Obviously I was going to fight side by side with Eric. And he seemed to be on the queen's side. So I turned my back on them, and raced towards the king and his men.

I wasn't scared, although I knew I should be. I was scared for a little bit when they were just standing there, and I was in the middle, but now the familiar rush of adrenaline hit me, and I just anticipated the moment both sides collided.

I don't know who I hit first, but I know it was like hitting a brick wall. My fangs were extended, and I was snarling. I guess the force of my hit surprised him, probably due to my size. He stumbled back, and I was able to sink my teeth into his neck. He snarled, ripping me away from his body and throwing me to the ground, causing me to land on my stomach.

The moment I hit the dirt, someone was on top of me, twisting my body at an odd angle. I cried out, my burn searing, but not as much since the blood from the human had helped me heal. I was sure my back would have broken if whoever the vampire was hadn't been torn away from me. I leapt to my feet in time to see Eric rip his head off.

"Hey sweaty." He called over, smiling, his fangs coated in blood. I leapt towards him, and his eyes widened in surprise for a moment as he noticed my crazed eyes. I maneuvered around him, grabbing the stake that was aiming towards his heart. Quick as a flash, it turned it back on the vampire who had been trying to kill him. He dissolved onto the ground, and I turned back to Eric,

"We'll talk later. Just try not to die." I asked him, and his smile melted into a hard scowl as he ran back into the fight.

I took that moment to look around me. It was worse than I thought it would have been. Everyone looked terrifying, their eyes all black with the smell of blood. Already everyone was covered in blood and body sludge.

I could see Eric fighting in the center, taking on three vampires at one time. God, I think I might love him.

And I loved this. It was exhilarating, and I loved the feeling of having no control, of just letting out all of the emotions I had held in. And boy, did I have a lot of pent up emotions.

I was so confused about Eric. I thought, had hoped, that he had believed me, and that he was going somewhere to brood for all eternity. But it seems like he went to the queen, and got her and her men to come down here and start this war.

I didn't want to say it aloud, but I was so eternally grateful that he hadn't believed me. I had nothing to live for before, but if he could just forgive me, then I would have him, forever.

I wasn't going to assume that he would forgive me. There was a large probability that he would just leave me because I had hurt him too much, but hey, I could hope for it, couldn't I?

I jumped back into the fight landing on the back of a black haired vampire. He so happened to be the one who killed that teenage girl when I first got to the building. It felt insanely good to kill him, ripping his arm off and then finally his head. I was thanked by the vampire he had been attacking, but I barely listened.

The kill had left me exhilarated, and needing more. I forced my way deeper into the fight. I had no idea how to tell who was winning and who wasn't. I just tried killed more and more black haired vampires, and when if one of them happened to be on my side, then I would drag them out of the fight to heal before they joined in again. It was harder to kill vampires after that last kill. I wasn't nearly as experienced as them. I may have injured those enough for another vampire to get them, but I didn't kill anymore vampires. They were too fast, too strong.

I tried to use the mind reading to figure out what they were going to do before they did it, but the voices were too overwhelming and loud, and I couldn't concentrate. I almost died as a result.

So I kept my mind blocked as much as possible. I had to step out of the fight quickly when a giant chunk was taken out of my calf. I limped and ducked my way to the edge of the trees, and stood in the shadows until my calf healed. I took that opportunity to see who was winning.

We were winning handsomely. We had ten vampires left, I counted quickly, and they had six or seven. It was hard to keep count since they were moving so fast.

I could see the queen, her white shirt now red and soaked. She looked beautiful, running around and ripping vampires apart, her eyes ablaze with anger and blood lust. But that all changed quickly, way too quickly.

She was moving fast, doing amazingly well, but then she stopped suddenly her eyes going wide. Then her piercing scream filled the air and all fighting stopped. There was no sound, even those missing limbs didn't whimper or scream in pain for a moment. They just looked at the stake sticking out of Sophie- Anne's chest, and then they all watched her as she dissolved on the ground, joining the rest of the bodies.

