ONCE, TWICE,

THREE TIMES DEADLY

[A SOOKIE STACKHOUSE NOVEL]

By:

PeytonAnneEllie

Author's Note:

I, PeytonAnneEllie do NOT own anything of the True Blood world, nor the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Mystery Series by Charlaine Harris. All the information I use, places, characters, etc. all belong to her. I'm not taking credit of anything, nor do I want to. This is just me showing my love of these characters into a story I thought would be fun to write, which it was, along with it being able to be fun to read, which I hope it is. So please, dear reader, tell me how much you enjoyed my first tale of Sookie Stackhouse, "Once, Twice, Three Times Deadly".

~P.A.E.

P.S. This story takes place between books eleven, "DEAD RECKNONING", and book five "DEADLOCKED" which is available to the world on May 1st, 2012. This picks up straight after book eleven (DR) so get ready for a fast paced novel. Nothing from the TV show will be added in here, so HBO's version of the Sookie world, know as TRUE BLOOD will not be here other than the basics: characters, except the added characters such as Jesus (pronounced Hey-Soos), locations and anything else. Please enjoy and leave me a review to tell me how you like it or not.

::CHAPTER ONE::

"I walked barefoot into the living room with a big icy glass of tea. Time to watch some of my recorded episodes of Jeopardy!

Dangerous Creatures for two hundred, anyone?" (Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris)

Later that night after my shower, I climbed into bed dressed in my Tweety Bird nighty and got comfortable under the covers. It didn't take me long to drift off into a sleep, which was very well needed, but I shouldn't have known that, after today's events, that tonight would go smoothly, because just as I thought I was about to sleep I heard a knock at my front door.

"Great," I muttered and got back out of bed, heading down the steps and to the front door.

A second knock came and I turned on the foyer light and looked through the peephole to see Amelia Broadway standing on my front porch. Shock and excitement filled me once I saw her, but when I opened the door, all of my shock and excitement turned into curiosity and nervous.

"Hey, Sookie," Amelia said with a grin and a small wave, her hand soaring through the air like a small rainbow.

"Hey, Amelia, is everything okay?" I asked and she shrugged.

"I guess so," She looked over her shoulder and into the night, searching the grounds for something I couldn't tell. I didn't want to intrude her thoughts, so if she had something to say, she'd say it soon enough. "May I come in?"
"Certainly," I said and stepped aside to let her walk through the doorway and into my home that she hasn't been in for a while now.

Amelia Broadway has a pretty twisted past. Her father, Copley Carmichael, is a very high up-in-the-world business man who works in the lumber business, which was booming after Hurricane Katrina a few years ago. When I was in New Orleans to sort things out after the death of my former cousin Hadley, I had met her. At that time, I was dating Quinn and I was trying to figure out why someone had killed my once-human-but-now-vampire cousin. Amelia is a pretty good witch, even though she messes things up once and a while, but after that when we solved my cousin's murder and all was done, she came back to Louisiana and I invited her to stay with me.

While being friends with her, I had discovered that she accidentally turned a male witch we knew into Bob the cat. For the longest time we couldn't turn him back until Amelia's mentor, Octavia Font, turned him back into a human for us, whom I had also met in New Orleans. Boy was it awkward when he was human again. He was pissed off at Amelia for doing that to him, but eventually, he came around. I had bought him new clothes at Wal Mart and off he went back to New Orleans. Amelia had stayed a little afterwards, but once Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, she moved back, along with Octavia.

Octavia really needed a place to stay once Katrina hit and I let her use my lower-level of the house because of her age. She also said the climb of the stairs weren't good on her old wobbly knees. Octavia was stuck up at first, going by first looks, but once you got to know her, she was very nice. I let her stay at my house because I felt bad for her losing her house in New Orleans, and she was the most powerful witch to help me and Amelia do an ectoplasmic reconstruction spell that would show us the scenes of my Cousin Hadley's life just a few minutes before she was murdered. So I invited her to stay, along with Amelia, for as long as they needed.

"Thanks," Amelia smiled and looked around the room, almost as if she were looking past the walls and looking farther into the night.

