Hello Everyone! This story was an idea in my head that just wouldn't leave, so I decided to start writing it, finally. I will still be writing Mine as well. I would never abandon my girl Arabella! I hope you like this one too!

FYI… This story takes place with an alternate history for the citizens of Bon Temps and Shreveport, so the Maenad, Russell, etc. has all already occurred and Billith, well, I'm just not going there with this story. My OC will show up in Chapter 1. As you read, you'll see that this is sort of a mash up of the Hunger Games and True Blood. I thought it'd be sort of interesting to see what could happen.

Please read and let me know if you think this is worth pursuing… Thanks!

"Please, do not take this as questioning your authority or decisions, as I mean no disrespect. But I have to ask, after all this time, why are you starting these games up again, your Majesty? Don't they go against the whole AVL agenda of peaceful cohabitation with humans? If the humans knew, even suspected that we…" Bill asked, trailing off as he shifted his weight uneasily in an antique Louis XV arm chair that Queen Sophie-Anne had received as a present from the actual Louis XV after having been one of the king's favorite mistresses. Even though Bill was considered one of her most trusted advisors, he still felt uneasy when having to question one of her decisions. And while she was well over 600 years old, she looked every inch the teenager that she was when she was turned, and unfortunately also acted with the reckless abandon of a youthful mind occasionally. One could only hope that you caught her on one of her mature days.

Sophie-Anne stood up from the white leather chaise that she had been lounging on, rolled her eyes at Bill and theatrically began to pace alongside the beautiful aqua blue water of her indoor pool. "Oh William, ever the Boy Scout. Well, I guess I understand your questioning the merits of starting these games up again, they can get quite bloody, but that's the point really, isn't it. They aren't called The Carnage Games for nothing." Seeing his mouth open in what she assumed would be further protest, she held her hand up to stop him and continued, "But before you get your panties in a bunch, I've already discussed the prospect of holding the games with The Authority and they approve. They're actually going to send a representative to observe how we proceed with the festivity and if all goes well, they'll use it as a prototype for the other kingdoms. It's going to bring in a shitload of money for my kingdom in the process." Sophie-Anne squealed in delight at this, because if there was anything she loved more than blood, it was money; diamonds were a close third though.

Bill looked at his queen in shock for a moment before asking, "I'm still at a loss here… The Authority… approves?"

Sophie-Anne rolled her light baby blues again at Bill and replied, "Bill, are you familiar with the stats on the level of violence and crimes committed in my kingdom by vampires since we've come out of the closet?"

Bill's expression turned somewhat pensive as he responded, "Yes my queen, there's been a spike in violence reported by the all the area sheriffs." And then he said, after shifting again in his chair a little, "They've had to clean up a lot of messes." He knew that she would understand that he meant literally and figuratively.

"Yes there's been quite the spike and if this keeps up, they'll be no human in Louisiana who hasn't been glamoured in ten years tops." The Queen said huffily but then added, "It can't continue William. We can't keep glamouring the humans and I can't have the human authorities questioning why we can't keep our own under control. And therein lies the problem. Something needs to be done to help our kind control ourselves. Now that we've exposed our secret, we've had to deny our basic instincts. We've had to try to bury the burning desire we have to kill, to witness the life essence leaving some pathetic creature, to rip the guts out of something."

"But all of those actions make us savages. Aren't we trying to be… better?" Bill asked confused.

"We are already better; the master species so to speak. The problem is that we can't let the humans in on that. Oh sure, I mean they get that we don't die…easily… and that we have to sleep during the day, but I don't think they really understand just how powerful we are. Look at how those pathetic creatures pay, actually pay, to get into vampire clubs, to see us up close, to be with us. It's sheer lunacy if you really think about it. They don't know… they don't get just how dangerous and powerful we are and we have to keep it that way or they will surely try to exterminate us William. What they lack in power, they more than make up in numbers. We would be driven to the point of extinction. So in the meantime, to keep this uneasy balance, we have to find ways to appease the more, as you put it, savage tendencies that we have. You know that we will never be able to completely keep them at bay, but if we can find ways to keep them in check, well…" The Queen said as she cocked her eyebrow up.

