I Write The Songs CONTEST ENTRY

TITLE: Gravedigger (Willie Nelson and/or Dave Matthews Band)

CHARACTERS: Eric Northman, Sookie Stackhouse and Pam Ravenscroft

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Southern Vampire Mysteries or any characters within; they belong to Charlaine Harris. I gain no profit from this work of fiction. The song Gravedigger is performed by Willie Nelson and/or Dave Matthews Band.

PEN NAME: Suaru-chan

BETA NAME: evenflo78

VIRGIN WRITER: No

TEASER: Sookie always knew that her life would never follow a 'normal' path. Being bonded to a vampire was proof of that. She'd always been stubborn, but she'd finally come to accept the parts of her life that she'd fought so hard against. Strange how accepting something as it was could change your perspective on life and death. OOC

It was dark when I awoke.

There was a heavy arm wrapped about my waist and I lay on my side, curled into a fetal position.

Dirt fell into my eyes as I opened them, and with a start I realized that I was covered in it - surrounded by it. I didn't know which way was up or down.

I screamed.

The arm that had been around my waist tightened and then I was being jerked upright. We emerged with a shower of damp earth.

"Sookie." I knew that voice. It was Eric. I looked at him over my shoulder. His face was calm, but his eyes flared with emotion; the bond however, was strangely silent. Almost void, in fact.

He was covered with streaks of dirt and dried blood. I sucked in a startled breath, ready to start sobbing.

Only I couldn't breathe. The air simply rested in my chest uncomfortably, and I exhaled with a sharp hiss.

Turning slowly, afraid that I'd loose what little control I had left to me, I faced Eric. He was naked and a glance at myself showed I was as well.

I looked down further, ignoring that my body was just as stained as his, and took stock of where we stood.

We were in a grave.

Oh god.

Oh my god.

With a startled yelp I whirled and tried to flee. My body felt heavy and in my panic I tripped over my own feet, landing in an ungraceful heap. I clawed my way across the grave - oh god oh god oh god - and pulled myself up onto solid ground. I skittered back from the hole and wrapped my arms around my legs, hiding my face in my knees; rocking back and forth.

Eric followed to stand over me like a silent shadow and after a moment sighed and moved away. The sound of a zipper being pulled startled me, and I peeked up at him. He had what looked like an insulated lunch pail in hand and was withdrawing two bags of dark liquid. He dropped the pail and headed my way, staring me down.

"Sookie." I lifted my head fully, watching him with wary eyes as he knelt beside me. "You must drink. You need blood."

My throat burned at the mention of blood. I was so hungry.

"N-no!" I choked it past a parched mouth and leaned away from him. I wouldn't do it. I would not drink blood.

Eric's brows furrowed and his lips pursed. It was his classic 'you are being stubborn and if I were human I'd have a headache by now' look. "You will be weak until you feed."

"No." I shook my head, tangled hair whipping around my face with the movement. "I don't want bl-blo," I choked on the word, and had to switch my focus, "I don't want it."

"I know." His hand shot out, tangling in my hair and then he was beside me, one leg propped up against my back to trap me against his body. "But you will."

"Eric! No!" My open mouth was all he needed. With a quick bite he punctured the first bag and pushed it between my lips. I wanted to struggle, but the moment it touched my tongue I was lost.

What would have been a protesting moan was one of ecstasy.

It tasted so unbelievably good. Rich and thick; soothing the burn in my throat.

I sucked hungrily, like a newborn babe. With each desperate pull, I greedily swallowed every drop; I couldn't drink it down fast enough. When the bag was empty I whined, peering up at Eric between my lashes. He didn't make me wait long - with another bite he offered me the other bag and I latched on.

The fingers that had once held tightly in my hair smoothed over it and he curled me into his body, watching me. His expression was almost pained, but my focus was on the blood more so than him.

I growled a little as he pulled the bag away, even though there was nothing left. My tongue found my lips, seeking any drops that may have escaped me.

"Better?"

"Yeah." We were silent for a long moment. "What happened?"

"You do not remember?" He wouldn't look at me. That scared me. Rising to my knees I turned my body into him, hooking my hands over his shoulder. Finally, he met my eyes, hands trailing down my sides to rest at my hips. "You told me you did not want to die."

A flash of images assaulted me, a dull ache echoing within my mind with each passing.

