Back In Time

Chapter 13: In Which We Visit the Viking

Eric POV, the night Sookie went back in time.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I knew something was wrong. I couldn't feel her. There was only one way that I knew of to sever the tie between Maker and Child.

The True Death.

I'd heard the phrase 'a blind panic' before and thought it was another human exaggeration.

But when the white-hot panic seared through my chest as I charged through the hotel room, trying to find the phone, I learned that it wasn't.

Literally blinded by fear, I destroyed most of the suite before I found the cell in my jeans pocket. I'd been alive a very long time and with very few exceptions (Pam's torture at the Magister's hands and learning Godric meant to end his life at the top of the list), I'd never been so scared. I called Sookie's number first, knowing that she wouldn't answer. She wouldn't be awake yet; it was far too early for one so young to have risen. I clenched my teeth as her voicemail message played and waited for the beep before I spoke.

"Sookie, call me immediately," I said tersely, snapping the phone shut. I thought for a moment. High-handed. "Fuck!" I shouted. I dialled her back as I paced the suite like a caged lion. I fisted my hand in my hair to avoid breaking anything else. Her message played again.

"I love you," I said after the beep, hanging up and immediately dialling Jessica's number. Again, too young to be awake. Again, the voicemail message. Again, the broken amenities.

"Jessica, this is Eric. Call me immediately. Do not fuck around," I snapped the phone shut again, sitting abruptly on the couch. Think. I needed to think. I opened the phone again, dialling Pam. Two rings and she answered.

"Black lace, top and bottom," she said in a sultry tone. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"It's Eric," I told her shortly.

"God damn this caller ID to the fiery pits of hell!" she growled in an undertone. Had I not been so tightly wound, I may have laughed.

"Have you heard from Sookie?" I chose not to hide the urgency.

"Honeymoon not going so well?" she asked in her snarkiest tone.

"Do not FUCK WITH ME PAM!" I couldn't help shouting. I'd gone back to pacing and my mind was running a thousand miles an hour. Where the fuck was she?

"Calm. The fuck. Down," she answered, the snark gone. "No, I haven't heard from Sookie. What the fuck is going on, Eric?"

"I can't feel her," I snapped. Silence. "I don't know what this means. I don't know where she is, or where she was last night. She was frustrated with the redhead and told me she was going off to hunt. I let her go as I had some business to attend to. When she didn't come back, I assumed she would lodge elsewhere and return tonight. She was not distressed at any point, or I'd have felt her."

More silence.

"God damn it Pam, say something!" I growled into the phone, needing to hear something besides my own panicked thoughts.

"Could it have been the witch?" she asked, fear evident under her words. The witch. Sookie's meddling friend who'd cut our bond when she'd still been human. Though Sookie hadn't spoken with her in some time and I didn't think such a thing was possible between a Maker and his progeny, I couldn't rule anything out.

"Contact her immediately. If she had anything to do with this, no amount of wards will stop me from ending her," I growled into the phone.

"I suggest getting some information from her before then," Pam answered.