My heart fell down to my feet. We had lost. The queen was dead, and the king would certainly not let any of us live. And we had been winning! The king stood standing where Sophie- Anne had been, his eyes wide and crazy from the impact of killing Sophie. That damn bastard was really annoying me.

I was getting ready to find Eric and flee into the shadows for eternity, but the fighting started up again.

It seemed like I had been wrong yet again about the way vampires worked. It had seemed like they depended on their Queen or King, but obviously they hadn't since the fighting was ten times more fierce than before.

The snarls were more rabid, blood thirsty. They were ferocious, knowing that their Queen had died. Once the king saw that they were all trying to get to him, but his men were holding them back, he slowly retreated out of the circle of fighting. I saw this, and my fangs came forward. He was inching towards the woods, and I jumped into the circle, trying to get the stake from Sophie's sludgy remains. I couldn't take him down with my bare hands. If I even attempted, I'd be ripped to shreds. Literally.

I spotted Eric take down a vampire, and then turn around towards a familiar friend.
"Eric, no!" I shouted as I stepped in front of him, placing my hands on his chest. "Not him." I said, looking back at Victor who had a small smile on his lips.

"See, I knew you fancied me." He said with a laugh. "I owe you one, miss." He said with a wink, working his way back into the crowd.

"He saved my life, Eric. Don't kill him." I said before disappearing into the fight.

I was tackled from behind, and hit the ground hard. Sharp teeth ripped into the back of my neck, and I screamed out, reaching behind me to throw him off, but my arms couldn't reach back. He gripped my arm, bending it back, back, back. It snapped, and I was screaming, clutching the ground with my free hand as to avoid cutting into my fist.

That's when I remembered. As the pain took hold of my body, I tried to only focus on the dirt. It dug under my finger nails, coating my hand with its cool texture. Soon, believe it or not, as my arm was being ripped from its socket, I only felt the dirt. Suddenly I felt a zap up my arm like I was just severely electrocuted. I screamed out in pain, feeling it course through my body. But it didn't fade out like most shocks do. Instead it went down my legs, then back up them, through my stomach then down my arms and into my head, then back down again. It never even began to fade.

But I felt insanely powerful. So, so powerful. My knees scrunched up beneath me, and pushed him off of me in a quick swipe. He grunted when he hit the ground, and before he could blink (which as a vampire was unnecessary) I was on top of him, twisting his neck until it cracked sickeningly. He died quickly, and soon I was kneeling in sludge, and it was soaking through the dress onto my knees. I laughed aloud, my neck throwing back as I felt the adrenaline literally course through my veins. The energy I took from the ground made me go literally insane.

The shocks were still going through my body, but instead of being painful, it was exhilarating.

Like so many other times when I felt like this, my skin glowed blue, although it was hidden by the blood coating my skin.

I went on a rampage, killing three vampires and only realizing what I had joined the fight again for when I killed one of the vampires on my side. I was already next to the stake in the blood, and I lifted it up easily, slipping it through a vampire's heart on my way to the woods. There were two vampires left on the king's side, and they were on their knees, their hands up in defeat. I let out a breath as I recognized Victor and Alder. I was insanely lucky the only two people who had been nice to me in the kingdom survived. I wondered if Bill was one of the puddles on the ground, or if he got out somehow.

The fighting had stopped, but I was in the woods, following the king's scent. He had weaved quietly through the woods, and when the scent suddenly stopped in a large clearing, the ground littered with pine needles, I became cautious. The stake was in my hand, and I gripped it tightly. The clearing was empty, and I couldn't hear anyone. But my mind reading was advanced as well as my strength was, and I located his mind quickly.

Three…

He wasn't thinking in a different language, but I could recognize his voice and accent.

Two…

If I had a heart, it would have been going wild now. He was counting down to something, and I knew it had to do with me. Where the hell was he?