"Is everything okay?" I asked her, trying not to push too hard. "You seem out of it."
"Well," Amelia said, her attention still else where. "I am."

Uh-oh, that can't be good, especially if that meant she travelled all the way back here just to see me. "What's wrong?"
"Can I get myself something to drink?" Amelia asked and I slapped myself on the inside, ashamed of my manners that my Grandma had taught me through the years of living here.

"I'm sorry," I said. "Yes, you may. I have some Coke in the fridge and a pitcher of lemonade."

"Is it cool if I make coffee?" She asked as I followed her to the kitchen.

"Sure," I said and let her do her thing, because I knew she knew how to use my kitchen after living here for so long.

And she did.

Amelia walked straight up to the mug tree and slid two mugs off their branches and walked to the coffee maker beside the microwave and started a new pot. She fiddled with all the ingredients and turned around, taking a seat at the kitchen table. I followed suit, hoping she'd launch into the story herself. I didn't like to pry on people's privacy, even though I was able to find the truth out with or without their consent, which I believed was rude under certain circumstances.

"Remember when I left here?" Amelia asked and I nodded. Amelia had come back to Louisiana after I sent her an eMail once my business with Eric Northman, former vampire husband, went down. She helped me break the bond that magically held us together, but I didn't think of the consequences that would create until it was too late. Eric Northman was a free man, err, free vampire. "Well," Amelia continued. "I went to my dad to talk business. Along the way there, I had gotten attacked by a hooded figure. Luckily, I got away and ran straight to my dad's. I told him what happened and he called the police, wanting me to press charges."
"Oh my stars," I said and she nodded in agreement.

"No bruises or anything," She said. "Just pushing and shoving. I don't have any enemies, Sook, that's the weird part. The only thing I can think of is someone still holding a grudge over my magic mishap with Bob the cat. But I don't see why someone would still hold a grudge over that. That was a long while ago."

"Yeah," I said in agreement. "Do you think you're dad has any enemies or business enemies that were wanting to send a message to him by ruffling a few of your feathers."
I hated the fact that I had just said that but I was tired and my filter wasn't really working at its normal speed. Luckily, Amelia didn't notice. She just shrugged. She checked the coffee and it was beginning to pour into the round glossy glass pot.

"I didn't have a chance to ask him. I went home later that night and I got these threatening letters in the mail, the kind that you get for ransom notes of the cut out magazine letters. I didn't think anything of them until they started talking about people I loved and things that had happened in the past. I kept on guard, but one night when I was asleep, I got a call from my mom saying that my dad had been kidnapped in the middle of the night. Turns out, someone was out to get him and I was just too blind to see."

"Oh, honey," I said. "This isn't your fault. Don't cry, I bet he's fine."

She shook her head no, a tear slipping down her cheek. "I know my dad's an ass at times but I just don't see why this is happening, which is why I came here. I know that - no offense - you don't have the best luck in the supernatural world with everything that's happened between you, Bill, Eric, me and so on. I was hoping you could help me find him."

I gasped, not really all that surprised since I kind of read that in her frantic thoughts. Hey, I said my filter wasn't running that well.

"Amelia," I said, getting up to fill the two mugs with the coffee that was done brewing from the coffee maker, the smell filling my kitchen with a warm aroma that reminded me of winter nights reading in bed. "I am terribly sorry about the news but I don't think I can. He was kidnapped in New Orleans and I'm in Louisiana. What makes you think I can help you?"

I knew the answer to that question before I even asked it. She took a sip and gave me a glare that said 'you can read minds, remember?'

"Please, Sookie?" She asked, knowing I understood her look. "Please just help me. I'll pay you for your help, I'll pay you very nicely. You can stay at my place and we can hunt him down, just like the good old days when we solved some things."
Amelia made it sound like we were apart of the Scooby Gang that had grown up and broken off into solo lives. Yes, I did have some demons of my own, and yes, I've had some very crazy adventures, but I didn't really think I could be able to hunt down a human amongst the human population and the supernatural population. But I might as well try, right? I mean, what are friends for? Especially when one of them can read the thoughts of half the supernatural population and the whole human population?

