Bottled Up Ch. 1

Bottled Up

Chapter One: Friend Like Me

Adele Stackhouse had suspected her house was haunted for several years. The root of that suspicion stemmed from her nine-year-old granddaughter, Sookie. At first, the old woman had thought it nothing more than a young child’s imagination. Then, after a couple years, Sookie began showing symptoms of the “otherness” that had brought the invalid branch of the Stackhouse family tree into being.

Sookie was spritely and a true sun-worshipper. Like their father, Corbett, and their Aunt Linda, Sookie and Jason could not be contained inside.

Of course, it was not the children’s bright eyes and hair, nor their addiction to solar rays that brought evidence of their occult lineage. It was not even the hint of extraordinary attractiveness that they would eventually grow into that clued Adele in on Sookie’s blooming heritage.

The young girl could read minds, and quite possibly, she could see ghosts. All too often, Sookie would wander into the dining room, gazing at the china cabinet and seeming to hold one-sided conversations. The habit only seemed to become intensified after the abrupt death of her parents, and Adele thought it to be some sort of regression. It was not until Sookie began trying to take an artifact from the display that the grandmother started to worry.

A bottle formed out of opal and stoppered by an impressive globe of stone Adele had never identified had sat on the highest shelf of the cabinet since the death of Adele’s husband, Earl. Once the woman knew the bottle could be out in the open without question of where it had come, Adele finally let it remain on display. She always passed it off as a trinket discovered at a flea market, but the truth was, the treasure had been stowed beneath the house, buried on the earthen floor of the crawl space until it was safe to bring out.

The bottle came to her through the same individual that gave her the children she longed for: Fintan Brigant. A Fae man who descended from an invalid line of the Fae Royal blood lineage, but still managed to maintain an extraordinary amount of enemies.

Sniffles brought Adele to the dining room to find Sookie huddled in front of the cabinet like she was every morning since the car accident. Twice now, Sookie had tried to remove the bottle from its perch, and Adele had gently shooed her curious fingers away. Fintan had been very stern about his command that no one ever open the bottle, but to keep it as visible as possible for protection.

Still, Adele leaned heavily against the frame of the doorway between the kitchen and dining room as she looked sadly at her depressed granddaughter, and had to think how little protection the bobble had brought. Corbett and his wife were dead shortly after Adele had brought the bottle from beneath the house to the display case.

As Adele watched, she witnessed Sookie’s murmuring voice cease, and eyes stare blankly ahead. The young girl often tried to hide her gifts from the family, having known the confusion and worry it had brought everyone once it was understood what Sookie could do.

With a sigh, the grandmother left, keeping a keen ear open to stop Sookie from taking the bottle Fintan had warned against ever opening.

“Sookie.”

The young girl looked at the strangely hued bottle on the highest shelf of the cabinet. “Hmmm,” she hummed gently as if to disguise the acknowledgment.

“You need to get me out of here,” the voice encouraged. “I’m supposed to bring you help! You’re in danger!”

“But Gran-”

“Sneak me out in the middle of the night,” the bottle suggested. “It won’t be long now that the dangers will come. I needout of here!”

“Okay,” Sookie whispered before she rose from the floor and headed to the shed. Gran always caught her because the hinges squeaked, and Sookie found Jason’s chain oil for his bike so that she could quiet the traitorous squeals.

Applying a coat of oil to the hinges as carefully as she could, the young girl thought about her relationship with the strange bottle. As far back as Sookie could remember, she had conversations with the old farmhouse. It told her jokes and gave her fun ideas. The house told her fairy tales and all about a magical land called Elfyria. She learned about fairy queens and kings, and even a story about a bleak monster called ‘The Nameless’ which threatened to eat up all the creatures of Elfyria. The house assured Sookie that a great warrior would come and send The Nameless back into the night and bring Elfyria once more into the light. When that day came, the house explained that Elfyria would have a new, eternal ruler with all the powers of the cosmos at their disposal.

After Sookie took her preemptive measures, all that she could do was wait until everyone went to sleep. It was easy to stay awake. The bottle kept her company with its instructions and helpful tips on how to successfully retrieve it.

When her grandmother’s snores became audible from her own room, Sookie snuck from her bed and crept downstairs. The oil she had rubbed on the hinges earlier did a mediocre job of urging the metal not to alert anyone to the theft taking place. However, since the lubricant had not been adequately worked into the joints, the cabinet doors were still stiff and a little noisy. Despite this, Sookie managed to open the door without anyone waking up and nimbly climbed on a chair to reach the top shelf.

Once the peculiar bottle was in Sookie’s hands, she carefully placed it on the table and put everything back the way she had it before scampering soundlessly to her room with the treasure. After she had curled back beneath her covers, Sookie unceremoniously yanked the stopper from the mouth of the bottle.

