is the weakest thing of all. Nora said she loved me.”

“Sometimes love is the only real magik,” said Aolani.

“Ask Tara if she feels love right now,” said Eric. He hefted the hammer and the ribbons that held the little charms jingled.

“Tara has to find love for herself in her own heart, one cannot have love from others if they do not love themselves,” said Renee.

“Ask Sookie,” he said. His face was shadowed.

“Sookie will make her own way, Eric, and whether her path leads to you or to Bill or someone else is not for you say. You do not move the chess pieces. But Eric, we need you. We need you to help Bill and we need you to protect each other,” I said. There was a loud popping sound and grinding sound. I looked at Renee and Aolani.

“I will do what I can, but please, tell me, how do I deal with Nora?” he asked.

“Eric…” began Aolani.

“Let me guess, she has her own path,” said Eric. He began to shake and at first I thought he was crying and then I could hear him laughing. He put his head back and laughed a sharp unhappy sort of laughter. “That is what I thought you would say, it figures. I must be one of the bad ones; I am being punished by the spirit in the sky.”

“Eric, you are not being punished,” I said.

“Whatever Aslinn,” he said, turning to me, a wide smile like those cold shark like smiles he gave Russell Edgington flashed at me. His smile did not reach his eyes. He leaned down and kissed my cheek and Renee’s and kissed Aolani on the mouth.  “Thank you ladies.” He walked out and closed the door behind him. 

“Oh hell,” said Renee. She went to the altar. He had crushed the hammer we had on the altar.

“Don’t worry, it is still there,” said Aolani. “All our intentions are still there.”