"Addie, hun, you gunna help those customers…?" Arlene ran a hand through her hair nervously; an angry edge inched into her voice. "I know you're new here and all, but you gotta pull your own weight." Arlene attempted a smile. And Addie tried her hardest to return the gesture, but only managed a scowl in return. She picked up the tray and slowly brought the drinks to table 18. The men sitting there smiled wickedly, giving her a none-too-subtle once over, their actions supported by a low wolf whistle. She approached slowly, awaiting the inevitable change in the men's demeanor. Their looks shifted from malicious joy to uncomfortable anxiety. That happened too often for Addie to really be affected by it. She just forced a smile on her face and dropped their drinks in front of them. When asked their orders, the men gaped and finally caught themselves. With brief answers, they focused their attentions to their hands, or a far off window. Turning on a heel, she rushed back to the kitchen.
Lafayette eyed the new girl with some trepidation, but then, so did everyone. It's not very often, even in Bontemps, that you see a girl with a scar like that. She glanced up at him through lowered lashes. Even he had to admit she was pretty, it was just hard to ignore the jagged scar that ran from just under her left eye down past the collar of her shirt.
"Lafayette… do you have the orders for table 23?" He let out a soft laugh and raised his eyebrow playfully.
"Sugah, you know you can grab the food through the window." She blushed and nodded.
"Yeah, yeah… I know, it's just…"As she trailed off, she absently ran a finger of the scar. He smiled and turned back to his work. While she didn't like being belittled like that, she could tell, or she hoped, that Lafayette's heart had been in the right place. She left him, taking along two heavy trays, and headed back out on the floor.
Addie continued on through her shift, skirting the attention her scar drew. At the end of the day, she shrugged off her apron and changed out of her standard issue Merlotte's white-tee-shirt-black-shorts uniform. She dressed in her personal uniform of blue jeans and high collared black sweater. She meant to cover as much of the scar at all times. She learned a long time ago that, regardless of how she dressed, people saw the scar… Now the way she dressed was just for her own comfort. If it was even slightly hidden, she could forget for a few seconds that she was deformed. A shudder ran down her spine and let out the breath she hadn't intentionally been holding.
After a chaste goodbye to Arlene and Lafayette, Addie ran to her little Ford Fiesta. She sagged as she sat in the car, cool air blowing through the tiny AC vents. A tear slipped down her face, tracing the track of the scar. Addie repressed another shudder and flipped the car into drive, speeding home. Something about driving forced her in to the recesses of her mind.
She was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a girl that people called lucky. No, it was quite the opposite. Addie was a notorious klutz, with a foul temper and an even worse mouth. She had the nasty habit of absently running a hand over the scar when she was feeling shy or thinking. Shaking her head, she dismissed her past. The stress of the day was catching up with her and she needed to unwind. She needed a drink.
She muttered angrily, cursing herself for not staying at Merlotte's. At least then she would have had a chance to bond with her coworkers. Instead, she was miles out from Bontemps, on the way to her condo near Shreveport. She cursed and hit the steering wheel, jumping slightly as the horn sounded. Thanking the high heavens she was alone on the road, she glanced around at the scenery, as the country and wildness shifted to a more urban setting. A sign blazed brightly up ahead.
Fangtasia.
A small laugh escaped her lips. Vampires sure had a good sense of humor about themselves. Another dry laugh stirred from her. She wasn't necessarily dressed for a vampire bar, but it was a bar nonetheless. And, at the moment, nothing sounded better than a cool glass of oblivion. It was that logic that sent her into the parking lot of the bar, that logic that drove her through the throng of protestors and "Steve Newlin's right, you devils of the night," and right up to the cruel looking blonde at the door.
The blonde eyed her suspiciously. It was not shock really. The scar, combined with the "post-Russell-Edgington" vampire human issues, it must have been a shock to see her there.
"Mmm… I will never understand the way you humans dress…especially here in the South." The blonde stepped aside, but still watched Addie. She could feel the eyes bore into the back of her head. She was grateful, though, because the scar hadn't even fazed the vampire.