One…

I found him in the tree above my head the second he jumped down on my head, breaking my spin and paralyzing e for a moment. The stake went flying and I screamed loudly. The sound was horrible, and the pain was worse. But obviously the healing process was improved as well from my new power taken from the soil, because when he got to his feet, my back had healed and I was tackling him with a snarl.

I snapped at his neck, but his arm swiped out, smacking me in the face and causing me to roll over. He got on me, straddling my waist and biting into my neck. I screamed again, reaching to his arm and ripping it off. Now it was his turn to roar into the night, the sound echoing throughout the clearing.

He fell to the side, and then to his feet, his stump of an arm dripping blood. He turned around and ran into the woods, me following immediately after him.

I had just stepped into the shadows of the trees when I realized he had stopped, and had not really run off. By then it was too late, and I had already run into the stake, going completely though my shoulder. My screams made him flinch, but he smiled, my own blood dripping down his chin. I stumbled back, and the stake popped out with a sickening slurp.

I took a few steps back as I saw him raise the stake back, getting ready to throw it through my heart. He was moving fast, and the pain had disoriented me for a moment. I registered what he was about to do, and raised my arm over my heart, causing the stake to go through that, just brushing over the part my ribs were at.

He growled, gripping my wrist and upper arm, forcing my arm closer and closer to my chest. Oh god, he was going to stake me with the stake sticking through my arm. I curled my toes into the dirt, drawing power from it.

Now, I had no idea how to control this hunger and violence and blue glow that rose in me whenever I did this, so I had no idea that when I drew energy from it, that my hand would glow so brilliantly blue I had to close my eyes. And I didn't realize that I had been pushing his face away with said hand, and that he howled in pain and rage when the glow hit him. He flew back and I was gasping, taking a few steps back and gripping the stake, slowly pulling it out.

Again, I didn't expect Russell to recover from that so quickly. I saw his shadow loom over me, and I looked up quickly. His arm was moving towards me, my stake in his grip. I saw a horrendous burn on the side of his face in the shape of my hand. I only had time to close my eyes and wait for it. Wait for the end. Instead, I felt a breath of air and a thud.

I opened them to see Bill standing in front of me, his eyes wide.

"I always loved you Sookie." He gasped out, reaching his arm up t o touch my face. "Always." I grabbed his hand as it slumped to his side, seeing the stake protruding from his chest. Then he was gone, just like the other dead vampires in a puddle at my feet.

As fast as I could, with a new found anger rising up in me, I ripped the stake from my arm.

"He didn't deserve to die." I growled. I tackled him to the ground so I was straddling his waist.

"He didn't deserve to die dammit!" I screamed at him, raising the stake above my head. "Not like you." I whispered, bloody tears dripping off of my face. I brought the stake down, sending it through his heart in one swift movement. And of all the expressions I thought would have been on his face, he was smiling, his fangs going back into his jaw, his eyes g littering with insanity. There seemed to be no resistance, and he dissolved like the others. I crawled out of the mess, so I was sitting in clean pine needles, and then I just tucked my legs to my chin, hugging them tightly.

Bill had caused me so much pain. I still remembered it, the only thing I really could remember from my old life and it hurt to think about it. How could he be so stupid? Why would he think that by leaving me he would be saving me? I could handle Lorena. Not me personally, but all of the vampires had befriended could have handled her. Now that I was a vampire, I could have taken her myself, but I was human when I had Bill. And now he was gone and I… I realized some stupid part of me still loved him, and always would love him. Maybe not on such an intimate level of before, but still, the respect I held for him now was above all others.

He had taken a piece of my heart with him, damaging me beyond repair because the emptiness had taken over. And now that I had Eric, he told me he had always loved me, and that he had left me because he loved me. He went to Lorena to protect me because he loved me.

And I could relate so fucking much that it hurt.

"Sookie." Eric's deep voice rang through the clearing and I raised my blood stained face to see him standing ten feet away.

"I killed a king." I mumbled, burying my head in my knees again. "Am I going to get beheaded?' I asked him, and heard his chuckle. His feet crunched across the pine needles as he walked over to me.