Several blurs of colors shooting to and fro - vampires fighting, the crimson trickles of blood escaping between my fingers as I pressed my hands against the wound in my side, Eric's face above me; eyes wide and wild, darting from my face to my gaping wound, Pam's face next to Eric's; her lips pulled into a grim smile as her eyes overflowed with red.

I closed my eyes, but it did nothing to make the images cease. I remembered pain, a searing burn in my side that topped even having a stake pulled out of me. Snarls, hisses, growls and roars of rage as a battle waged. I even remembered Eric's battle cry and the fact that it had startled and chilled me just as much then as it did before.

"Sookie." There was an undertone of pleading in Eric's voice. It was apparently the key, because I suddenly remembered everything, with crystal clarity.

"Er-ic," it hurt to breathe, but I forced his name past the blood bubbling in my throat.

"Oh lover." I'd never seen such pain on Eric's face. He seemed helpless in that moment, as he watched me bleed out. He couldn't heal me, because it would turn me, and he'd already promised that he would never force the life of a vampire on me. He leaned down, fangs hidden despite the blood, and kissed me.

It was gentle, but full of feeling. It brought tears to my eyes. It was his goodbye.

I'd finally come to terms with so many things. I was ready to love and live my life as best I could.

Yet here I was, dying. Loosing everything that I'd fought for; screamed, kicked, bit, tore, and struggled for.

And for what?

"I l-ove you." I choked, gasping for air, and he flinched. Large hands lifted my shoulders, offering me a chance to breathe easier.

"Sookie." His tone was pleading. His eyes didn't leave mine, even as my vision started to blur around the edges. "I love you, my lover."

I smiled a little. I'd been so stubborn when we'd first met. His pet-name for me had driven me up the wall when he'd started spouting it, but now it was something that I cherished. It was ours.

My eyes were growing heavy. I blinked, struggling to lift my lids, and then Pam was there, crouched over me at Eric's side.

"My friend. You seem to have gotten blood on your shoes." She reached out, manicured nails gently brushing a stray lock of hair from my face. "The shoe gods will be insulted."

She smiled for me, but it was grim and ruined by the red in her eyes that welled and spilled over.

The bond was pulsing weakly, the feelings coming through it muted. I focused on it, found it within myself, and pushed my love and respect, my desire and joy; everything that I felt for Eric, into it.

He bent his head over me, hands holding me tight, and wept. "We will not be parted long." He kissed my temple then began to trace my face with his lips, pausing only to stare into my eyes. "Sookie."

My heart stuttered. I felt it struggle, felt the contractions as the blood loss began to take its toll. I was so cold. So tired.

A sudden panic overtook me.

I didn't want to die. No. No! I didn't want to die!

I refused to die!

"Eric!" It was getting harder to breathe, as though a weight had settled upon my chest. He stared down at me in horror. I knew he could feel and hear that my body was giving out. "H-he-heal me!"

Pam gave a startled gasp and Eric's eyes flicked to her. She rose and sped away, but I paid it little mind. I was focused on Eric.

"You do not want to be vampire."

God damn that stubborn man! I'm dying here - can't really freaking breathe and talking hurts - and he's stuck on something I said when I was too stupid to see my own damn hand in front of my face.

"I don't want to die! I want you. Do it!" My world went black.

I sobbed, bloody tears staining my cheeks, and wrapped my arms around him. "Eric, Eric, Eric," his name became a chant and I sought out his lips.

He met me halfway, holding me tightly to his chest.

Our kiss was a desperate attempt to ground ourselves, to shake off the horror of nearly being lost to one another. Lips, tongue and teeth met, parted and quickly came together again.

My fangs snapped down, startling me, but Eric was quick to teach me just how enjoyable a kiss with two sets of fangs could be. I knew they were a erogenous zone, but experiencing it first hand was something else entirely.

Not having to breathe was pretty freaking fantastic when you didn't want the fun to stop.

There were no clothes between us and I offered no resistance when Eric laid me back, his larger frame caging me to the ground.

My legs spread for him and he settled between them, hands gripping my ass and jerking my hips upward. He slammed into me without preamble and it was exactly what I wanted. What I needed.

We were frantic; hips snapping together, hands clawing, fangs piercing flesh; leaving trails of blood in our wake.

Sitting back on his heels Eric lifted me, forcing my legs farther apart as I rode his lap. One hand tangled in my hair and pulled until I bowed my neck back, leaving it bared for him. The sound of skin meeting skin echoed in my ears, a distant second to the cries falling from my lips.

I was right there, so close to release when he pressed his wrist to my mouth. He jerked my head to the side by the hand still holding my hair and sank his fangs into me. I bit down in reaction, my mouth immediately filling with the taste of him.