The bar called to her, and with good reason. The full stocked shelves glistened in the light of the vampire bar, which offered a drastic difference from the darkened room, filled a few bodies, writhing to the music. The musky scent of sweat and poured concrete mixed with the sterile scent of vampire, all tinged with the tang of alcohol. She smiled and sidled up to the bar, ordered a Texas tea, and drifted into her own head.
"What's the scar from?" She jumped back into the present and blinked wildly, staring into the face of the bartender. The short, but attractive Asian vampire eyed her, one brow raised. He was obviously sturdy; his body cut with lean muscle, though that was easy to miss beneath his coating of Yakuza style tattoos. She shook her head and coughed through the sip of her drink.
"The…scar?" She tried to joke about it, grinning sheepishly. The vampire looked thoroughly unamused. He managed a little smirk.
"Looks like a claw…" She leaned her head from side to side, her neck cracking.
"Ah…no. At least, I don't think so. I don't really remember the night. My house collapsed. I lost my father and my little brother. I got out with the scar… I'm the lucky one." The bartender's raised eyebrow cocked higher as he nodded slowly. He turned to attend to another customer and Addie refocused on her drink. She spun on her barstool to face the writhing crowd, paying acute, albeit embarrassed, attention to the girls dancing in the cages. Something in her burned with jealousy to see women so scantily clad. She idly tugged her turtleneck higher, covering more of the scar that trailed from just below her left eye down to the middle of her thigh. The doctors had told her a beam from the house had fallen and landed straight along her body, crushing a few of her ribs, her cheek bone, and the hip. It was a miracle the scar was the only thing that really plagued her still.
Her blush only deepened when she laid eyes on the hulking blonde vampire that walked out on stage and perched on the throne. She couldn't help but stare at him. Carnally speaking, he was…delicious. She laughed despite herself. She was depraved when she was deprived. Her last relationship had ended nearly a year and a half ago, which had sent her back to her mother's house in New Orleans.
It had been more that just a relationship, they were engaged. They broke because she had cheated on him. She wasn't ashamed of it, but it certainly wasn't her proudest moment. He had caught her and the man in the "throws of passion." And within a months time, the ring was gone, the wedding date cancelled, and all of her things had been deposited at her mother's house. It had been easy living with her mother, despite the glares from some of her family. But life wasn't meant to be easy, so she moved out and settled just outside the slightly-bustling city of Shreveport. And here she was.
She blinked back the revelry and settled into the present yet again. She had been staring at the Big Blonde Viking, and he must have noticed. He was watching her, and when she realized, her blush spread down her neck. He winked and refocused his attention to his dancers. She groaned inwardly and downed her drink. After a moment of adjusting that blossoming warmth that spreads through you after the drink, she stood, left some money on the bar and walked outside.
Thankfully, the anti-vampire league that had plagued the bar before had dissipated in the late hour. Addie meandered over to her car and wondered if it was really the best idea for her to drive herself home. As she struggled with finding her keys in the bottom of her purse, she missed the encroaching footfalls. Every muscle in her tightened as she felt a hand wrap around her mouth, as she felt the solid body pull taut against her back. She tried to bite down, to kick out his legs, but nothing worked. Instead, the actions seemed to spurn her attacker on.
Fear and instinct took over has she felt his cold breath on her neck. The dull clicking sound of extended fangs rang in her ears. And with the sensation of being pricked by two large pins, Addie's world faded to black.
"Eric… Eric! Fuck, a human…and that's…bites. King Bill….humans…. fucking Russell Edgington."
Addie tried to open her eyes, but the sudden rush of bright light forced them shut again. Her head throbbed and the world faded in and out. The next thing she felt was a rush of warm liquid down her throat. She sputtered and choked, but it continued to flow. As suddenly as it had begun, the liquid ceased flowing. Addie blinked again and found herself staring in the cold eyes of the hunky vampire. She blushed brightly and raised her eyebrows in confusion.
From the other side of the room, she heard the blonde vampires voice. "Fan-fucking-tastic, Eric. You brought her back. We still have to deal with the fact that she was attacked on Fangtasia's land. You know King Bill will have a fucking field day blaming this all on y-"
"Pam." He stopped her abruptly, glacing her way. Let's see how this plays out. She may end up working in our favor." He looked back down at Addie and winked.