Summary: A trail of missing children leads straight into Shreveport, and Eric asks his favorite telepath to help find the latest victim. Potentially E/S.
This is post-season two. In terms of the books, this would be after the third book. (But I'm sticking to the True Blood version of the characters and past events…)
Chapter One: Visitor
It was winter, so dark fell earlier. Sookie was giving the kitchen a very thorough cleaning.
The week had been cold, and Sookie had hardly had a minute in the fresh, cold air aside from the minute between the house and her car, the car and Merlotte's. Today she'd been looking forward to talking a little walk, but the dark had fallen early and the temperature had dropped with it, so Sookie pulled out her cleaning supplies instead and turned on the TV in the kitchen. She had just finished the sink and was starting on the floors, half-listening to the news, half lost in her own thoughts, when the words "missing children" and "Louisiana" woke her from her daze.
She turned toward the TV, puzzled. Surely she'd know if there were missing children so near to Bon Temps. But this was the first she'd heard of such a thing.
"Police have noted that the string of missing children began several months ago, and that the pattern has just now has begun to emerge in the eyes of the authorities. Eight children have disappeared in eight different small towns, between the hours of nightfall and ten PM. Nearly all of the disappearances occurred just outside of the victims' homes. Two of the children were taking out the trash and one was walking a dog.
"Six of the victims were girls, and all range in age between six and eleven. The latest disappearance occurred in Shreveport, Louisiana just last night. Authorities have been searching the surrounding area with no success."
Sookie shivered. What sort of beast of a person preyed on small children? Just a few miles from Bon Temps, nonetheless. Of course, this couldn't be a local, since the other seven children were missing from Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi. It was as if the criminal has left a blood trail… except instead of blood, it was missing children.
Sookie interrupted this unsettling train of thoughts, trying to remember if she'd scrubbed under the kitchen table, and jumped when the doorbell rang out. She couldn't imagine who it could possibly be. Sam was at Merlotte's, of course, where Tara was also working at the moment, and it couldn't possibly be Jason, because God knows, he never knocked.
The only person Sookie could think of was Bill, and she wanted to see him less than pretty much anyone else in the world right now. They had just separated less than two weeks ago, just the day before his month-long trip to Europe. If he'd come back early to attempt to persuade her to take him back… well… Sookie shook her head. That was most certainly not going to happen.
The knock sounded again, solid and certain. Sookie snapped out of her thoughts, and walked to the door. Whoever it was, she certainly wouldn't mind a bit of a break from scrubbing the floors.
At least, that's what she'd thought before she'd opened the door.
"Bill isn't here." Sookie spoke out, putting her hand on her hip. The blond vampire looked unfazed, and even slightly bored, which irritated her even more.
"Yes, I know. And even if Bill were in Bon Temps, I would no longer look for him here." Eric responded lazily. "May I come in?"
"No!" She didn't like the fact that Eric knew about her and Bill, not one little bit. Suddenly she felt a flutter of apprehension. She could no longer rely on Bill to know if she were ever in trouble. And since she was no longer his, she was fair game to other vampires. Not that Eric would ever- Well, she hoped not, at least. Sookie stood her ground, blocking the entrance, even though she knew he couldn't enter unless she explicitly granted him permission.
"My, my. Feeling a little upset tonight, are we?"
"If you're not looking for Bill, than what do you want, Eric? I have floors to scrub, I don't have time for nonsense."
"Invite me in. It's no subject to discuss on the doorstep."
Sookie hesitated. Sure, she'd known Eric for more than a year now, but she could hardly say that it was beyond him to pull some ridiculous stunt.
"Promise you won't try any hanky-panky?"
Eric grinned and raised his hand. "Not tonight."
Sookie moved aside. "Eric, would you like to come in?"
Before she could blink, he was sitting at the kitchen table, and she was staring into her empty backyard. She shut the door.
"Now I invited you in, the least you could do is move like a human. You know I don't like it when you do that."
"I apologize." He smirked, motioning for her to sit in the chair across from him. Granting her permission to sit in her own kitchen. How gracious, Sookie thought with irritation.
"So now that you're inside… what is it?"
"Have you seen the news today?"
"A bit of it, yes. And?" Sookie was trying to be as hospitable as she could, but she was cranky from being cooped up inside all week, working mostly, and her knees hurt from cleaning the floors on her only night off this week. Not to mention that if she'd had to choose someone to spend her night off with, it would most certainly not be Eric.
Eric was watching her growing irritation with a mild look of amusement, but beneath it she could sense that he was not quite his usual self. He looked… thrown off, unsettled. It unsettled her just to think of what kind of horrible thing it took to get a rise out of Mr. Calm-and-collected.
"Just spit it out, won't you? You might have all the time in the world but I'm just a lowly mortal human." Sookie crossed her legs, tapping her fingers impatiently.
"I need your help."
"And why should I help you?"
"Because you heard the news report of the missing children, I assume."
Sookie pulled away from him, horrified. "Are you saying-"
Eric grimaced. "It is strictly against our laws to feed from those under the age of consent. But unfortunately, just like in the human world… there are certain people that like to think they can skirt around the rules…"
"But, how do you know that it was a vampire? Can't they escape? During the day?"
"The bodies have been found."
"But the police just said-"
"Not by the police. The vampires of the region have found the bodies. All except the last child."
"But how-"
Eric sniffed lightly. "The first one was found by accident by one of our kind, and thereafter each Area sheriff has been assigned to find the body left behind. We're quicker than the police. Heightened senses."
"You have to tell the police!" Sookie jumped to her feet.
"Sit." Eric said in his most intimidating voice.
"I will not have you telling me what to do in my own home!" She replied indignantly. "You are a guest and if you don't behave like one I will withdraw my invitation."
Eric watched her, unnervingly still, as if waiting for a child to finish its tantrum.
"Why are you telling me this?" Sookie asked suddenly, her voice quiet.
"Because I need your help. The last child, which disappeared from Shreveport, is still missing."
"So can't you just sniff out the body? What am I supposed to do?"
"We can't find a body. Our trail goes cold in the middle of the woods."
Sookie stared at him blankly. "And you want me to…?"
"If we can't smell the dead corpse, it must mean only one thing."
Sookie leaned forward. "You think she's still alive?"
Eric nodded ever so slightly. "I want you to listen for her."
"Eric! You have to call the police! If there's a chance that child is still alive, they have to know. The parents must be going crazy, worried-"
"If you want to be responsible for starting a civil war between vampires and humans, feel free to give them a call," Eric responded in a steely tone. Sookie froze. She could only imagine what the Fellowship of the Sun would do with this information. A vampire child predator. Serial-killer, really. The VRA certainly would never pass.
"Have you caught him? The vampire? How are you going to catch him?"
Eric shrugged, but Sookie could tell he was just as unsettled by the idea of a potential child predator in his area upset him. "First things first. That child, or body, is my responsibility. If the police find it, with fang-marks… Well, let's just say the limited vampire rights offered at the moment will no longer be offered."
"You want me to help you cover up a crime?"
Eric's gaze bore into hers. "I want you to find a missing child."