Setting the large globe to the side, Sookie peered into the bottle expectantly, but was disgusted and terrified by what followed.

Thick streams of black liquid sprung from the opening like tentacles before splashing onto the bed. More fluid than should have been contained in the bottle spilled forth, scaring the child while an unbidden worry about explaining the stains to her Gran played in the back of her head.

Eventually, the dark waters began to bead together like mercury. The water rose into a familiar form, and soon a woman sat on her bed. Her hair was black like the liquid that had erupted, matching her lifeless eyes and contrasting her skin that was a pale blue. Sookie thought the woman sitting across from her looked like a frozen corpse on some high, distant mountains in the winter.

“Hello, Sookie,” the woman smiled, and her purplish-blue lips spread into a terrifying smile. At the child’s traumatized expression, the woman looked at her hands and seemed to understand what was scaring the girl. “Sorry about that.” All at once, more color came to the woman’s skin until it was a healthy pink, and her lips changed to a plump desert rose. “Better?”

“What… Who are you?” Sookie choked, her eyes wide and only a touch less concerned.

“Hmmm,” the woman began thoughtfully, “I am a magical creature sent to help you.”

“L-like an angel?” Sookie stammered.

The woman shook her head, “No, I’m not nearly as liked as an angel. I’m a Djinn.”

“I don’t know what that is,” Sookie admitted.

The woman thought another moment, “Do you know what a Genie is?”

“Like in ‘I Dream of Genie’?” Sookie asked.

“Yes,” the woman smiled, “but I’m a real one, not a Hollywood one.”

“How long have you been in that bottle?” Sookie wondered.

“Oh, a long, long, long time,” the Djinn smiled, “but I’m used to it.”

“I’m sorry it took me so long to let you out,” Sookie apologized, slowly forgetting her fear of the creature as her mind began to recognize her as the ‘Voice of the House.’

“That’s okay. You were just being a good girl and listening to your grandmother. I’m glad you managed to help me, though. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Sookie beamed, the last of her terror evaporating at the warm expression. “What’s your name?”

“Well, I serve you now, so you can call me whatever you like,” the Djinn told her.

“It doesn’t seem right to name someone all grown up. Do you have a name you like?” Sookie asked.

Sookie was still unsettled by the creature’s smile, and she could only attribute her unease to the unnatural appearance her new friend had introduced her to.

“Why don’t you call me Jeanie,” the creature teased and made Sookie smile.

“Okay, Ms. Jeanie,” she giggled into her hands. “What do we do now?”

“Well,” Jeanie crossed her arms, thoughtfully, “the first thing we need to do is get you a bodyguard.”

“I thought you said you were gonna help me?” Sookie frowned in confusion.

“It’s a very long story, Sookie, but the individual I was told to bring to you will do a far better job of protecting you than I could,” Jeanie explained.

“I don’t get it,” Sookie confessed.

“Well, if we meet him, then I can start explaining, but I’d hate to waste precious time saying it twice,” Jeanie assured. “Now, I need you to command me to take you to Eric Northman.”

“Will it take away one of my three wishes?” Sookie wondered.

“You have infinite wishes from me, Sookie,” Jeanie assured.

“Oh, are you already free?” Sookie wondered.

Jeanie hesitated before she offered a, “yes,” that seemed saturated in complications.

“Okay,” Sookie replied slowly, “Jeanie, will you please take me to meet Eric Northman? Thank you.”

Jeanie smiled at her politeness and gave a rather emphatic nod before Sookie squealed and clung to the creature’s hips as she suddenly found herself sitting in an office with lots of leather furniture and dark wood tables.

“Might I ask,” Sookie’s head whirled around at the new voice behind her, “how the fuck you got into my office?”

Although the man was seated behind a desk, piles of papers framing him as well as the long blond hair, Sookie could tell that he was very tall. His legs extended to the mouth of the desk’s opening, one of them cocked out lazily across his ankle.

“I’m Sookie,” Sookie squeaked, “and this is my friend, Jeanie. She said I had to meet you, and you would be my bodyguard. You’re Eric Northman, right?”

The man raised his eyebrows, “I am, but I do not recall agreeing to serve a little girl.” His eyes lit upon the strange bottle clutched in Sookie’s hand and then looked at the older woman the child clung to with growing intrigue. “Jeanie, was it?”

“That’s right,” Jeanie smiled as she tucked Sookie’s gaze into her hip, “and I am sent by Endymion to assist this universe into becoming one of the ‘Pillars of Restoration.'”

“And what is a Pillar of Restoration?” Eric steepled his fingertips as his ears worked overtime to listen for an ambush. Only the name Endymion gave him pause into thinking this was an attack. He could think of nothing he had done, which would bring the Voice of God’s wrath.

