Creature of a New Kind

Making a Change

Sookie awoke and huffed as she stared at the ceiling. Half of her mind hoped that she would find an empty couch when she ventured to go and find some blood. But, when she saw Eric sprawled out, sound asleep, she shook her head and considered her circumstance.

He obviously sought her forgiveness. But for the life of her, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She poured herself a glass of blood and thought of what had happened when she had tried to progress without Eric. She had almost been killed on the first try. She let out a low sarcastic chuckle when she spotted the yellow maserati in front of her porch. She guessed it fell back into her possession again. She wasn't sure she wanted it, but it seemed she couldn't shake it, a little like Eric.

He began to stir when he smelt freshly poured blood. The floorboards still stank of the stench of dead vamp. He wasn't sure how long it would take for the smell to go. He searched for Sookie and found her sat on the edge of her bed, sipping on a glass of blood.
"I'll get a guy in to change the floorboards." He told her, nodding over to the living room.
"Thanks." She stared into her glass, stained a morbid tint of red.

Eric could feel the walls up around herself.
"Do you want me to leave?" He asked and she sighed, placing her glass down a little too hard on her nightstand.
"What does it matter? You'll do what you want anyway." She told him and he huffed, watching her waltz past him, into the bathroom.

He let his head fall into his hands. He wondered if Nora was happy with herself. But he knew he couldn't blame her entirely. He had just as much to do with the infidelity, if not more than her. He hadn't imagined that it would cause such a drastic shift in his life. But, he found himself reconsidering everything as he sat on the edge of the old wooden bed, with the god awful floral sheets.

He had been alive for thousands of years, and all that time, he had wanted money and sex and luxury. But he had never met anyone that made him stop in his tracks and consider why he wanted these things. He had more money than anyone could ever fathom. If he recorded all of his wealth he would easily be one of the richest creatures on the planet. Why did he need to work so hard, hustle so hard to make even more money?

Sookie had caused a cerebral shift in his mentality. She had brought him back into the light and with that came a whole host of new emotions. He felt guilt trickle back into his soul, something that had been absent since he was turned. He partially hated himself for being so easily changed. But also, he knew that this hatred would be shadowed by a future disdain for himself if he didn't change his ways. He knew he would lose Sookie for good, if he hadn't already.

Eric had left his mind wide open and Sookie felt dizzy, experiencing the shit show of emotions that was playing out in there. It was pretty clear that he was being tormented. She smiled a little at the knowledge of this, knowing that he deserved more than a little torment for what he had done to her, but also for the centuries of debauchery.

She stayed in the shower for almost an hour, scrubbing herself and listening into Eric's mind. She decided that for now, she was going to sit back and watch what kind of attempt of redemption that was going to follow. She resigned herself to the fact that her life and Eric's were always going to be intertwined in one way or another. So she might as well enjoy the show.

By the time that Sookie emerged, Eric was determined to change. He had never felt this motivation to be a better person before and it was an emotion he was completely uncomfortable with. But, he knew that it was the only way that his soul would be able to live in peace and the only sliver of hope that he had for a life with Sookie.

They sat down to breakfast, Sookie, Jessica and Eric. Jessica could feel the awkward tension in the room and decided to break it with a simple question:
"Are we going to talk about last night or what?" Sookie shook her head and allowed herself to smile ever so slightly. Jessica was still a seventeen year old girl who wanted to avoid awkwardness.
"I was almost taken to a creepy lab in England, killed a potentially very powerful vamp with a candlestick and now have remnants of vampire goop in our floorboards. What is there to talk about?" She asked and Jessica let out a chuckle, wondering how Sookie could be so humourous and guessing it was her way of dealing with the trauma.
"I think this is just evidence of why Sookie shouldn't do business on her own." Eric stated, half joking and half serious.