Canon time: S4E9

[onceaviking]

Emptiness.

He can feel his body. His hands hanging by his side. His feet, encased in boots, on the ground. His back straight. His fangs, hidden.

He can feel the stale air of the small , dark space he is in against his skin.

He doesn’t breathe. He doesn’t have to.

He can feel hunger. Deep within him, like a low moan.

He cannot feel himself. Inside.
He is hollow, filled with a dense fog, grey and damp and heavy, a fog made up of whispers.

He doesn’t think. The whispers leave no room for thoughts.

There are sounds on the other side of the door. They don't concern him.

Someone is in front of him. In the small space.

Sookie.

She is talking. Softly. Urgently.

"You should go."

He can barely hear himself. He shouldn't talk. He should be silent. And wait.

But her lips move as she asks him about the spell, about what he is to do.

"Kill the King."

The words fall from his mouth. He sees her eyes widen.

And then everything blurs.
A women yells at Sookie.
Commotion.
There are shots fired outside the door.

He stands in the darkness. Cold. Still.

The door is opened again.

The whispers congeal and become a voice his ears can hear.
“Mr. Northman, it’s time to go.”

The woman who was Marnie and is now Antonia looks at him coldly.
There are others there.
He doesn’t see them.

“Yes, Antonia.”

His reply is soft and he begins to walk. There is only one path ahead of him. The one she has chosen.

It leads them through dark streets and as they move, she instructs him. With her voice. With her mind. The magic curling inside of him like dusky tendrils.

There’s a building. Large and looming. Brightly lit.

They move inside and down, down into the basement. Antonia stays there with - Roy? Roy.
Eric walks up the stairs, slowly enough to be seen.

He is to be seen.

There are other vampires there.

(Sheriffs, called in to look for the Sheriff of Area 5, Eric Northman, the fugitive. The vampire controlled by a necromancer. The threat . Sheriffs called in as security to make sure that the Festival of Tolerance will go off without a hitch.)

They see him.

He runs.

(At vampire speed. But not as fast as he can. They have to catch him. But not before they’re all the way down, down in the basement).

They corner him.

He turns. Slowly.

“You have cornered me,” he says, Anotonias voice loud in his mind.
“I surrender.”

Comments

[dobadthings]

Time is of the essence.

The setback at the Moongoddess Emporium matters little anymore; Antonia saw to that. Even if Sookie escaped, thanks to that lying werewolf, no one else was going to be so lucky. So she trapped Tara and the rest of the wannabe witches inside with a spell that locked all the doors and caused doorknobs to burn anyone who touched them.

Now, Antonia sends Eric into the night to do her bidding, luring the sheriffs away from the hotel entrance. And in the depths of the building, she waits with Roy, whose...enthusiasm is like that of a loyal, overeager dog, but he is useful as a backup human.

In a swift rush of air, Eric zooms past, three vampires on his heels. The fools think they have captured him.

But Antonia steps out of her hiding place behind them, drawing forth the power of the ancient ones as an unearthly wind swirls all around them and the words flow from her lips:

"Erratus Mihi Exactum
Compre Gavo
Omnes Vosi Nevo Se Deductev Mihi
Hinc Porro
Egos Honos Tibi Domine!"

And just like Eric, their gazes go blank and they all fall under her command. To use as weapons. To wreak havoc and show the world that vampires must be destroyed.

Roy laughs. "This is great!"

And it is far too easy.

[onceaviking]

If someone had told Sookie that Debbie Pelt of all people, well werewolves, would be helping her in trying to save Bill (and Eric) she's have laughed.
But this was her life now.

And when Debbie had come over and offered to help she'd listened to her, and she'd been sincere. So she'd accepted.

She'd been surprised by her old lady driving (seriously, a bad ass werewolf ought to be a little more fierce behind the wheel) but they'd finally reached the hotel where Bill was going to be hosting his tolerance thing. Breaking Eric loose hasn't worked out. He'd been too controlled by the witch and Sookie har been doing her very best not to think about the consequences of that.
And not to think about the danger she was headed toward.

But she can't anymore. Because they are in front of the hotel and she is the only one who can stop what is about to go down.
Or try to anyway.

She gets out of the car, almost before it has stopped.

"Do you want me to come in with you?" Debbie asks.

"No."
She realises that it sounds a little curt. A little distrustful.

"No need to get into any more trouble on my account. Go on, go home to Alcide."

Maybe he at least will have a happy ending here. With Debbie. And that is giving up before things have even started so she turns her mind back to the task at hand.

She doesn't pause to see Debbie drive away. She turns and runs, runs, runs, fervently hoping that she won't be too late.

[dobadthings]

In the grand ballroom of the hotel, the Festival of Tolerance is well in progress.