"And you think these games will appease the masses?" Bill asked, still not entirely convinced.

"Yes, I do. I've changed the rules up a bit from the traditional games held centuries ago. Gotta update for the times, right? Anyhoo, we're going to have more contestants, but not a number where humans would become suspicious of so many people gone missing. Let's see, oh yes, and more audience participation, more gore, more twists. I really think it'll play out really well." The Queen replied happily, giving herself a little happy clap as she clearly was proud of the work she had done already for the games.

"Well, this seems like a done deal then." Bill replied knowing that these games were going to happen with or without his blessing. Questioning any further would only antagonize his Queen and put him on her shit-list. No one wanted to be on her shit-list.

"I'm glad that you're on board then William, especially since I'm going to put you in charge of getting it all together. I'll just e-mail you an outline of the games and it'll be your job to see my vision come to life. And… not that I need to remind you or anything… but you better not lose sight of the fact that a lot is riding on the success of these games, William. Not only will the Authority be watching very closely, but I have no doubt that other kingdoms will send representatives as well. I WILL NOT BE MADE TO LOOK LIKE A FOOL WILLIAM!" The Queen said fervently.

"I would never dream of doing less than my best on your behalf, my queen." Bill emphatically replied. "If that is all, my queen?"

"No, I'm sure that's more than enough for your plate. You're going to have quite the task ahead of you William. I need this all to be accomplished in three weeks' time. I've already sent out informal invitations to the heads of the kingdoms of Mississippi, Texas, and Arkansas, our nearest realms. You will send out the formal ones tomorrow night. It's a good thing you have a progeny now, seeing as you'll need all the help you can get. Oh, and since you live in Area 5, I've already sent word to Sheriff Northman that he will be helping in any way you see fit, especially monetarily, that bastard's loaded."

Bill stood stone-faced at the mention of Eric helping him. Eric Northman, the same asshole vampire who repeatedly tried to take his beloved wife away from him on many occasions. 'This is going to be fun.' Bill thought to himself sarcastically before replying to his queen, "Thank you for this opportunity to serve you my queen."

"Of course William. You've always been a good subject. Now before you go, please make sure to send Sookie my love. It's been ages since I've seen her at court. You must bring her soon. And of course, she will attend the games. I simply will not hear that she cannot attend." The queen said with a smirk. She knew that Bill wouldn't want to bring his precious fragile human wife to such an event, but Sophie-Anne knew that if Sookie was going to survive in Bill's world then she would need to know everything that it entailed. Keeping his wife in the dark wasn't going to do her any favors. Further, Sophie-Anne actually liked Sookie and knew that the little spitfire of a human, well, almost human, was actually stronger than she looked.

"Yes, your majesty. I will." Bill replied before running off at vampire speed to return to Sookie, dreading every step as he had no idea how he was going to tell her about this.

Sookie was sitting on the front porch of her Gran's old house, a glass of lemonade to her left on the ivory ceramic drum table and a tawdry romance novel in her hands. Even though she and Bill were married now, she still held onto the property and preferred to be there when Bill was out of town. Ever since the Compton house had been fully renovated, will all the bells and whistles that Bill could afford, giving it a very modern, masculine feel, she didn't feel as comfortable in it. She actually had felt more at ease at his home, well their home now, when it was run down and in need of some TLC. Maybe it was because she grew up without a whole lot of money, or maybe it was because Bill had done his renovations without consulting her, although to be fair they were only newly dating when he began them, but in the end the Compton house was all him. The only input she was able to give was in the kitchen, because being human; she really was the only one to use it.

Bill knew he'd find his wife at her old home and was not surprised when he drove up the gravel drive to see her sitting there on the front porch enjoying one of her guilty pleasures. He stopped the car and drank in her beauty for a short while, knowing that the serenity she had on her face now would be disrupted once he told her of what he had to do, and more to the point, what she'd be forced to watch.