"You look like the vampire from humans nightmares." Eric commented, and I lifted my head to look at my body as he knelt beside me. My arms were completely coated in blood. Completely. I ran my finger down my arm, and I left a trail in the blood. My dress, once pale, was deep red. My legs had thick bloody streams running down them. I could see a few pieces of clean skin. I was also coated in dirt. Blood and dirt, like a monster reborn and rising from his grave.

"Gah." I gasped disgusted. "Geez, Eric, I'm disgusting." I said, looking up at him with a smile. He was staring at me sadly, staying a good distance away from me. "Eric…" I began, but then trailed off. How did I tell this man I was in love with him, and that he was the only person I ever wanted or needed?

Someone cleared their throat behind us, and both Eric and I turned so we could see who it was. I was silently grateful that I could put this conversation off a little longer.

My other maker stood there and all of his pale creepiness, leaning against a tree with his arms folded across his chest.

My fangs leapt forward once more and I pushed past Eric so I could stand in a predatory stance, growling wildly.

"Calm down." He said, his voice clearly annoyed. He held his hands over his head as he approached us. "I come in peace." He added as he walked towards us, holding up two fingers.

I didn't move an inch.

"Okay, fine. I know I never really introduced myself." He said finally, dropping his hands to his side when he was ten feet away, sighing when he realized I wasn't budging. "I'm Alec." He introduced himself. I didn't make a move to say my name. "And I know your Sookie." He said, introducing me when I didn't do it myself.

"What do you want?" I finally growled. He moved his eyes to Eric, raising his eyebrows. Eric held his arm out to me, and I looked over to see him in a casual stance, not at all like me. What the hell?

"Sookie, you need to hear him out." Eric said. "I was surprised as well when I saw him at the Queens house, but apparently he is her number two man. She has known about your talent for a while, Sookie, and was waiting for the right moment to get you. Her knowledge of Bill's departure was delayed, so that's why your turning happened so late, but one way or another, Sookie, you were going to be turned into a vampire. The queen wanted you, so she was going to have you. She gave the order for Alec to turn you." He explained further. Against all of my better judgment, I stood up, but I did not relax. My muscles were painfully tight, ready for anything.

"I just wanted to tell you who I was, and that it was not my wish in any way to harm you, or Sookie." Alec said.

"Are you kidding me? You had no intentions of harming me? What do you call draining me and turning me into a vampire?" I yelled.

"Ah, yes. I am sorry, my dear Sookie. If it makes a difference, I never wanted a child." He said, and my mouth dropped open.

"I was under orders." He explained. "My former queen, Sophie-Anne, wanted to acquire your talents, and ordered me to change you in order for her to have control and to ownership over you." He told us. My moth fell further open.

"Sookie, he never killed you for his own gain. He only did so because he was ordered." Eric said quietly beside me.

"I was forced into the life of a vampire so I could be controlled?" I gasped.

"Uh, yah." Alec said, nodding his head. "Yah, that's about right."

"What the hell!" I yelled throwing my hands in the air. "Why should I not kill you right now?" I snarled, taking a step forward.

"Well, first of all, I was under the command of my queen, and your friend, Eric, knows the seriousness of that." He said, nodding to Eric, who in turn held out his arm to hold me back from him.

"Eric!" I exclaimed, turning to face him.

"He's right, Sookie. When you pledge loyalty to a kingdom, you have no choice but to follow orders, or else the consequences are serious, and you will forever be excluded from all of the other kingdoms, never having any respect anywhere." Eric explained, and my anger lessened a little. Only a little, though. "And when I saw him with Sophie-Anne when I went to see her, I understood, although I didn't want to kill him any less." Eric said, and I smiled, knowing he at least shared some of my feelings.

"Yes, and I thought I should bring up the fact that since I was Sophie-Anne's number two man, I am now the new king of Louisiana." He said, and Eric bowed deeply suddenly, as if we hadn't just talked about killing Alec.