A gathering of about two hundred people crowds around the stage which is festooned with balloons and the word TOLERANCE. And on that stage giving a speech is none other than Nan Flanagan, spokesperson for the American Vampire League, and organizer of this festival. Truth be told, it's just a big damn PR event. Because right now, vampires need some really fucking good PR in the wake of Russell Edgington.

There had been bickering earlier with Bill Compton, now also onstage, sitting patiently for his turn at the podium. Should they cancel the event? Should they not? With Eric Northman still missing and deemed a threat, Bill thought it was a no-brainer. But Nan insisted that it had to go on.

They had to spend the day in Bill's basement chained down with silver, of course, because Antonia was still out there as well, and could still potentially work her vampire spell. Fucking witches.

"...But facts are facts," Nan orated to the rapt audience as TV cameras rolled, "even if the fact is that facts are almost never heard. So let's hear some, shall we? Fact: from July of last year, vampire-on-human crime was down, the lowest it had been since the Great Revelation. Fact: human-on-vampire crime was also down, almost 20%. This is the reality, that things are getting better, that they can get better. I know that you all believe it. And I share your beliefs."

Applause and cheers.

And a bit of side-eye from Bill. Because he knows damn well what a cynical, hypocritical bitch she is.

"And now I'd like to introduce to you one of the most generous benefactors the state of Louisiana has ever known, Bon Temps entrepreneur and philanthropist, Mr. William Compton."

Amid more cheers and applause, Bill gets to his feet, and after exchanging gracious air-kisses with Nan because that sort of thing looks good on camera, he takes the podium.

But lurking behind the curtains in one of the balconies are Antonia and Rob, watching for the right moment. Across the way hiding in another balcony is Eric, watching for Antonia's signal.

"Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen," says Bill in his antebellum drawl, smiling handsomely. "What a wonderful night, for a wonderful cause. But make no mistake, there is still much work to be done."

Nan discreetly rolls her eyes.

"For history teaches us that war can sound a louder call to action than can peace. That a message of hate can seduce an impressionable mind far more readily than a message of love. Which means we must remain vigilant--"

[onceaviking]

"Bill!"

Sookie's voice is high and panicked as she runs through the doors into the ballroom, hesitating briefly before she starts pushing though the crowd towards the podium.

She has to warn him. And damn the consequences and cameras.

The vampire guards stationed at the railing of the balcony overlooking the stately and festively decked ballroom train their guns at her.

[dobadthings]

Surprised, Bill looks out over the crowd, scanning for her. "Sookie-?"

And Nan hisses under her breath: "Oh Jesus fucking Christ..."

Suddenly there are screams of horror. People panic and point and the lights and TV cameras swing around.

On the balcony, those three guards now hang eviscerated, their guts spilling out of their useless tactical gear, held up for all to see by Antonia's zombie vampire sheriffs.

Antonia gives a nod to them, and they drop the bodies into the shrieking, scattering crowd. In swift blur, they descend and attack, mauling and dismembering innocent people as they try to escape.

And then, Antonia locks eyes with Eric. And she nods.

[onceaviking]

As the crowd erupts in a panicked frenzy around her, Sookie fights to keep her balance.
She screams, "Bill! They're coming for you, Bill.
Run!" at the top of her lungs but it is too late.

Behind the curtain on the balcony, Eric straightens. And then he flies across the panicked crowd, onto the stage.

Kill the King.

He hears her voice in his head. It reverberates through his entire body.

It's so simple.
He must kill the King.

[dobadthings]

Up in the balcony, Roy is having way too much fun watching the chaos unfold. "Wooo, you better run!" he hollers. "It's like pouring boiling water on fire ants! Woo!"

Antonia is also enjoying the scene, the sounds, the screams, with a more subdued intensity.

"Hear me, slaves," she murmurs, he voice low but reaching into the minds of the vampires. "Kill the king." She joins hands with Roy, and together they chant, making the spell more powerful -- and the vampires more deadly, as they rampage through the fleeing crowd.

And as Bill tries in vain to locate Sookie, he is stopped short by Eric, his fangs bared.

[onceaviking]

He is there.
Eric snarls and bares his fangs, grabbing hold of Bill.

He lifts the King up by the throat and throws him off the stage, onto the now empty floor.

He hears Sookie yell his name. Distantly. As through water.

It doesn't matter.

She is right in front of him.

It doesn't matter.

He mutters, "I must kill the King," and jumps off the stage and over her head, aiming for Bill.

[dobadthings]

Bill has zero time to respond to Eric's onslaught, and he finds himself slammed down, thrown across the floor like a rag doll. Eric will always be too powerful for him, under a spell or not. But he tries to put up a fight, and at least he is bearing the brunt of the attack instead of any innocent bystanders.

