Cara Faith Donovan

(The ending to a great story. I'm hoping all my readers enjoyed the stories and I sincerely appreciate all the wonderful feedback that was given. As with all great things, sooner or later they have to end, so it's with great pride that I release the last story. Looking forward to another great season of True Blood this upcoming season and hope that everyone is ready to see what the writers come up with for our incredible Viking Sheriff.)


She had taken Ana's advice and had spent the last few weeks enjoying life to the fullest. Every night was one long party, her attempt to drown his memory from her mind. She had convinced everyone that she
was completely over Eric, everyone that is, but herself.

She fell into bed right before the sun rose every morning, making sure she was so exhausted she wouldn't dream of him. He had never called her back, and she doubted he even thought of her at all anymore. In the few hours she allowed herself to be alone, her heart would ache miserably as the thought of leaving him the way she had, filled her with regret.

Those thoughts of him pushed her into doing things she never dreamed she would do. Somehow she was losing her innocence and felt a coldness seeping into her heart that made her want to devour any man that attempted to try and get close to her. She knew all they wanted was to use her body for their own pleasure. She never allowed them to complete their goals.

She became a relentless tease, surrounding herself with different men. Somewhere in her soul she knew it was wrong to use them in such a way, but she refused to allow her heart to rule her ever again. She had avoided Fangtasia like the plague since her phone call to Eric, but all of her friends loved the place and last night she had agreed to join them there. She told herself she could handle seeing him
again and would treat him no differently than every other person she allowed in her world of late.

Two hours later as she drove up to the club, she feared she had made a mistake. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she could barely breathe. She was about to drive out of the parking lot when she saw her friends outside waving in excitement. She couldn't leave now or she would risk all of them knowing what an incredible fake she was.

Painting on her most cheerful smile, she got out of her car and walked over, hugging each of them. As they made it inside they were stopped by Pam, who was carding everyone at the door. When Pam saw Cara, her normal bored expression was altered by a slight widening of the eyes. The stupid human must have a death wish, she thought , her expression normalizing before Cara had a chance to notice anything.

Pam waved the group of girls through the door of the club, hoping Eric wouldn't require her to get rid of yet another body tonight. She had just bought these new heels and really didn't relish the thought of losing another incredible pair of shoes this week. Sparing a last thought about Cara, she sensed the girl had no idea how thin a thread Eric’s control was riding on or how infuriated he was with her. Shrugging away the thought, she turned her eyes to another tempting beauty that just walked in the door, thinking she'd make a lovely snack later this evening.

Cara was overwhelmingly relieved that Eric didn't appear to be in the club and she hoped business elsewhere would keep him occupied the rest of the evening. At least if he wasn't here she wouldn't have to test out her theory that she could treat him like everyone else. The drinks began to flow quickly and she turned her attention to every man and vampire in the place. She was determined to make everyone believe she was completely over Eric, and maybe even convince herself eventually as well.

She was led out to the dance floor by some new man she'd never seen in the bar. She knew after only a few seconds of dancing with him he was a vampire. It didn’t matter; she flirted with him by wrapping her arms around his neck and grinding her body indecently against his during the dance. When his fangs came out she knew she had pushed him a little further than she had intended, and attempted to back away. Apparently he wasn't in the mood to let her get away and he pulled her closer; causing her to begin struggling in earnest against his superior strength. She felt panic overcome her as he lifted her hair back away from her neck, knowing she was about to become his dinner.

Eric’s rage had returned two hours ago when Pam had told him that Cara and her friends were in the club tonight; he’d even locked himself in his office in an effort to regain the control he felt slipping. He wondered why she drove him to this level of intensity. Once again he contemplated ending this; draining Cara and leaving her lifeless body for Pam to deal with; never again to have her torment him in this way but reason won over, or was it something else? After he’d regained control of the urge to kill Cara he’d walked out into the bar, subconsciously giving in to a need to see her. He was disgusted with her behavior, she was acting like a complete harlot, throwing herself at any male who spared her a glance, enraging him again; and now she was seconds away from becoming a meal.

She had been so intent on her dance with the vampire that she hadn’t noticed the Sheriff had walked into the club. He’d been standing motionless against the back bar watching her with the unfamiliar vampire since their dance had begun.

A thought flashed through his mind; he should let the strange vampire drain Cara and sparing him the bother but he had a ‘no feeding’ rule in place at Fangtasia to keep things legal with the human authorities and this vampire was about to break his rules. He convinced himself that was the only reason as he moved in a blur toward Cara; wrenching the vampire off of her just as his fangs were about to plunge into her neck.

Most of the humans there had never seen a vampire move quickly much less with the his speed and stared in awe as he flung the vampire across the dance floor with an alarming force. Cara's mouth was hanging open as she dared to allow her eyes to find him. In one startling moment she was instantly free of her attacker but now she was faced with another problem, and this was the one that had the ability to destroy what was left of her heart.

The other vampire rolled into an attack stance before he realized just who he was about to charge at; none other than the famed Sheriff of Area 5. He knew that to attack Eric would end in a permanent
banishment from the area, or even possibly, his own final death. Wisely and with some difficulty the vampire controlled his own rage and retracted his fangs. Never moving his eyes from Cara the Sheriff pointed at the other vampire.

“You will make an appointment to meet with me through Pam,” he said as Pam had moved silently next to the stranger and gave him a wicked smile almost begging him to try something. “Until that meeting happens, keep out of my area.” Pam motioned to the front door and made sure the stranger exited.