"Your majesty." He muttered. I just stared at him, shocked. He poked me in the side, and I followed suit.

"Thank you." Alec said happily. "As I was saying, I am now the new king, and you both will be forever held in the upmost respect in this state, or any other state we so happen to be in at the same time. I am giving this to you as an… apology of some sorts for your terrible misfortune to come across Sophie- Anne's vision. Oh, yes, and I think Sookie had grown attached to that… Victor. He's alive, in case you hadn't noticed, and he is going to be the new king of Mississippi once the magister clears him of all charges, which he will since they have wonderful evidence to back up their innocence from this whole ordeal. And I will personally not be setting charges." He said. "And I believe his brother… Adder or Alder or something will be his number two. I believe they are brothers." He added.

"You are very kind, sir. Thank you." Eric said humbly, and I was shocked yet again. Eric saying thank you? I was poked in the side again.

"Um, thank you?" I said uncertainly. Alec nodded in my direction and I looked to Eric who straightened up, and I did the same.

"And I want to offer you something." Alec said. I turned my head to him. "Freedom." He said, and I was left confused again. I looked to Eric who was looking at him with surprise and respect.

"What do you mean?" I asked him, turning back. I already was free. Well, not from him, but … oh.

"Sookie, as your maker, I release you." He said. I wasn't prepared at all. No one told me what to expect from this, what I was going to be feeling, or that I would even be released. No one told me the seriousness of it, either.

The effect was instantaneous. There was something like a snap in my mind, and it hurt. I never thought it would hurt, but I guess a connection that big suddenly being severed would be major.

The pain was only for half a second though, and then I was overwhelmed by another feeling as Eric's blood overpowered Alec's now useless blood.

The power and control held into it, the feeling of devotion and love and respect was overwhelming, and I fell to the ground by the suddenness of it. I could feel Eric, feel the connection we had. This was what it was supposed to be like before. I was supposed to wake up, and I was supposed to feel this.

And then I remembered everything from my old life. It wasn't like a rush of memories suddenly bombarding me. It was more like I had never forgotten everything. The memories were just there, all of them, and it was wonderful that I finally knew who I was. I knew who the real Sookie Stackhouse was.

I started a list in my head of everyone I needed to see, to reassure them I was alright. Sam, Jason, Tara… wow, they would be scared half to death about me. They probably called the cops, and I would have to explain to them as well, and they would most likely get really annoyed, tag me off as a fang banger who didn't care about their time. Later, I would feel terrible regret for the things I had done in the battle, and the people I had fed on, but not now. Right now I only tried to focus on the joy waking up from that cold and empty place my memories had been in.

My eyes were staring at the sky, and I was looking at Eric's wondered expression. Jeez, I wish I had been given a little warning before they hit me with this.

"Wow." I whispered.

"Wow." He whispered back, obviously feeling a small percentage of what I went through. And then we were both smiling and he was kissing me again. I sat up, then stood up. Alec had run back to the clearing. Not even a goodbye. Whatever. I hadn't forgiven him, but I was still thankful that he had given me this.

"This feels amazing." I said. The shock was still full blown, from the sudden impact of this bond, and it felt wonderful.

"I know." He whispered smiling. He had the most gorgeous smile I had ever seen when he smiled sweetly. He was a dream guy, my dream guy.

"I can… you know I can release you too, if that's what you want." He whispered, looking away, obviously pained by the idea. I was too.

I cupped either side of his head, turning his eyes back to me.

"No, not yet. I just want to be like this with you for a while. I like the feeling of devotion I have. I like the feeling of power you have. I like the feeling of… love we have." I said, smiling. He kissed me so lightly on the lips that I swear I felt electricity course through my body and I shivered. But then I realized what I had to do. The real Sookie Stackhouse wasn't a procrastinator, nor was she a wimp. I just needed to get this conversation over with.