"Alright," I said. "I help you."
"Ohmigosh, thank you so much, Sookie!" Amelia said, jumping up to hug me.

I hugged her back, knowing that, with just the way she hugged me, she truly was appreciating me doing this. Yes, sometimes her dad is a four letter word that rhymes with stick but she loved him all the same.

A sudden thought hit me when she pulled away, taking a sip from her coffee mug. "Amelia," I said. "Why were you looking out of it when you got here? The kidnapping took place in New Orleans and when I opened the door, you were looking over your shoulder and around the house once you were inside. Is something else going on?"

She stiffened, her eyes widening and she looked at the kitchen window, jumping up to close the blinds and making sure that it was closed and locked. She checked the back door and slowly turned around, putting a finger to her lips. She slowly nodded and sat back down, starting to tell me something else, but this time in a hushed tone.

"Someone is after me now, Sook," Amelia said and I gasped. "I know that I got magic at my aid to slow them down, but not for long. I don't think that this person after me is even a human, nor vampire. I think it's a witch. I can feel very strong energy coming off of the entity's body, almost as if Zeus' lightning bolt was locked up in a small, little mason jar."

I gasped again. "Are we safe?" I asked, hoping that this possible wiccan wouldn't burst through the front door at any moment.

Amelia nodded. "I don't think they followed me here. Are you still on good terms with Bill?"
I nodded. "Yeah," I said.

It wasn't exactly a lie, either. Yes, I did call his vampire sister over to help him heal from the silver poisoning when he probably didn't want her over, but that was to save him from dying. Yes he broke my heart, but I've gotten over that. We were on good speaking terms, and all the favors I asked him for he still did, almost as if he still hasn't earned enough respect. Hopefully, if we needed his help, he'd help us out.

"Okay, because we might need him."

I nodded. "When do you want to leave?" I asked and she looked at the clock on the wall.

"Tomorrow at noon if possible," She said and I nodded, making a mental note to call Sam to tell him where I'd be and why I wasn't taking the lunch shift tomorrow.

"Alright, let me go pack, then," I said and got up from the table. "I have to make a few calls, arrange things out, but we should be able to go."

"Is Eric coming?" She asked and I shook my head no.

"I wasn't planning on it," I said and she asked me if she could call him to ask him to come along.

I told her sure and she made the call while I went upstairs to pack up some clothes I'd need for the trip. In doing so, I swiped my cell phone off the charger and opened a new text to Bill.

Will be in New Orleans for a while helping a friend. Can you watch over my house while I'm gone? It would mean a lot to me. – Sookie

I sent the text and headed back to packing. A few seconds later, my phone buzzed. It was from Bill.

Yes.

What'd I tell ya? That man was very helpful at inconvenient times. I hit REPLY and quickly typed a response.

Thanks so much! There's some new bottles of Tru Blood in the fridge, help yourself. – Sookie

Bill didn't answer that last text, and I didn't really expect him to. I wondered if we would ever be able to have a conversation like we used to have while we were dating. I felt really awkward whenever he was around, because I knew that our past brought up some ruffled feathers that we put in the past, and it sucked to relive them, especially for a man who, if he played his cards right, would never die.

I zipped up the last bag and Amelia walked into my room.

"Eric's coming with us," She informed me and I nodded. "I'm gonna' go shower."

"Alright," I said and she headed downstairs to the lower bathroom.

Was I worried about this trip to New Orleans with Eric? You can bet your sweet ass I was, but I knew that this would probably be good for us. We'd probably be able to sort out our problems and get back to being a couple again. I missed talking to him more than anything in the world, and the fact that this whole new thing of Victor Madden being able to take away Eric's position was just down right awful. I hated that man more than I could trust him, and I could trust him as far as I could throw him, and knowing me I'd be able to pick him up a few inches off the ground and make him stumble a few feet away, at best.

Either way, this trip was going to have some new surprises waiting in store for me, and for us all, that I just simply knew.