Innocent bystanders, who are still running for their lives, being chased out of the room by the vampires under Antonia's control.

This is all still being filmed. But Nan puts a stop to that, knocking the cameras over and screaming at a cameraman to get the fuck out.

[onceaviking]

Eric grabs hold of his head from the side and says,"Here comes death," tightening his grip to break Bill's neck.

"Let him go!" Sookie yells, desperately.

[dobadthings]

Bill is jerked to his knees as Eric wraps an arm around his throat. He struggles and grabs at him, but he can't break free.

Over the noise and the chaos, he hears Sookie screaming Eric's name.

[onceaviking]

She's gotta do something.

So she jumps him. Eric.
Trying to distract him. To get him to listen. To get his strong, huge hand off Bill's neck.

He turns a little, dislodging her, and she falls on her tush.

So it worked.
Kinda.

[dobadthings]

It's enough.

Bill rolls onto his back and pulls out a gun. A gun that shoots silver bullets.

"Not for me," he declares, and he shoots Eric squarely in the chest.

Leaping to his feet, Bill shoots one of the vampire sheriffs in the stomach, and another in the shoulder, bringing them down. They are injured, but only just enough to hinder them.

Nan, however, takes down the third sheriff by staking him with a pencil. He turns into a pile of blood and goo and Nan's suit is ruined forever.

Up in the balcony, Antonia and Roy's chanting becomes breathless and slightly panicked, as they witness their plan beginning to unravel.

Bill aims his gun at Eric again for another shot. The head, this time, perhaps.

[onceaviking]

That was not what she wanted.

While Eric digs in his chest, groaning about silver, Sookie gets between him and Bill, arms outstreched.

"Bill. Please don't."

[dobadthings]

Sookie gets in the way and-- he draws back, lowering the gun. Hesitantly. His finger on the trigger.

She's still protecting Eric. Why is she still protecting him and risking her life?

He would question her except now is not a good time, as he eyes Eric on the floor.

[onceaviking]

Behind Sookie Eric is digging in his chest. The passion is irrelevant. The bullet must come out because he had to kill the King.

He finally gets hold of the slippery piece of metal and yanks it out.
And then he gets to his feet.
Eyes locked with the King.
The King he has to kill.



Sookie turns and tries to reason with Eric. It almost looked as if he was paying attention to what she said earlier. She might get through to him.

And she can't help thinking that he was almost careful when he threw her on the floor.
It hardly hurt.

"Don't let her control you," she says, trying to catch Erica eyes.
Old Eric would have hated that notion. Being controlled.

"Fight her!"

And Eric hears her.
But her words are just sounds. Rocks skipping on the surface of his mind.

"Go home," he tells her, without looking at her.

[dobadthings]

Not even Sookie's words can soothe the savage beast, and Bill keeps his gun at the ready should Eric try to lunge at her.

How he wishes Sookie would actually just listen and go home!

He will shoot Eric again; she doesn't have to see this. He raises his gun--

[onceaviking]

But he is too slow. Eric lunges at him and tears the gun from his hand before back-slapping him across the face.

He picks him up, snarling, and throws him into a merch table, making the Old Guys Rule t-shirts and caps scatter, and the shelves collapse.

And then he picks up a piece of the broken Bannister from the balcony, hefting it in his hand.

It's a bit big. But a stake is a stake.

His face is a pale and bloodied mask, his mouth contoured in a snarl.

[dobadthings]

Bill has gone up against Eric several times before since they've known each other, their rivalry having intensified with Sookie caught in the middle. They were never fair fights. Eric is over a thousand years old. Any advantage Bill had, he took it, however unsuccessful.

And then came that moment, under the full moon. Eric docile, subservient, and on his knees before him. Bill had him. He had him. The ancient wooden stake in his hand, ready to deliver the True Death. But he showed Eric mercy and let him live.

Now, as Bill finds himself battered and sprawled on the floor amongst debris, there is no mercy from Eric in return. Just mindless, relentless bloodlust.

Rarely does fear ever strike his heart, but as Bill eyes the large shard of wood held high and aimed directly at his chest, he looks to Sookie--

"Sookie, go!"

--and braces himself.

[onceaviking]

It's an instinctive reaction. Just like the one before.

This time, she's too far away to get physically between them. And truth be told, she's not sure that Eric would stop even if she did.

Instead she yells,"No!" at the top of her lungs and throws her hands out in front of her, palms towards Eric.

And her fairy light, otherworldly bright and golden, streams from her hands and his Eric, enveloping him.

It looks as if he is on fire.

[dobadthings]

The light is almost blinding.

From across the room, Nan stops what she's doing to stare in bewilderment. Bill momentarily shields his eyes, but gapes up at Sookie, then at Eric.