Sookie looked up from her book when she heard the car coming, a soft yet tentative smile forming on her lips. She knew Bill was coming home tonight because he texted her, but she didn't know exactly when. That was why she was reading her book outside, waiting patiently for her love to come home. The Queen didn't request his presence often, but when she did, it usually came with a price. Sookie couldn't help but worry about what that price would be this time.

"What? Is this some sort of sick joke?" Sookie roared, anger all over her face, when Bill showed her the outline of the games on his computer. He had gone over and over in his mind, trying to come up with a way to tell his wife about the event that the Queen had put him in charge of planning, but in the end knew there was no good way to tell her. So, he just opened up his laptop computer, opened the e-mail from the Queen and let her read it. The only thing he could hope for right now was that his wife would understand that he had no choice but to follow the request given to him by his queen, and by extension, their queen.

"Let me get this straight….she wants you to put… this together! And she wants me to watch? Has she lost her ever-lovin' mind?" Sookie asked, aghast at the twisted games that Sophie-Anne wanted Bill to put together.

"This is no joke Sookie. And unfortunately I have no choice. She would consider any refusal to do her bidding a treasonous act, punishable by the true death. You know that she's administered the true death for lessor offenses. Not only that, the Authority has been contacted... and will be in attendance." Bill replied hoping she'd see that this was something neither one of them could get out of, no matter how much they wanted to.

Sookie thought about what he said, remembering the last time they were at court. A young good-looking male vampire, Hamish, had foolishly not paid the full amount of tribute he owed to the queen, thinking she'd never know. Well, she did know. And so, he, and everyone else present, found out first-hand what the wrath of the queen consisted of. Not one to be afraid of getting dirty, she shoved her fist into his chest, where his dead heart lay, and pulled it out, lifting it up to his face to see. Shock registered in his eyes just before he quickly disintegrated into a pile of goo at the Queen's feet.

She also remembered the last time Bill had to deal with the Authority after Bill and Eric killed Nan Flanagan, the former head of media relations for the Authority. Both Bill and Eric were tortured by silver mist and sun light in silver cages for two weeks. The punishment would've been worse had the Authority not wanted to get rid of Nan anyway. But even though the two of them had done the Authority a favor, they did it outside the chain of command, which was a big no-no in the vampire world.

She sighed regretfully, knowing that Bill was right; there was no way for them to get out of this without losing their lives. And besides, even if they stood up for what was right, protesting the holding of these perverse games, and lost their lives in the process, the Queen would just get someone else, someone more eager for blood, to finish the task. The loss of their lives would not prevent the games. But, if Bill and she could work on them together, maybe, just maybe, they can sneak some more humane elements into the macabre festivity. However, even if she worked on it with him, it didn't mean that she necessarily wanted to witness it firsthand.

"Okay, I get that you can't get out of this, but why does she want me there? I don't think I could sit through something like this Bill. There's going to be so many people killed… just for sport." Sookie asked dejectedly. Since she started her relationship with Bill, there were a lot of things that she had to learn to deal with or put in a little corner of her mind to feel guilty about later, but this by far was the worst to date. Of all the attacks and bloodshed and killing that she'd seen and taken part in over the past three years, those all could be justified or at least explained on some level. These games… they were straight up murder for entertainment; a revolting attempt to cull the gruesome urges of the more primal vampires. She didn't think the corner of her mind was big enough to house such guilt.

"Truly I don't know why she wants you there, but if you are called to be there, you must attend." Bill said sadly as he took her into an embrace. He never wanted her to see this side of vampire nature, at least not if she wasn't one, which she wasn't. She chose to remain human and he respected her wishes. In fact, her humanity was one of the things he loved the most about her. He could only hope after seeing the games that she would be the same person.

Please let me know if you think this is worth pursuing…. Thanks!