En route to Fangtasia

[onceaviking]

He moves through the air, silent and fast, the crazed King of Mississippi and Louisiana next to him, cradling the slimy remains of his dead consort encased in crystal in his arms.

Honing in on Sookie.

He can feel her.
Giddy with relief. Having escaped.

And yes, there she is. Or rather, there is her tiny car.
And he can hear her too. Chattering away, high on adrenalin.
"..,happily married. And I'm not a waitress anymore. I'm - I'm going to college. No! I'm a real estate agent, and I'm really rich."

Happily married? Happily married?!
Oh, for fuck's sake. She wants to play house with Bill Compton. And he had been so sure he'd planted enough doubt in her mind.

And then there's the dulcet tones of Compton, trying to one up her in the sap department.
"I teach third grade," he says, voice sincere, "and I love my job."

Third grade?!

And he sounds like he means it. He's either a much better actor than Eric would ever have given him credit for, or he's beginning to believe his own mainstreaming bullshit.

William Compton, the shredder of whores, no wait, sorry, the third grade teacher.

Next to him, Edginton starts laughing.
Manically.
It drowns out some equally, sappy shit about gardening and dinner parties.

Then Sookie says, "We don't even know Eric Northman."
"Everything is peaceful."

They land in the road in front of the speeding car.

Sookie screams.

Edgington slams his hand down on the hood and the car's rear end lifts high into the air, almost toppling over, and Eric can't help himself, quickly bending to see if she is alright. To make sure that she is alright.

He needs her alive for this.

Comments

[dobadthings]

Pam raises an eyebrow at the name Godric.

Okay, she knows Eric misses him and all, and that is one thing. But having visions of him is another.

She's certain that the sun did get to him.

Bill remarks, "You are insane."

Thank you, Mr. Compton.

[onceaviking]

"Sookie ..."

Now, Sookie could join the chorus of insanity accusers, aka Bill. But she doesn't. Somehow she doesn't feel right saying anything about Godric.
Lord knows that she has wanted to see Gran often enough. And who's to say that vampires can't come back, once they've met the True Death?

Anyway, she doesn't even need to go there, because there are other things here that are just plain wrong.

"You want me to go get the guy who wants to kill us all and bring him inside? Really?"

He can't be serious.

[lazy_but_loyal]

Pam just puts it out there.

"Eric, do the world a favor and let that little fuck fry."

She is not having any of this bullshit.

[onceaviking]

Eric suppresses a sigh and sits up, a little stiffly.
As he swings his legs down, he says, "I'll just go get him myself."
If that's the way it's going to be.

He gets to his feet and turns to hiss at Bill, fangs down. Bill hisses back - and Sookie cuts them both off.

"Oh, for The love of God," she spits and jogs to get the silver chain that is still wrapped around the stripper pole from when Yvetta chained Pam there. She wraps it around her hands and heads outside again, mindful of closing the door behind her.

Then she runs to where Russell is laying, looking like a charred corpse. "I'm here to save you," she tells him and Russell manages a drawled, "Ah, thank you, Miss Stackhouse."

She slings the chains around him - oh God, please don't let anything fall off - and tells him harshly to shut up. And then she drags him back to Fangtasia, none too gently.

She is just about fed up with vampires.

[lazy_but_loyal]

Pam watches Sookie drag this groaning lump of charcoal into the bar and her expression contorts with disgust.

Are bits of him flaking off? Ew.

She looks to Eric. Everything about her is saying what are you doing and please don't be stupid.

"What the hell are we supposed to do with him?"

[onceaviking]

"I've got a plan," Eric says. Which - might be a big word to use.
Still. Kind of a plan.

"It'll have to wait till tonight though."

The sun is making itself felt. For all of them.

[lazy_but_loyal]

A plan.

They had just gone through all of this, and now Eric has a new plan. Apparently one that doesn't involve him killing Russell. That's just great.

"Okay. But we can't just leave Russell here. He's staining the floor."

[onceaviking]

Russell groans.

Everyone ignores him.

"It'll just be for today," Eric says."he'll get to live. And I'll take care of everything tonight."