I could see him out of the corner of my eye, watching me as he fed. A low hum seemed to begin inside me and then the bond lit up like a live wire. I pulled at the bite I'd made the same instant he pulled from my neck.

There was a moment of white-hot pain, and then we were both falling over the edge, shouting our release and triumph to the night sky.

The bond was alive; vibrating and curling between us.

We fell into a tangled mass of limbs, staring at one another.

"Lover," Eric traced a thumb along my cheek, "you are well?"

My mind was whirling faster than I could keep up with. "I don't know." That was honest enough, though probably not what he wanted to hear.

"Do you regret it?"

I fixed him with a steady stare. "No. I want to be with you." Pausing I contemplated my words, and not knowing how to say it easily, I blurted out my main worry, "If my telepathy gets stronger, if I go mad, promise me you'll end me. I can't live like that."

The ripple of pain that came through the bond was like a punch to the stomach.

"Eric, I trust you to do it. You've already dug my grave once and I'm your child now, but I'm not asking as your child. I'm asking as your lover and bonded."

"Our grave." He sighed and all the 'fight' seemed to leave him for a moment. "It would have been our final resting place, if you had not turned."

What was I suppose to say to that? I couldn't quite wrap my mind around the idea of Eric meeting his final death if I hadn't turned successfully. I couldn't imagine my Eric, powerful viking turned vampire who'd walked this earth for over a thousand years, giving up.

That just wasn't the strong and immovable man I knew.

"I will agree on one condition. If your gift is stronger, you must try to gain control of it before you ask me to," he grimaced, "end you."

I scooted closer to him and buried my face against his chest. "Of course. I don't want it to come to that. It might not. I don't even know if I'm still telepathic or if I can read anything other than humans; I have no idea right now. I just - we have to be prepared."

"We are." Something about the way he said that set off alarm bells.

"Eric?" I lifted my face to his and he smiled down at me.

"If it comes to that, then I will dig our grave again, lover."

I shot away from him, standing up so fast that I sent myself toppling over. Eric rose and caught me in one fluid movement. "I don't want you to die!"

"It is not your choice." A trickle of heat crept up my spine. I opened my mouth to argue, and the trickle turned into a stream that wrapped around my throat, cutting off my words. It was fire hot and it hurt.

I snapped my jaw shut. It took a second, but the moment I relented the heat disappeared. Eric smoothed a hand up and down my spine, almost absentmindedly and I realized that it was his own influence as my maker that had silenced me.

That was going to be a big change. One I wasn't sure I'd be too happy with mostly.

He seemed to have felt my frustration in the bond. "I'm your maker. There will be times that my word is law. It is our way."

"I know." Whatever anger had been building in me left in a rush. The bond was full of emotions from Eric's side - determination being the prevalent one. There was no arguing with him, and I certainly had no plans to start my new life with Eric bickering about what couldn't be changed. "I promise to do my best for you. I want to make you proud."

He seemed startled by that, but then a wide smile bloomed over his lips. "Yes. You will."

The wind changed and brought a wave of scents with it. Strangely, I could smell Pam's perfume.

He released me long enough to retrieve a bag tucked away near the grave, and presented me with clothing. He helped me dress in the pair of sweats and tank top, mindful of my new and uncontrolled strength, and then pulled on a pair of sweats of his own.

"Pam is awaiting us. We need to get cleaned up and start your lessons for the night." He grinned at me. "I believe Pam has made a binder full of information for you. Vampire one-oh-one, as it were."

That Pam. I wondered if she'd read a Dear Abby article about helping people get used to 'new positions' in life.

I turned to look at the grave - our grave - and took a moment for myself. This wasn't my end at all. It was my beginning.

"Come, lover." Eric reached out a large hand for me.

Moving to Eric's side I ignored his offered hand, instead hugging myself close to him. "Don't ever let me go, okay?"

He seemed to understand what I meant. He wrapped his arms around me, laying his head against my own, and I melted into his embrace. I was sure in this one thing, no matter how difficult the changes would be, that as long as I was with him, I was safe.

A soft rain started and within a blink it began to fall harder. In that moment I felt like everything bad that had happened in my life was being washed away with each drop that hit my skin.

"Never my lover, never."

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed the fic, but feel free to let me know. This was my first time ever entering a contest for SVM and I had a blast! Many thanks to the lovelies who set up this contest; I'm looking forward to more!