Look Before You Leap [True Blood]

41: Secrets Are No Fun

"I don't like him."

"You don't have to like him, you just have to help him," Sookie said.

"I mean, I don't like him for you," he said. "If the doctor couldn't help him, what makes you think I can?"

We were quiet for a minute. "You say we're royalty," she said. "But yet I can't see any advantages to being what we are. If we're so fucking special, then use your magic to help Bill."

"Fine, I'll try."

Sookie grabbed Niall's plate and started doing dishes. "I'll take you to Bill's," I offered. When we were halfway across the cemetery, Niall stopped. "I know you can't save him."

"But Sookie doesn't."

I nodded. "How could you have sat by and let her infect him, knowing it would kill him?" I asked.

"I see everything, but I'm not able to save girls all from it all. Even if I could, I wouldn't. Parents watch their children make mistakes, knowing they could stop them. But children will never learn if their parents always intervene."

"What did I learn from watching Alcide die?" I asked.

"You tell me." He shook his head. "You will teach that baby girl so much, and you will give her all the love her father would have. You'll be happy again, I promise you that."

I stared at him for a moment before stepping away. "I'm going to spend what time Bill has left, by his side."

LPOV

We pulled up outside the church camp where Sarah Newlin was hiding out. As I got out of the SUV, I saw Sarah walking towards us with her arms raised. "Is this crazy bitch really turning herself in?"

Eric took off. "Eric, wait!" Pam called, she ran after him. Eric pinned Sarah to a flagpole. Mr. Gus' men pulled their guns on Eric. "Let her go!" I knew that I could help, and I knew what we had promised. Except all I could think about in that moment was that Sarah Newlin was evil incarnate. She deserved whatever was coming to her.

"Let her go, or I pull the trigger," Pam said. Pam has gotten one of the guard's guns and was holding it to her chest.

"What are you doing?" Eric asked.

"You die, I die."

Eric sunk his fangs into Sarah's neck. I thought she was done for, but then he tossed her to the ground. We all stared at him, and then he looked at his arms, slowly the black veins faded away. He started laughing. Eric was back.

OoOoO

Mr. Gus had a private jet chartered to take us back to Shreveport, and we reconvened in Fangtasia. The bar was looking much better than the last time I'd seen it, completely over run with Hep-V vamps. "I called the cleaners," Pam told me with a shrug.

Mr. Gus motioned for us to join him in a booth. "I've been on the phone with my people in Tokyo. I'm afraid the development of NooBlood is going to take a little longer than we'd hoped."

"Aren't these the same scientists that created TruBlood?" Pam asked. "Why the hell can't the synthesize Sarah's blood."

"Ms. Newlin's blood is already synthesized," he informed us.

"Then why isn't it already on shelves?" I asked. In the back of my mind I was thinking about what Rachel had said about Bill, I needed to get him the cure pronto.

"Because, Ms. Compton, we don't want it perfect," he said. "My friends over at Gillette, can make a perfect razor that never has to be replaced, but they don't. Energizer is capable of making a battery that just goes and goes, but they don't."

"The shorted the half-life, the larger the profit," Eric said.

"Exactly, we want NooBlood to be a healthy habit." He took a shot. "That's why, for the foreseeable future, our little trade secret has to stay just that, a secret. We clear?"

Eric and Pam nodded, Mr. Gus looked at me. I shrugged, "We're clear."

OoOoO

While Pam and Eric discussed marketing with Mr. Gus, I excused myself to call Rachel. "Lily?"

"Hey, okay, I gotta be quick. If anyone catches me, I'm gonna be in some deep shit."

"Deep shit?" Rachel repeated. "Please tell me Eric hasn't dragged you into another life threatening situation."

"Um, okay, I won't."

"Jesus, fucking, Christ. Okay, how can I help?"

"I don't need your help, but you need mine. Eric is better."

"Better as in he's not fucking crazy like usual, or better as in..." she trailed off.

"Better as in he's cured. He doesn't have the virus anymore. He's going to be okay."

"Oh my god, that's amazing! How?"

"We found Sarah Newlin. Apparently there was a cure to Hep-V, but she took it while everything was going to shit. It's in her blood now, she's the cure."

"That crazy bitch is the cure?" Rachel squeaked.

"Yeah, believe me, I'm less than thrilled she's still breathing too." I sighed. "Anyway, we're working with Yokonomo Corp-"

"The people that made TruBlood?" She asked.

"Yeah, exactly. We're going to create a kind of medicine out of her blood, something that'll cure Hep-V vamps over time."

"But there's a cure right now."

"Yes, but, these are business men. They want to make money off of it."

"Honestly, capitalism fucking sucks," she said. "When's it going to be ready?"

"That's the thing, I thought we'd have it soon," I told her. "But they're telling us it's going to be months."

"Bill doesn't have months, he needs the cure now," Sookie said.

"Am I on speaker?" I asked.

There was a pause. "Maybe."

"Lily, you have got to get that cure to Bill," Sookie said. "I don't know how much time he has left."

"Believe me, if I could, I would," I told her. "They've sworn us to secrecy. These guys are scary, if I try to get out of here with Sarah's blood, I'm as good as dead."

"Where are you?" Rachel asked.

"Fangtasia," I said. "Wait, Rachel, no. Do not come here."

"You said it yourself, you can't get out. So we'll get in."

She hung up before I had the chance to protest. "Fuck."