“Three dimensions magically governed by powerful leaders, the same leader,” Jeanie began, “in a perfect alignment where their dimensional cross points could restore magical order to multiple other dimensions like a spiderweb through time and space.”

“And she will be that queen?” Eric guessed.

“She will,” Jeanie nodded. “In one dimension, I am told, she is already a fine queen, and in another, she is shaping up to fulfill that role… Or already has… Interdimensional time travel does not fall so cleanly into past, present, or future tenses.”

“Why have you come to me?” Eric demanded in a professionally bored tone despite his actual curiosity.

“You have successfully protected her in those other two dimensions and several others of major importance. We have faith you can do so again here,” Jeanie shrugged.

“A vampire is a poor bodyguard,” Eric pointed out. “We fair well for special events, but not continual protection.”

Jeanie held out her hand, and a stone materialized within it, “Do you know what this is?”

“I do not,” Eric replied as he stared at the orange and gray mineral that made his supernatural senses pique with interest. The taste the stone emitted into the air was as tempting as it was foreboding.

“It has quite a few names,” Jeanie admitted, “Most commonly, it’s known simply as a sunstone. What makes this one particularly important is that I did not conjure it. It was given to me, so it will not disappear outside my sphere of influence. It is your first payment to become this girl’s bodyguard.”

“And what do I want with your rock?” Eric sighed.

“It is a stone of protection from the sun,” Jeanie smiled. “If I were to embed this within you, the sun would never force you to rest and would never burn you.” Even the ancient vampire could not help the covetousness that alit his face. “It will grant you the ability to protect Sookie and teach her to protect herself when the time comes for your duties to end.”

“I am to be her teacher now too?” Eric grouched.

“To an extent,” Jeanie calmed him, “Endymion was quite insistent that you have nothing to do with her actual upbringing. He said you have a tendency to strip away her compassion when you know her too young. No, she should stay with her grandmother and brother, so she has humility and compassion properly embedded.”

“And who will I be fighting?” Eric asked.

“With the gates between the human realm and fairy realm sealed, Sookie’s aura will become enticing to certain creatures as she ages, particularly warlocks and other fairies trapped in this realm when the passage was sealed,” Jeanie explained.

“The gate is normally closed, why is it different now?” Eric demanded.

“This is not the usual closing of the realm. It is not like a door any longer. Sookie will need to perform a grueling task to reopen the door,” Jeanie shrugged.

“And this girl is the only one who can perform the task and unseal the realm?” Eric was flabbergasted that a girl who appeared no more than a human would eventually become the only key to the ancient birthplace of magic.

“Eventually, yes,” Jeanie nodded. “Currently, she is untrained and unable to accept the responsibilities of her actions. Her abilities of this moment are only a single drop of water in the ocean they will become.”

“Current abilities?” Eric looked at the girl with more interest. She smelled good enough, but children often did from a lack of toxins to which they would later subject their bodies. That did not imply a power, however.

“She is telepathic,” Jeanie told him. “She has only a short distance, and cannot currently hear vampires at all. I believe she won’t grow into that ability for quite a long time, and by the time she does, her telepathy will be entirely voluntary. She won’t have to listen to everything at all times.”

Eric cooled to the idea of training a girl who could later betray his thoughts, but the offer of being gifted a sunstone was a far greater temptation. Perhaps she will do me the courtesy of not listening to my musings if she likes me well enough, Eric considered. At least she is quiet. I have not heard a word from her since introducing herself.

“Are we in agreement?” Jeanie demanded in a professional manner.

Eric leaned back in his seat, “We are.”

“Excellent,” Jeanie smiled as she clapped her hands in such a way that Eric felt mystically signed into a contract. “You have one week to put your affairs in order as well as inform your Maker and Child that you will be faking your True Death. I will retrieve you on the first of August so we can make preparations for your enrollment and install your first payment.” The sunstone disappeared in Jeanie’s palm.

“I beg your pardon?” Eric’s eyebrows rose.

“You are going to be her bodyguard, and fairies can pop in and out wherever they please. Your presence by her side is imperative. You will go to school with her,” Jeanie explained humorlessly.

Eric Northman frowned, “Even with the abilities of the sunstone, I do not believe I could pass for an eight-year-old.”

“I can fix that,” Jeanie told him without pause. “I am the Djinn, after all. As long as you do not object, this act is well within my sphere of ability.”

It had been a long time since Eric Northman had felt his jaw go slack with surprise, but the mythical term of Djinn had managed to make it happen. Even amongst Supernaturals, the creature Djinn was one of lore.

“I must ask if you are a real Djinn, why do you need my help at all?” Eric wondered.