"I lied." I started, splaying my arms out in front of me. "Um, I lied about not wanting to be this way." I continued. Eric's head moved away from mine so he could see my face more clearly. I cleared my throat, looking down and away from his dangerously piercing eyes. "If I wasn't this way, my time with you would have been so short. Way, way too short." I folded my arms across my stomach.

Eric stayed silent, and his silence made me uncomfortable. He wouldn't forgive me. The clarification was so sudden and severe that I shivered, but I continued anyways. He needed to know, if not for him, for me.

"I don't want to die. If I died, again, I wouldn't be with you." I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Now for the hard part. I had basically already said it to him in little hints, but saying it flat out was a little bit more difficult.

"Eric, you are all I have."I muttered quietly. "You were the first one I saw when I woke up. You stayed with me, comforted me, and fought with me. I was falling apart, yet you seemed to build me together again, and again. And when I told I hated you, I hated what you did to me, you still came back." I looked up then, my eyes brimming with new tears. "Eric, you came back for me." I whispered.

I looked down again, taking a deep breath and pushing the tears back.

"Okay, so what I am trying to say is, and I know you don't feel the same way but I just need to tell you, that um, I…" my voice faded out.

Come on, Sookie! Toughen up a bit! Just say it, get it out, and take whatever you have coming.

"Eric, I'm in love with you." I said, looking up at him. His eyes were wide, his fangs still forward from the fight. He was obviously shocked, and his mouth was hanging open slightly.

"Eric, I know you don't feel the same, but—" I said, but was thrown onto my back his lips smashing into mine.

I was shocked, and I didn't respond at first, but then I realized what he was doing, what he was saying without saying it.

So I gripped the back of his neck, pulling him closer to me and opening my mouth to let his tongue roam over mine. Mm, he tasted so sweet. I felt my finger and legs tingling. My hands caressed his cheeks and face and chest as tears fell down my face. I was happy in his arms. That was the best way to describe how I felt at the moment, no matter how lame it sounds. I was just… happy.

His lips greedily attacked mine, and the feeling was amazing. To realize that I was the one who got this reaction out of him was more than I could have asked for. His own hands roamed over me, and then rested on my face, cupping my cheeks and then holding the back of my neck so I arched up into his chest.

For once he wasn't kissing me with the lust filled need he always had. This kiss was just for feeling, just so he could feel my lips against his; know that I was kissing him back with the same fervor.

He pulled back suddenly, and I looked up at him, confused. Could he be so cruel as to leave me now? Oh god, I would crumble away to dust if he left. Please, please just hold onto me forever, Eric.

"What is this?" he asked me curiously, holding my hand. He wiped away the blood to reveal my hand glowing with a sparkly blue. It was lighter, glitterier than the other blue that resulted in uncontrolled violence in me.

"It isn't burning you." I said with surprise.

"No, it feels amazing." He whispered. It could have been from the bond, or it could have been that my emotions controlled the effect of this fae power, but I didn't care at the moment. He was looking at me with wonder, and… could it be? Could he love me as well? No, I doubted he would ever leave me.

And then suddenly we were a tangle of limbs, fighting for our own needs, searching for love in each other and finding it instantly. I had never felt so… comforted. I was comfortable in his warm embrace, his soft kisses all over my body. Our hands were roaming over each other, remembering each other's body, marveling in each other's beauty. And we would never part after this. We would always be connected one way or another.

We searched for release from the tragedies of our lives; we searched for happiness in each other's bodies. We found calmness once we settled down, and we found each other's hearts in each other's hands. And I was drifting on my own cloud in my own world and everything was just… perfect. For once in my crazy life, everything was perfect.

"Sookie Stackhouse, I have never felt love in my life, but if this is what it feels like, I never want to let you go." He whispered against my lips, his cool body pressed against mine. It was so comforting, reminding me he was here with me now, forever and always.

"Then don't." I begged. "Hold onto me, forever."

"Forever."

AN: That's it. All done. I hope you like the ending and I didn't disappoint you at all. I just wanted to thank everyone who reviewed or added my story to their alerts or favorites. It kept me writing more. Thanks