True Blood FanFic:
Dead Alive: A story from another side
Chapter 1: The Beauty and the Beast
*Hi, just started getting back into True Blood, (only seen the 1st two series ages ago when they came out in the UK, and read the first book, but trying to save the money for the boxsets of dvds and books), hope my story doesn't reflect too much of any lack of knowlage! Also I always write better if a song influences me, so the song I listened to for this chapter was 'You Don't know Jesus' by Mogwai. Oh and this happens like the day after Sookie meets Bill. Enjoy *
As night crept upon Bon Temps and draped its veil of purple tinged darkness it also trawled with it unexpectedly blackened clouds, like ink splotches spilt with fury. The downpour drenched Bon Temps; it was a usual thing during summer, to have heavy thunderstorms during the evening, yet few of the residents could remember a time where rain had fallen from the skies with such abundance and force.
Like every storm that means business this one also brought with it a visitor. A victim running away from a dark secret and danger as so often seems to be the case on nights like these. Ankle deep in sodden mud and pierced with the thorns she had been scrambling through, a young woman sought with haste to escape the sprawling forest surrounding the edge of Bon Temps. Something wicked this way came, hunting her down, laughing at the tears in her eyes and her heart in her mouth. She was bedraggled by the heavy downpour, and had been running through the thick undergrowth of the forest for so long that the scent of damp vegetation was strong on her now.
Casting her deep golden brown eyes over her shoulder she gave a choking gasp in terror, spotting the 'Evil', (as she had only ever known it as), about 100 yards behind, clawing through the foliage. How anyone else had failed to see it was a miracle, it shone black like an old bin bag dipped in wet tar, and had perversely long spindly fingers that looked more like the legs of a spider than anything. She looked ahead begging, wishing beyond anything that someone could save her, for a sign of salvation. How often had she done this since all this chaos had begun, and yet none had ever come? How long was it she had been running now?
Merlotte's Bar & Grill was overrun that night with both locals and new faces merely looking for a dry place out of the rain.
"I ain't seen nothin' like this since must be hmm….'73!" One ruddy-faced old man cackled, slamming his beer glass down onto the table and gawping out of one of the windows.
The bar hadn't been quite this busy for a couple of days now, perhaps this had something to do with the appearance of the new, and only, vampire in town. The staff were kept on their toes by demanding customers, Sam Merlotte, the bartender, had been working the whole day without so much as five minutes to himself, he leant against the chef's window, his face grey with exhaustion.
"Are you alright man?" Lafayette asked from behind Sam, popping into view in the kitchen service window, casually drying a plate as if there were barely any customers to be fed.
Sam nodded his head and ran a hand through his mousy brown hair.
"Nothing more than a headache- I'll be alright, gotta get through tonight. Guess I wasn't expecting the bar to be quite as busy as it is, not usual for a stormy night to have so many customers." He paused as a flash of lightening lit the car park outside as if it were a bright sunny day. "Looks as though we might get some thunder…" He pointed past the bobbing heads of the crowd through the windows to the world outside. He counted 1 beat before the clap of thunder shook the ground. "I guess the eye of the storm is almost upon us."
"Could be the storm bringing on your headache, I heard the pressure change can do that you know." Lafayette winked at Sam knowingly, then catching a look at the exhausted barman's face smiled empathetically. "Why don't you take a breather out the back, I can command the fleet for a couple of minuets."
"Thanks Lafayette." Sam breathed, and ebbed his way out to the back door.
The cold, damp air hit him in the face like a wet cloth, and yet Sam smiled, nature was his friend, forever unpredictable, but always there. He respected it and he pondered over it all for many hours every day and every night. Every wonder of the world, the things we as humans know, the things we don't know and the things we shouldn't. His mind started to drift into those thoughts once more, as he so often allowed it until he found himself shaken back to reality by something.
He wasn't sure if he had heard a noise or seen a flicker of something moving between the trees, but something had sure shaken him enough to awaken all his senses. Sam quickly slunk into the shadows next to the wooden shack he called home and shifted into his dog form. His senses were heightened even more like this and so he felt a little safer, also less of a target if it was a psychotic human or a hungry vampire out there, which with things as they were at the moment in the town, were equally as likely.
Giving a small whine, Sam trotted over towards the edge of the forest, wondering why he had to be so curious, only the other night during one of his endeavours into the green as a dog he had come across Sookie tending to the vampire that everyone was so weary of. Apparently she had saved him, and despite her innocence and stature, Sam didn't doubt it for a moment. As soon as he caught the scent of fear in among the thick smell of the forest he knew his instincts had picked up the fact that someone needed help close by. He had subconsciously felt it as soon as he had stepped outside. Having canine qualities had its benefits, but choosing whether or not to act on them came from the human part; and Sam, being the man he was headed straight towards the smell in order to help whoever it was.
He padded down the soil bank out of sight of the car park and listened intently, sniffed his lead and began to sprint towards where the commotion seemed to be occurring. He could smell fear that was sure enough, the fear of something sweet that smelt like blossoms and coconuts. He could also smell something that he wished he could turn away from as soon as possible. Never in his life had Sam Merlotte ever smelt the stink of anything so obscene. If he had been in his human form he'd have been retching so hard at this point it would have been difficult to get any closer.
And then, his eyes fell upon it.
The girl had tumbled and through either exhaustion, or the petrifaction of the fear this creature of torment had cast upon her, she could not move on any further. It loomed over her slowly now, sickeningly loving every miniscule moment, and writhing with delight on the pain that it was soon to inflict. It had an awful gash of a mouth, and as it sneered, hundreds of needle like teeth glistened. It didn't appear to have any eyes, but had two fleshy like, curved horns with the same crinkled, black skin as the rest of its body.
Sam stood his ground, he had met some strange beings in his life so far, not that anyone knew, but nothing quite as physically big or bizarre looking as this before. This creature, whatever it was looked as if it could only have possibly been born in the deepest, darkest depths of hell.
The girl took a deep breath and grabbed a thick stick from the ground and began to draw a circle in the ground around her, the Evil seemed to be distracted for a moment by something just behind her. Before she completed the last gap in the circle she looked up to see what it could be. She noticed the weary looking dog stood close by, transfixed by the black, dripping monster about to kill anything standing in its path while it killed her.
"Quick come here!" She yelled at the dog. It looked at her, but didn't seem convinced. It just stood there, staring, but there was not a moment to loose. This dog wouldn't outrun the power of the Evil. She held her hands fast against the earth's ground, tensed her body and closed her eyes, sprang out of the circle, grabbed the dog in lightening speed and within a split second Sam and the girl were in the completed circle.
The girl lifted her right arm up to the massive creature and covered the dog's body with her own- protecting him as the monster swept over them, roaring with the volume of an earthquake and the sounds of clashing waves, but nothing out shone the show of strength and power that came from the girl's hand. Whatever it was that shot out at the creature, wasn't visible. It didn't even have a sound, if anything Sam was just left with a ringing in his ears, but in a moment the creature was gone. It had split and dissolved into a million pieces, shattered and blown away right before his doggy eyes.
As for the girl, she just lay there, either unconscious or worse.
