A/N: This story was originally posted on Quizilla in full (I have nearly finished it, in fact), but just as I was about to pick it up again after a long hiatus, I came back to find that Quzilla had cleared all stories made before June 2011. Basically, every story of mine was deleted for no reason whatsoever. So, to avoid that happening again, I will be posting the entire story on here once I've gone through and edited each chapter.
There are a lot of chapters already completed, as I've mentioned, and I will be posting them is quick succession. I want to get this thing finished!
"You know, you're here the same time every night, in that same seat, with that same look on your face."
The young woman looked up at the bartender, offering a stunning smile that wiped any further questions out of his mind.
"Sorry, is it a problem?" she asked.
"Well, you never order anything."
"I'm bad for business?"
"It's not that. But what would a nice girl like you be doing alone and without an order every night of the week?"
"Alright then, you got me. I'll have a shot of tequila."
He smiled and poured out her drink, sliding it over to her. She didn't drink it however, giving him an evocative smile back.
She leant forward compellingly, and spoke in low tones.
"Do you want to know why I'm always in here alone and without an order every night?"
Sam put down the glass he was cleaning and leant onto the counter in front of her with interest, "Why?"
"I'm a v-"
The door opened, letting in both a warm breeze and an apparently inconsequential man. The effect he had on the customers, however, proved otherwise. Necks craned all over the room, wanting to see who was causing the fuss.
Sam looked at the newcomer, then back at the girl sitting before him, as though he found no interest in the man.
"What were you gonna say?"
"I was about to tell you", she sighed lightly, "that I'm a voyeur."
He stared at her.
"A voyeur?"
He was clearly disappointed in the anti-climactic information.
"I like to come here after work every night to watch people. To listen to them. I just find them interesting."
"Yeah, well, we do sometimes get the odd kooks..." he replied, but judging by the look he was giving her, her answer wasn't what he had expected.
She chuckled and was about to reply when Sam was called away by one of the waitresses, a pretty, young blonde by the name of Sookie. She seemed excited about something, but based on the past couple of weeks that the woman had spent at Merlotte's Diner, Sookie was easily excited.
"I think Merlotte's just got its first vampire!" she whispered.
Sam looked over at the newcomer who had taken a seat towards the centre of the bar. He was still receiving curious looks from many of the customers, and looks almost of disgust from many of those who had recognised him for what he was.
"I think you're right", Sam replied, concerned by Sookie's level of excitement over such a thing.
She smiled and went over to serve the pale man.
When she arrived next to him, he looked up and frowned slightly at her eager expression.
"Is somethin' the matter?" he asked.
"Oh, no. It's just..." she leant forward to speak to him, "You're our first. Vampire I mean."
At the word 'vampire' heads turned from all directions to look at the pair. Sookie realised that, along with the look of slight amusement on the man's face, there was also one of confusion.
"First?"
"Yeah. We ain't ever had one of your kind in here before", she offered him another silly grin.
"I'm afraid you must be mistaken", he said to her, "but there was another already in here when I arrived."
Sookie's smile fell from her face and she turned quickly to survey the room and its various occupants, searching for this apparently allusive other vampire.
"Really?" she asked, turning back, "Are you sure? I don't see anyone."
He looked from her to the bar and Sookie turned her head, catching a fleeting glimpse of two icy blue eyes looking over in their direction.
Sam, watching Sookie and the vampire converse, noticed them look over in his direction. The woman sitting at the bar, his new regular, was also watching them, but there seemed to be a familiarity between her and the man with whom Sookie was talking. She turned her head back to face forward as Sookie looked over at her. Sam noticed this and a sudden realisation came over him. Never ordered any food, only came after dark, a stranger in town. The young woman sitting before him was a vampire. He felt a mixture of disappointment and anger wash over him. He had grown quite used to seeing the young women at the end of his bar every night, had even grown to like her. He couldn't believe that he hadn't realised earlier. Or that she hadn't said anything.
"You know her?" Sookie asked.
"Somewhat, yes", he smiled.
"I didn't even know that she was a vampire. She seemed so..."
"Human?" He smirked.
"Well, uh...What can I get you?"
She took out her pad and pencil to take his order, forgetting that there was only one thing vampires fed on.
"Do you have any of that synthetic blood?"
"Oh no, sorry. We did have a case of it, but no one ever ordered any of it and it went bad."
