Chapter 1

The mood in Merlotte's was dark. The waitresses and cooks worked like Zombies. Sam Merlotte was working behind the bar, but drinking his sadness away. No one even noticed when a family of vampires strolled through the front door. Five vampires, white as snow, walked in and seated themselves. Sam was the first to notice them. He pointed them out to Arlene who whimpered and begged Sookie to take that table.

As Sookie walked closer, she found she could relax a bit, letting everyone's thoughts disappear as she neared the thoughtless vamps.

"The mood is so morbid in here…" Sookie heard thoughts coming from one of the vampires. Her eye went immediately to the youngest of them. She had long brown curls and her eyes looked strange. She had a beautiful face but something was off about her. She had a bit more color in her skin. There was a light in her eyes that looked more alive than the undead next to her. She looked up and Sookie stopped staring. Her eyes were purple.

"Can I get you anything to drink? We have all sorts of True blood, if you like?" Sookie looked at the others to avoid the purple eyes.

"O neg please," Said the blond.

"Me too." Said her partner.

"B plus for me," Said the blond male and his partner asked for the same. Sookie wrote that down and was forced to look at the young girl again. She was looking down at the menu and turned towards Sookie. She reached her hand up and touched Sookie's wrist lightly.

"Calm…" Her thought rang and Sookie suddenly felt more relaxed. The girl looked up and ordered a Coke and the dinner special as if she'd done nothing. Sookie blinked.

"You want food? Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were a vampire too. Coming right up." Sookie replied and turned away. That vampire look alike was in fact human. Or something, because she'd calmed Sookie with a single touch.

"I wonder what she thinks of me…?" the girl's thoughts chased after Sookie and echoed as if it was bouncing back and forth between their minds. Sookie turned quickly to look at her and she suddenly jerked her head away and her thoughts disappeared as if she too was a vampire.

Sookie placed the order at the kitchen and started heating the true bloods, always glancing back at the table of vamps. They were completely occupied with a whispered conversation. Arlene asked Sookie what they were doing there and Sookie had no answer. Sookie took the drinks over to the table and heard what they were arguing about.

"We just got here, Jasmine. Would you relax?" The one said. They sort of hushed when Sookie got closer.

"Hey, if y'all want to go out after dinner, there's this vampire bar out in Shreveport." Sookie said before she could stop herself from being nice.

"You're kicking us out?" The blond asked. She suddenly jerked as if kicked under the table and stared at the guilty party.

"She's not kicking us out, Ellie." The young girl said. She turned to Sookie. "Thank you. You're Sookie, right?"

"Yeah, how'd you know that?" Sookie felt a jolt of fear strike her.

"I have really good hearing. I heard the red head call you Sookie." She pointed to the bar, where most people were staring at Sookie's table. Sookie relaxed.

"Of course you do. You have the ears of four vampires." She smiled.

"Everyone's been wondering what we're doing here. We just moved into a house outside of town. We're mainstreaming. We picked this town because it's small."

"And bad things usually don't happen in small towns." The blonde, Ellie stated.

Sookie scoffed. The four vampires and their human companion stared up at Sookie.

"I'll go check up on that dinner special for you." Sookie quickly turned and walked away. After helping another table, Sookie looked over and her four vampires were gone. Sookie grabbed the dinner special and took it over to the table.

"They left?" Sookie asked. The girls looked up at her and those purple eyes looked tired.

"Fangtasia." She replied.

"I really didn't kick them out." Sookie said and sat down across from the girl.

"I know. And they know that too. They get bored easily."

"They're vampires. All they have is time." Sookie joked. The girl smiled.

"I'm Silver." She said.

"I'm sorry?" Sookie was confused.

"I figured if I know your name, you could know mine too. My name is Silver."

Realization crossed Sookie's face and she extended her hand.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Silver. I'm Sookie Stackhouse." The two shook hands.

"I know what you are, Sookie." Silver said and held onto Sookie's hand. Sookie gasped and tried to take her hand away, but calm flooded her again. "I don't care. I just thought you'd like someone to talk to. In all this mess we walked in on, you're probably desperate for some understanding."

"What are you?" Sookie asked.

"I'm… Complicated." Silver answered vaguely. Sookie tried to reach into her mind. All she saw was a vampire and Silver holding hands.

"You're a sympathizer." Sookie stated.

Silver smiled and looked away. "If only that was all." Her thoughts mumbled.