"I can't do this, Bill there must be some other way."

"I'm afraid there isn't. Sookie, please do this. For me."

Sookie Stackhouse found herself kneeling in an open grave before her; her vampire boyfriend laid back against the cold and musty dirt.

"Use your light, Sookie." He encouraged her. Sookie couldn't think clearly. "I don't know Bill. My light is apart of me."

"But Sookie clearly you can see reason?"

"Reason in using my light to end you!" This act no matter how harsh would undeniably break her.

She had loved. Lost. And loved again.

"I don't want to do this on second thought."

Bill coaxed her, rubbing the ends of her arms, comforting her that she was strong enough to bring about his end. Willing her to do it.

"I can't. Isn't there another way?" Bill frowned. Revealing a wooden steak beside him lifting it up and presenting Sookie with it. "Is it going to hurt?"

Bill shook his head, "it will be quick. Sookie promise me you won't use your light?"

"I can't promise that. My light has done more good then bad, Bill. It's apart of me."

Gently Sookie places the stake before the place where his heart would have been. She felt his chest - unmoving and cool to the touch, she didn't realize tears had formed from her eyelids dripping down onto his cheek. "I'm sorry." Sookie cried out when pushing the wooden stake down before Bill could respond.

Sookie sunk down on her knees instantly touching the red goo, the only remains of William Compton.

Everything seemed to pause in that moment even the nightlife fell silent as if to mourn the undead life that finally felt some sort of peace.

Sookie closed her eyes. Unwilling to stand let alone feel. What had she done? What Bill had asked.

She didn't want to kill him. He wanted death. Her mind battled her in between the rightness of her actions to the pure anguish her heart was trying to shield itself from.

Sookie hadn't realized she was crying out. Her shoulders kept shaking and air… air wouldn't come fast enough to oxygenate her lungs. Sookie soon realized she was having a panic attack and tried to calm herself down.

It was only then she felt cool arms around her. They were muscled and toned and broad and strong.

She sought comfort. She didn't have to turn around to see who it was.

She smiled before closing her eyes. Letting the trauma hit her knowing she would be well taken care of by the ancient Viking.

Sookie awoke. Fluttering her eyes open. She had must have only dozed off for an hour or two when she saw out through her window night had clearly hadn't gone.

Instantly a glass of water was offered to her looking up and locking gazes with Eric. She accepted the glass, taking it from his hand and relishing the cold liquid that would sufficiently quench her thirst.

"Sookie. There are no words to speak to convey what Bill did was completely unjust."

"Unjust?! Hah! Don't you mean cruel because that's what it was!"

Sookie had thrown the glass the hardest she could making it fly across the room and shatter against the wall. Sharp pieces of glass falling resembling a jigsaw puzzle that was left incomplete.

"It was cruel. But to tell you that it was just another ploy. Another tactic to manipulate you."

Sookie stood up from her Gran's couch Eric had brought her to and she took a good glimpse at herself to notice Eric had cleaned the blood off of her and had changed her clothes.

Right now she couldn't even get mad at Eric for changing her clothes and seeing her naked. He'd seen it before… then she thought on what Eric had said.

During Bill's final moments she could feel a prickly sensation within her she had paid it no mind as her sole focus was on the vampire before her. Her mind played back the final moments only to realize he was just a stinking mother-fucker who had always knew one thing.

And that one thing was manipulation.

And like the blonde she was she had just kept following after with a blind eye to the truth.

"I don't know what to feel."

Sookie expressed, kneeling down grabbing the large remains of the broken glass to the kitchen. Intending on sweeping the rest up later. Didn't want broken glass laying around and collecting dust her Gran raised her better than that.

She heard Eric follow after her and being the hostess Gran had brought her up to be offered Eric a New Blood. She always kept some on stock nowadays for that one moment the vampires in her life would make a reappearance by the old farmhouse she vacated.

Eric accepted it.

New blood was vastly different then the synthetic blood the Japanese had brought to the production lines. Thanks to the hepatitis V breakout and a certain church enthusiast (Sarah Newlin)- each New Blood had a couple drops of the cure within. Eric had made millions in the first hour of it being presented to the public.

"It's your decision on where you want to take your life. Not Bill's and not even mine, I say with great reluctance." Sookie could see the honesty in Eric's answer, "this is a change. Where did the real Eric go?" Sookie could not be more confused.

"I must say the way I acted in the past was not… forthcoming in getting you to be mine. I apologize. I'm not used to being sentimental."

It seemed Eric had moved closer to Sookie and she hadn't noticed. Eric was just full of surprises.

"Okay, now this is really hard to believe."

Sookie walked past Eric he grabbed her by the wrist making her turn to gaze into his eyes.

"Why is it hard to believe that you make me see and do things I wouldn't do normally?"

Sookie felt his breath against her neck - he had moved closer to her it was surprising he hadn't sprouted his fangs.