Roy barks out, "What the fuck?!"

Antonia feels something inside her snap, the frayed ends of a chain turning to dust. "Broken," she gasps, speechless and rigid with awe and fear, as her spell on Eric is finally shattered.

She no longer has control over him, can no longer bend him to her will. Eric is no longer her slave.

Eric is Eric again.

And this realization sends a chill down her spine.

[onceaviking]

The light engulfs him. But it doesn't hurt even as it burns away wispy ropes of spellcraft inside his mind.

He is standing in the doorway of the great hall, the smells of woodsmoke and animals as comfortable and well-known as his own body. The smirk on his lips.

Father looks at him across the table and he feels the brush of Thorgerd's dress as she runs past him, laughing. He drops his hand on her curls.

And then -

He feels the steel move through his body, like liquid fire, cleaving him.

And then -

He sees darkness (still blinded by the fairy light) and then he sees bloody lips stretched in a sweet and mad smile and he feels -he feels - a light cold weight settle upon him, a small, cold hand grab the back of his neck.

And then -

He is bitten. And is dying.
And is born.

And then -

A cool finger runs across his lower lip.

And then -

There is a barrage of ships and carriages. And a door.

And then -

Pam looks at him, blood gushing from her slashed wrists.

And then -

There are cars and planes and motorcycles.
And France.

And then -

There's a fucking VHS tape.

And then -

There's the throne and Sooki looking at him, hesitantly, vampire bait in a white and yellow sundress.

And then there's
Godric.

Godric.

Godric.

And Sookie.

And he makes love to her and the light is gone and he stumbles and looks up.

And Eric is old Eric and new Eric and Eric who did not want to be king.

Eric is Eric.

[dobadthings]

In the stillness that ensues, Antonia surveys the carnage. There are dozens of people lying on the floor, bleeding, moaning, crying. A child wails for her dead mother.

The spirit of Antonia the witch is drawn forth from Marnie's physical body, further splitting her in two. And her heart breaks for the little girl. "What have I done...?" she whispers.


And in this stillness, Bill finds an opportunity.

With vampire speed, he leaps to his feet and lunges at Eric, grabbing him by the throat and forcing him to his knees. He raises his other hand to claw his throat out.

[onceaviking]

Sookie rushes over, crying,"Bill! I think he might be-" but she is cut off by Eric.

"Get off me."

He might be on his knees with Bill's fingers pressed against his windpipe.

But you couldn't tell from his voice.

It is not a suggestion, Compton.

[dobadthings]

Eric's voice...is different.

Hand still on his throat, Bill peers at his face. His eyes. Just to make sure.

Ah.

He drops both hands, and takes a step back. Somewhat begrudgingly. But since he literally does not have the upper hand anymore, it makes more sense to concede. Plus, he has to think of Sookie.

"Marnie!" Rob suddenly shouts in a panic from the balcony.

Bill swiftly turns around, baring his fangs.

Startled, Antonia's spirit recedes back into Marnie's body. And she raises her arms, summoning her powers, only this time, to escape.

"Effluum!" she calls, and a breeze whips through the room, taking her, Rob, and the two remaining vampire sheriffs still under her control with her. They magically disappear into the ether.

Meanwhile, Nan, covered in vampire gore and blood, is going around trying to fucking keep everything together.

"We have to help these poor people," she says sternly, breaking up this little menage-a-trois of awkwardness. Specifically, her glare is aimed at Bill. He is the King of Louisiana. He has to fucking fix this.

She snaps at him: "Bill. Image."

Bill glares right back. She's right, of course. This whole thing was a disaster, and now they have an immense amount of work to do to clean up -- and cover it all up. Any video footage will have to be heavily edited, and Glamouring Squads need to be sent out as soon as possible.

"Everybody stay calm, the fire department and EMTs are on the way," he hears Nan announcing loudly, keeping up her own image. "I myself am a trained, caring, and certified first responder..."

Bill sees the way Eric is looking at Sookie. And she can't take her eyes off of him.

Fine.

He moves off to go join Nan and organize everything necessary to help the injured humans.

This is probably not the welcome back Eric might prefer, but Bill is not the one to give it to him.

[onceaviking]

Bil leaves.

None of them look at him.

He can feel her slipping away. Sookie.

And he doesn't want her to.

He feels open and raw and torn apart and he doesn't trust his voice.

He can feel Pam. Distantly. But he doesn't reach out for her either.
She'd be able to tell.

A cleaning crew arrives as well as a posse of well-dressed vampires. Calm, efficient, and experts at glamouring.
They set to work at once and the King, Nan, Sookie, and Eric kræves for Bill's mansion.

It's a very quiet car ride.
Very.