[lazy_but_loyal]

With a huff, Pam pulls off the blue rubber gloves with a snap and hands them over to Eric.

"At least chain the crusty piece of shit up. I'm not touching him."

Bill folds his arms and shakes his head.

"You're a fool not to kill him," he tells Eric.

[onceaviking]

Eric pulls on the gloves with an equal - and equally satisfying - snap.

Then he picks up the chain, arranges Russell (who's flaking, his exposed skin black and cracked like the cackling on a roast pig) against the stripper pole, and starts winding the chain around his neck.


"Killing him won't solve anything," he replies.

After what Godric told him - no. He won't kill Edgington.

"No," Sookie retorts. "But it would keep him from killing us."

"Oh, he won't be doing any more killing," Eric says, tightening the chains.

[lazy_but_loyal]

Pam could throw a fit. For all Eric's desire for revenge, everything they'd planned and worked for up until now, this isn't like him at all to throw this opportunity away.

"Eric, who the fuck are you right now?" she says, equal parts disbelief and frustration.

"He killed your family. Rip off his fucking head!"

[onceaviking]

Russell turns his head, wheezing, "Do not listen to them. I shall reward you handsomely." He raises one charred hand to run a finger down Eric's sleeve - and Eric punches him in the gut. Making him couch and wheeze and smoke.

He holds up a hand and spits out a fang.

"Well, that's humiliating," one eyebrow moving up. "I'll take that. Sookie, come and hold these chains together as tight as you can. "

She does as he asks, coming close and grabbing hold of the chains, despite her obvious trepidation. But when Russell turns his head and hisses at her, baring his sad, remains fang, she says, "Don't even think about it, bitch." Trying to sound hard.

"Are you kidding me? It's all I'll think about ever again," he sneers at her. Hungrily.

Eric checks the chain a final time and removes the gloves. "We should go to ground. You stay here and watch him."
The latter directed at Sookie.

She stares at him. Incredulous. "I'm not babysitting this psycho while you guys take a nap," she says, her voice rising.

"He can't glamor you," Eric says in his most reasonable voice. "Ginger's coming in later, and he'll glamor her in a heartbeat. Pam, make one of the guest coffins available for Mr. Compton."

[lazy_but_loyal]

Well, looks like Russell is keeping his head.

Pam is severely disappointed in that. But she'll do as Eric says, and with a slight eyeroll and a sigh, she turns away and heads for the door to the back rooms.

Bill is also disappointed in the not killing of Russell, especially since they put Sookie in so much danger. Russell now knows what she is; Eric and Pam know what she is. She's no longer safe.

"I'm staying out here with Sookie," he insists.

[onceaviking]

"Suit yourself," Eric says dismissively and walks away, getting out his cell phone.

"Bill, you have the bleeds," Sookie says. Which he does. They all do.
That's pretty disgusting as well.
Though not as disgusting as Russell Edgington tied to the stripper pole.

[dobadthings]

Bill is indeed bleeding from his ears, and the fatigue from staying up all day chained with silver, is finally catching up. Still, his desire to protect Sookie at all costs is unwavering.

"I won't leave you alone with him," he tells her firmly, glancing at the charred lump of vampire.

[onceaviking]

But Sookie is having none of his chivalry.
"Well, I really don't wanna look at your face right now. Or any of your faces, for that matter. Go crawl back into your holes, you creepy, cold freaks."

She makes doubly sure to include Eric in that. But he ignores her. He's on the phone and his full attention is directed at the conversation.

"It's Eric Northman."
All business.

[dobadthings]

Bill can't blame her for being angry and she has every right to send him away, but he can't help feeling a bit like a kicked dog. He will have to talk to her later, when everything has simmered down, and hopefully when Eric and Russell are out of the way.

He purses his lips and sighs, giving her a chastised sidelong look.

"Please, be careful," he murmurs.

And he turns away to head for the back rooms.

[onceaviking]

Eric ignores them in favor of his phone call, saying "I'm gonna need your van and your help tonight."

Not bothering to wait for an answer, he hangs up and turns to point at Sookie.
"Do not stake him."

Having delivered that order, he follows after Pam. Out the door.