"Is it because of Bill his undead life has tainted your views. There is no Bill. This time is for you to decide."

Eric bent down and gently presented a kiss on her forehead. Sookie couldn't be more shocked. Eric left her. Leaving her to think throughout the night. Until her head hit the softness of a feather down pillow willing her eyes to close and escape to the realm of dreams.

Sookie gave out a breathe. Beufflor's was in full swing. It felt great to Sookie to be semi-normal, once again.

When she awoke that morning Sookie hadn't wanted to be alone with her thoughts. She couldn't think at all it seemed.

Everything she thought she knew wasn't real.

Her choices, actions, and her feelings had all been manipulated and ushered towards the way Bill had wanted her to move towards.

She didn't notice until a crack of glass met the wooden floor, and her hand had a mild cut.

"Sookie, are you alright?" Arlene, her redhead friend drawled out in a southern tone, "I am. I'm such a clutz."

"Come on. I'll get you patched up."

Arlene dragged Sookie to what had been formerly known as Sam's office - he'd given Arlene his baby, Merlottes, which had been re-dubbed Beufflors. After Terry's death, Arlene had been hit hard and so as a way to dedicate her love for him and for Sam, Arlene expressed how much she wanted to take over.

"What's on your mind?" Ever since the whole 'Vampires out of the coffin' fiasco Arlene hadn't really been interested in her life or her problems. Fate was a funny thing - after everything that had happened. Due to past events, it had brought thier friendship to another level and Sookie really did heed Arlene's advice.

"If you only knew. . . What would happen if I told you you were right about everything?"

"Well Darlin, I would say "I told you so" but I don't think you want to hear it."

"You're right I don't. It's about Bill." Arlene sat silently next to her after shutting the door allowing the both of them a sense of privacy.

"He's dead. Well I gave him his true death."

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry."

"No. Arlene, you have nothing to be sorry for. Bill, even when I thought he was thinking about me, he was still manipulating me into his wants." Arlene gave Sookie a comforting hug, she accepted and felt somewhat lighter.

"Sookie, I'm not one for relationship advice. Knowing me I had married three times, the third husband being a psychopathic killer and my views on vampires have been on the darker side of things; but recently I've been following my heart. Listening to it. And for once I feel like it hasn't led me astray. That's what you do. You listen to what your heart tells you. And there's nothing wrong with that!"

This was the most amount of words Sookie has ever heard from Arlene's mouth in a single sitting. Not to mention the heart-to-heart the two seemed to be having at this moment. It was a shock but a well needed one.

"Thank you Arlene. I'm very grateful to have a friend like you."

"Ah Sookie, I'm just happy I could help. At least a little."

Arlene's words were a great comfort. She hadn't realized how much she needed it.

Sookie had gotten used to doing things herself.

The drive back to Hummingbird road was quite comfortable. The window down letting the dry air rush towards her face and letting her hair unwind and tumble in the air.

For once it seemed like her head was crystal clear. And she didn't need to worry about holding her 'mental shields' up. The sky, the color of a raven, stark black and the only the sound of her engine and the night life kept her company.

She turned off the road and parked her car upon the cement driveway. She remembered shortly after returning from Faerie - Eric had refurbished her home after the Maenad incident and coincidentally her gravel driveway had a remodel. It was another fact she had overlooked and another reason why Eric had been a solid over the years.

And she thought of him. Of his arms holding her. Of him whispering sweet and sometimes lustrous words in her ears. Even that damn toothy smirk he knew got on her nerves.

She missed him.

And there it was.

The longing feeling she had kept under wraps since she turned her back on him after he recovered his memories from when the witch Hollow had cursed him.

After everything it seemed to make everything lighter. She could finally walk straighter and her inner confidence shined.

Sookie walked up the stairs. She headed towards her dresser - pulling the wooden drawer out, she picked through removing underwear away till she saw the false bottom. It was when she moved into her Gran's room and she had been in the middle of deep cleaning she had a swifter in hand and found a creak in the floor, a loose floorboard, in which she found the object. She'd since then moved it and placed it in the false bottom of her dresser drawer. She pulled the object out, it was called the Cluviel Dor.

Once she found it the first time, Niall Brigant, her great times many great grandfather appeared before her, telling her of her heritage and what her grandfather Fintan had bestowed her grandmother, Adele Stackhouse. He had explained what gift Fintan had given, a timepiece that would grant a single wish, it had been locked in Faerie since the very beginning. And Fintan before he'd left, had taken the object away.

She handled the Cluviol Dor with much reluctance. Though she had often thought of what if she could go back. Before Bill Compton. Before she made so many mistakes. And what if she'd met Eric first?

It wasn't a direct thought, but the Cluviol Dor shined as if her wish had been said aloud. Her light reacted, her microwave fingers lit with pink light as her light and Cluviol Dor engulfed her into a warm light.