“As a Djinn, I have incomprehensible powers, but only about 100 kilometers of influence. I cannot kill, and I have little autonomy of my own. I can only perform a task once upon assignment, not infinitely, that would imply I have my own willpower. My will and my power are at the disposal of my Master, and that Master is Sookie. The only other who can wield my power is Endymion.”

“Then, I cannot control you?” Eric realized.

“No,” Jeanie confirmed. “If you have a request, then it must be ordered by Sookie and fulfilled at her agreement.”

“Sookie is your red tape, then,” Eric smiled. “One-hundred kilometers… So much potential, but so little,” he murmured. “Judging by the girl’s accent, I would say I will be moving to Louisiana in a week? That suits me fine. I have needed a change of scenery. Will I be able to move freely between a child and an adult size?”

“No,” Jeanie shook her head. “I will be setting you to the same aging speed as Sookie. Luckily you are vampire, and the process will not steal your memories or abilities as it would if you were any other human-based supernatural. You will have all of your advantages but in a smaller package. You will grow as Sookie does. Keep in mind that means your strikes will be concentrated in a smaller point of impact. The effects will be devastating, so I advise against hitting mortals.”

“Understandable,” Eric agreed.

“One week,” Jeanie reminded as she took Sookie’s hand. “If you are ready to go home, please make your wish now.”

Sookie paused, having only absorbed a fraction of what was happening in the office. One of the things that stood out to her, however, was that Eric Northman seemed to begrudgingly agree to his new job.

“Thank you, Mr. Northman,” Sookie reached her hand out to shake his.

Eric frowned but rose from his seat to accept her hand. “Your first lesson on supernaturals is that vampires do not shake hands. We nod in acknowledgment. The lower the nod, the higher the respect.”

Sookie took her hand back slowly before lowering her head until she was nearly bowing. An unwelcome smile tugged at Eric’s lips. Okay, maybe this will not be so terrible, he considered. “We will work on it.”

Smiling broadly, Sookie gave a bemused tilt of her head before skipping back to Jeanie’s side, “Please, take us home, Ms. Jeanie!”

Eric watched, stupefied as the pair disappeared in a puff of black smoke like a tacky ninja movie. Once they were gone, however, Eric left his office to take to the sky and speak to his Maker. This definitely was not a conversation for a phone call.

{†}

As Sookie appeared once more in her room, tucked snuggly into her bed, she marveled at the small adventure she had experienced. “You really are a genie!”

Jeanie smiled, “Yes, and I need you to make another wish, Sookie. I need you to wish for a replica bottle in the cabinet, so I can remain with you.”

“Okay,” Sookie nodded in agreement. “Jeanie, I wish you would make a replica bottle in your place in the china cabinet, please.”

Jeanie nodded, “That is taken care of.”

“Oh! Won’t Mr. Northman need a place to live?” Sookie wondered.

“Yes,” Jeanie agreed. “He will mostly be around you, but he will need a home so you can come over and start learning everything you need to know for the future.”

Sookie sat quietly in her bed as she absorbed this before finally asking in the form of a statement, “Mr. Northman called me a queen.”

Jeanie frowned, “Yes, he did.”

“Does that mean I’m a princess right now?” Sookie asked.

“Yes, a fairy princess,” Jeanie smirked.

Sookie looked at her hands, contemplatively. “And people already don’t like me?”

Jeanie’s expression mimicked her master’s. “They do not know you. A lot of people want to be royalty, Sookie, and it doesn’t matter whether or not they like the person who is currently chosen to become their leader. There is time to discuss these things later. Right now, it is late, and little princesses should be asleep. I have kept you awake too late already.”

Sookie nodded as she pulled the light, summer blanket over her body, and turned off the lamp beside her bed. “Jeanie?”

“Hmm?”

“Can you look like whoever you want?”

“I can.”

“Can you look like my mamma?” Sookie whispered.

There was a pause, “I could, but I wouldn’t be your mother, Sookie. I’d be no more than a moving photograph.”

An involuntary sniffle huffed through the girl’s nose. She knew that before Jeanie even said it, but she still wished her mother could hold her one more time. “What are the rules, Jeanie?”

“I can’t bring back the dead, Sookie,” Jeanie began, knowing precisely what a child would want first. “I can’t overrule anyone’s Free Will, either. I can persuade, but ultimately, they must make the decisions.”

“Is that why you had to pay Mr. Northman with that rock so he would help us?” Sookie tried to understand.

“That’s right. Things I conjure out of thin air only exist when they are within 100 kilometers of my bottle. If I makesomething or receive something out of raw materials, only then does it truly exist without me,” Jeanie told her. “I cannot create anything consciously living, but I can summon it briefly. I cannot keep it against its will.”

Sookie nodded as though she understood, but in reality, it was beyond her. She was too tired from her day to try and comprehend anymore. Tomorrow would be another opportunity to learn more.

TBC