26 - Sookie Stackhouse and Eric Northman Look to the Future - Part Two

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Chapter Twenty Six

"Does this have something to do with your recent studies?" I asked her, referring as obliquely as I could to her recent feasibility study.

Eric had told me the unique Scryer would travel forward in time on a nearby parallel dimension to see how the takeover by vampires - Vampire Liberation as they called it - would work out.

I knew it would be a failure, humans wouldn't be controlled no matter how benevolent the rulers appeared to be. Even with the most positive spin Eric could manage, there was no way VL was going to work except to bring on a war between vampires and humans, a war we could not win.

A new thought tickled my mind. Would it be a war I would want to win, now that I was Vampire?

Someone had to end up as the winner in every war. Would I willingly be staked or would I fight to keep my life? The question seemed to be a no-brainer. Of course I would fight for my life.

I pushed this whole issue out of my mind, hoping it would never come to this kind of choice. Eric and I were actively opposing the whole Day of the Dead thing by sabotaging Daynight.

At that thought I felt a pang of regret. I would like to be able to be around during the day, to take my little grandson to the park. The thought of peeking in at a sleeping infant as my whole experience of the baby's early life made a wave of sadness wash over me.

Again, a topic for another time. Right now I needed to find out what Anna Hita was worried about. Had she seen the future and discovered something terrible?

I felt Eric move slightly on the seat next to me, a sign he was not pleased at my bringing up the subject of Anna Hita's time travel. I felt the weird buzzing sensation on the side of my face nearest him that meant he was trying to use his Maker's influence to shut me up. It wasn't working, I could ignore the Maker vibes coming from Eric as I could ignore my cell phone when it was set to vibrate.

Anna Hita wasn't concerned about my knowledge. She knew I was aware of her powers to time travel and she also knew she could glamour me to forget anything she wanted me to forget.

She didn't know she couldn't glamour Eric anymore. His Dracula ring had been enchanted to repel all glamour, even the potent stuff Anna Hita and Jure radiated. At least that was the claim my witch friend Amelia had made for the ring. Come to think of it. maybe Anna Hita did know if she could read vampire minds as I suspected.

"The answer to that is both yes and no. We will go back to my parlor and I will explain," Anna Hita said with a quick glance at her driver, a huge Sumo wrestler type vampire man in a very well made suit.

Even though he was far away in the lengthy stretch limo, with a wall of glass between our oversized compartment and his ample front seat, he was a vampire and could probably hear everything we said. I assumed he was loyal to Anna Hita, or she could glamour him to forget anything he wasn't supposed to know. Still, best to put a lid on it until we had complete privacy.

The big car sped silently through the dark and fog until it pulled up to the curb outside her parlor. We entered through the peeling front door, down the very narrow dark hallway with decades of vampire graffiti written on the walls, through the red beaded curtain into her psychic reading room.

Vintage gas lanterns lit the room, I could smell the kerosene in the lamps, there were no windows and no ventilation. I also smelled something like a giant frog, numerous vampires and a strange incense Eric had burned once when we were at a guest cabin for a weekend. I stopped sampling the air.

We didn't sit down on the ornately carved antique wooden chairs. She pulled aside the unicorn and dragon tapestry to reveal the door to her apartment. We went from the heavy Victorian and Gothic decor of her parlor to the most delightfully lovely light gold and white room.

Her white sofas had gilded carved wood arms and legs, her huge fireplace was surrounded by a gorgeous lavishly decorated white marble mantle from France, probably hundreds of years old. The white carpet was spotless and thick, the walls a cream brocade. Glittering gold objects decorated the white marble table tops including a large eye catching golden pyramid on the center of the mantle. It appeared to be solid gold and polished to a deep buttery sheen. Discreet lighting made the room glow, both bright and invitingly cozy.

I knew this room must be soundproofed, as well as safe against all manner of attack. Under this room was a basement shrine room to Isis, underneath that a labyrinth of other rooms including the Scryer's safe room. Even a vampire as old and revered as Anna Hita had to keep herself safe from attack while she rested during the day.

I felt a moment of conflict. If Daynight was perfected all these precautions could become a thing of the past. Yet Eric and I were working against the production of Daynight, forcing Anna Hita to live a life under threat of attack.

Vampires wanted to insure that pollution, warfare and disease did not put an end to the human race, thereby putting an end to blood dependent vampires. The extinction of one meant the extinction of the other.

As glad as I was to visit with Anna Hita, I was anxious to get going, to get to Europe and link up with Linda. I wanted to see for myself that Linda was safe and not being subtly coerced into moving too fast with Jure.

I was also worried that Jure was simply using Linda as a pawn to get me or to overthrow Eric. As lovely and desirable as my Linda was, I didn't trust Jure. He had been a bachelor a long long time. His powers of manipulation to get his way was the stuff of legends.

Eric sat stiffly next to me. I knew he was feeling out of control at the moment, wanting to know what I was going to reveal about my inside knowledge of Vampire Liberation, if I was going to tell Anna Hita about our sabotage of the laboratory in the underground secret center where Daynight was being developed. I hoped Eric would give me credit for a little common sense.

Anna Hita brought me a golden jewel encrusted goblet of warm fresh blood which I gulped down like a hungry kid wolfs down a milk shake. She had given me a snow white napkin with the goblet.

I wiped the blood mustache off my upper lip, staining the napkin with blood and lipstick. I folded it to hide the stain and placed it next to the goblet on her expansive and expensive white marble table. A good enzyme detergent would restore the napkin, if not she could probably afford to just toss it. I couldn't picture the classy Anna Hita with a roll of paper towels or a stack of paper napkins.

She sat down gracefully across from us and spoke to Eric first. She indicated me with a sweeping movement of her white arm, her bracelets jingling merrily, as a television game show hostess might indicate a brand new car.

"You have done well, my son. Your Child is perfectly made. You must be so proud of her."

I didn't mind that she was speaking of me as if I wasn't there. She was addressing Eric as one Maker to another. She would also know the amount of tension Eric was experiencing due to what he must have feared would be my loose lips. Since she already knew everything I didn't think he had anything to fear. Of course he didn't know that. Perhaps his Dracula ring would prevent her from reading his mind.

Eric wanted complete control, he would even settle for the illusion of complete control. He had been so amazingly powerful for so long he was loathe to recognize that there were forces greater than himself. I knew Anna Hita did not pose a threat to either him or me. I knew Eric could trust her, even if he didn't completely accept that.

"We have made a good beginning," he allowed, meaning he hoped to high heaven I didn't screw it up by blabbing too many secrets. He took my hand in his.

He held my hand tightly but it seemed to be more from affection than his desire to control me. I recalled how Bill had almost crushed my hand when he wanted me to shut up. Not nice of him, not nice at all.

"We must now join together to protect your Child," Anna Hita said, leaning forward. "She may be in great danger."

Her words sent another arrow of anxiety into my gut. She had our complete attention.


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more to come ....(Thank you so much for sticking around and commenting when you can. It means the world to me. Hoping for your good health and peace of mind. See you Saturday if all goes as it should. Till then - hug your necks!)

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