He smiled at her and she smiled back awkwardly. Behind him, the couple listening in to their conversation turned in their seats.
Sam was looking at the vampire and her untouched shot of tequila from a distance. He was thinking of saying something to her to see if she had even noticed that she had been recognised for what she was. The downcast look on her face told him that she had. She ran a pale finger around the rim of her glass and looked over at him to see what he was thinking. His frown was a clear incentive for her to leave. She stood up, but he sighed and approached her.
"Hey, wait, uh..."
"Persephone", she told him.
"Persephone?" he asked, nearly forgetting the main reason why he had called to her in the first place.
"Yes, it's my name. Here's something for the drink", she passed a few bills onto the bar and turned to leave. Now that she'd been discovered, she knew that she'd have to gradually work on getting back the trust of many of the people within in the bar. Sam watched her walk away and, although he barely knew her, felt a pang of regret for not saying anything to stop her.
Persephone paused at one of the front windows of Merlotte's and waited. Sam picked up her still-full glass, looked down at it as though about to drink it, and then put it on the ledge of the kitchen window. Lafayette, the bar's cook, was about to place another plate of food onto the sill, when he noticed the full glass and shook his head at the waste. Picking it up, he threw back the shot of tequila and got back to work. Not entirely pleased with the result of her endeavor, Persephone left for a more vampire- friendly establishment.
Eric was bored. It wasn't the first time, nor would it be the last. For a vampire/human club, Fangtasia brought him close to no pleasure whatsoever. He glanced around at the pathetic mortals mixing with the superior immortals and felt disgusted at their own self-degrading behavior.
"Eric?"
He turned his gaze to the right and his eyes widened.
"I wasn't expecting to see you", he said.
"Obviously", Persephone replied. She walked up the steps to stand next to his throne and ran her hand over the top of it in an almost mocking sort of way.
"You realise that you're sheriff, not king, don't you?"
His brow furrowed and he turned his head to look at her in her new position next to his seat.
"What happened to your sense of humor? Don't tell me you sold it when you sold off your dignity", she smirked, gesturing to the club.
"Shouldn't you be in Texas?" he asked with an air of irritation.
"I decided to pay a visit. I haven't travelled much lately", Persephone explained, looking out at the crowd on the dance floor. Eric gazed at her as she scanned the room. He had nearly forgotten how beautiful she was. In a black t-shirt and jeans, she looked more human than vampire, but her pale skin and icy blue eyes set her apart from the fang bangers dancing out on the floor. She was elegant, genuine and ancient; the best kind of vampire. From nearby, Pam, the club's bouncer and also a vampire, approached with a look of contempt. It was well known to Eric and most of the vampires in the area that Persephone and Pam did not get along. They weren't sure why, but it was what had always been; no one questioned it. If they were to do so, they'd be bound to regret it very quickly.
"What's she doing here? I thought she would be in Texas, with her maker", Pam said, folding her arms.
"As I was just telling Eric, I thought I might come by and visit. It's been quite a while since I was last here", she smiled, but it was forced.
"Well now that you've done so, perhaps..."
"Pam", Eric gave her a look that was a distinct warning, "She's welcome to stay as long as she likes."
Pam, looking disgruntled, turned and walked back to her post at the door. Persephone looked down at Eric and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked at it and then at her.
"Maybe it was time I got back."
"I hope Pam's words haven't convinced you", he told her.
"Her? No. I'll be in the area. I think Godric can live without me there for a while longer."
They stared at each for a moment and then chuckled at the joke. Godric was, after all, an immortal, like they were.
"How long have you been in the area?"
"A few weeks", she replied.
"And yet you only come to visit tonight?"
"I've been preoccupied."
"With your humans, I presume", he said, with a knowing look.
"I'd hardly call them my humans", she responded, then added with a mischievous grin, "At least, not yet. By the way, Bill Compton's back in town."
"Is he still mainstreaming?" Eric asked with obvious disapproval towards Bill's chosen way of life.
"I believe so. He seemed to be quite interested in a human girl, though."
"Him and his humans", Eric sighed.
"Again, you can hardly call them his humans."
With a last smile, her dark lidded, icy blue eyes darting over his, a darker blue, Persephone turned to leave. She felt that she should have a word to Mr. Merlotte before his bar closed for the night. She owed it to him in the least, deceiving him the way she had. Unfortunately, as the many, many years of her life had gone on, she had developed what the humans called 'a conscience'.