Keeping his voice controlled by centuries of practice and allowing the smirk that he was known for find its way to his face he looked Cara in the eyes. “A word, in my office”, he said with his voice calm, meaning to put her friends at ease so they wouldn’t try to interfere. She thought about denying him that opportunity but knew she really had no choice and must comply with his wishes. The only choice she had was to walk in with dignity or allow her friends to possibly get hurt and still have to have the talk she knew was coming. Nodding she forced a faint smile on her face and even a wink to her friends trying to put them at ease. No reason for them to worry about her fate, she thought to herself.

Walking to his office was like talking the long walk to her execution. Following him, she couldn't help but take in every detail of his incredible form with appreciation, even as her heart dropped into her stomach at the rage that filled his eyes when he got to the door and opened it for her, causing her to take an involuntary step back.

Breaking his piercing glare he turned away from her to shut and lock the office door, keeping the key to the deadbolt in his hand so she couldn’t run away. Whirling back at her he grabbed her chin in his hand and forced her to look up at him. “If you seek to be drained, Cara, you only need to say the word,” his words had been chosen carefully and delivered with more control than what showed through his anger filled eyes.

Every thought of treating him like just some other person left her mind at that moment, he would always be different than the rest. She was terrified but also strangely excited, wanting to throw herself into his arms and beg him to take her again right then and there. She wondered absently if this was the thrill the fang bangers sought out when they came here.

He knew her thoughts as clearly as he did his own and was even more enraged that for a moment he actually considered giving her exactly what her mind was screaming she wanted. Dropping his hand from her chin, he turned his back on her, once again fighting against his urge to either drain her or take her like the harlot she’d been portraying earlier in the club. In that moment of thought he realized that he was still the only one who had made love to her, that even though she wanted desperately to hide this fact from him, she didn’t have the skill. That reason alone kept him from ending her existence at that moment when his instinct told him it would be for the better, but why, why did her care if she’d been with another? Turning slowly, deliberately back to her he ignored the burning desire in her chocolate gaze and made sure not to touch her in any way lest it break his control. He knew what he had to do.

“It would be wise of you to not return here Cara,” his voice the deepest of calm and as cold as the iciness in his blue eyes. All thoughts of desiring him left her instantly as his words filled her with a pain so deep it threatened to bring her to her knees. He didn’t want her, she thought and she could only nod at him; lowering her gaze to his shirt not wanting him to see the misery his words were causing her.

The despair she tried to hide washed over him and he cursed his gods from within his mind, angered that it mattered to him that she was hurting from his words. Clenching his jaw he continued what he thought was best, to make her hate him. “The next time, I will not be as forgiving Cara,” he needed her to get out of his head, there was no place in his life for these human emotions that dared to surface.

She nodded at him again, knowing if she allowed herself to speak she would beg him to stop killing her with his words and bring back the tender lover he had shown her at the waterfall. She didn't have his ability to read thoughts and as far as she knew that night meant absolutely nothing to him. She truly felt she had been just one most likely thousands of women he had slept with over his long existence.

The rage he felt subsided somewhat as he heard her last thoughts, knowing that was the key to making her hate him, to forget him. The last kindness he would show her would also be the deepest cut; to destroy any positive memories that she had of him. Swallowing the knot in his throat he lifted her chin again, forcing her to look into the eyes he was willing to be cold and compassionless. “That night at the waterfall,” he paused and she nodded afraid of what he was about to say, “I became you the lover you needed to make you satisfy my needs Cara, nothing more.”

She couldn't stop the flow of tears his words caused as the memory of that night became something that shamed her instead of the beauty she had kept in her mind. She pulled her face away feeling a coldness settle into her heart that matched the iciness in his eyes. There were not words enough to relay the rage she felt at that moment and without thinking she slapped him across the face, the sound echoing in the room loudly. He didn’t flinch, his composure mocking her. She felt no regret in hitting him and she flew at him in a fit of rage beating on his chest with her hands, wanting him to feel the pain he had caused her. “I hate you Eric Northman! “ she screamed at him and continued to rain her fists against him until her grabbed her hands and pulled her to him. He held onto her hands, closing his eyes and allowing her the rage he hoped would finally cleanse her of him, feeling it her due. Her rage turned to tears and finally, the tears into numbness.

She pushed away from him and he let her go. Her eyes wouldn't meet his and he knew that he had succeeded in driving every thought of love from her mind with his words. He knew it was truly the best gift he could give her and it had taken every ounce of his control to not take the words back and allow her to keep the memory of their night at the waterfall the way he had always intended it to be; absolute perfection.

She needed to move on and he needed to forget her, so instead of taking back the words he added one last barb. “If you ever need to release your sexual frustration again lover,” he smirked, “you know where I am and I might even be willing.”

She glared at him, her eyes so filled with hatred that he almost stepped back himself. “Thanks, Eric, I don't think I'll be requiring your services again, ever!” she spat as she stalked out of his office with as much dignity as she could find in her broken heart. She promised herself that she would never again allow anyone to hurt her that way as she made her way back to her friends. Turning a smile on for them she told them she was beat and hugged each of them, leaving them wondering what had taken place in that office. She didn't have the emotional strength to explain and she walked out to her car and drove off into the night.


Authors: Cara Donovan and Eric Northman