PART ONE

Chapter 1

The last one at the bar, Lafayette was cleaning up his mess from his ten hour shift at Bellefleurs and was only too eager to get home and relax with a good drink-or three. He tended to be the last one out on his nights to work and enjoyed being a night owl. At least, he usually did. But this evening as he strode out to his sleek burgundy ride that he had been given some time ago by Eric. He and Eric had managed to strike up a good friendship in recent times and though there was still that part of him that feared what the Viking was capable of, he also had come to see that thanks to Sookie and others, that he had, in fact proven to have a soft side. However, sitting in the drivers seat was someone unfamiliar to Lafayette.

"I was hoping you would be out of there soon so we could talk." the woman said, dressed in a cream colored pantsuit and her graying brown hair pulled into a tight braid. She looked rather businesslike and though he had been out of the drug dealing game for some time now, he wondered if somehow his past was about to rear its head again. Naturally, he planned to refuse whatever this woman wanted. But he was polite enough to give her one warning before hearing her out.

"Easy, easy, I didn't come here for any trouble, instead to make you a deal" the woman said as she got out of the car, checking her makeup in the rearview mirror. "I came here from Killerz."

"Killerz? That new bar just outside town? I heard of it. Racist bunch of creeps from what I understand so naturally, I ain't thinking you got anything to offer me."

"Actually, I think I do." the woman said smoothly and pulling out her cell phone,. She pushed a button and a live stream popped up on her screen. There, Ruby Jean, Lafayette's mother was seen being taken from her room at the home she had been instutionalized at for some time. It was a state of the art kind of place with only the best of everything and yet, here she was being taken by not a stranger but someone that looked exactly like Lafayette. "A shifter who has mastered skin walking, as you can see and you can also see I have my ways of making anything happen as I know how good a place that home is….but believe me, I have no intentions of harming her, so long as you do something for me. You see, as you may not know, I am the owner of Killerz and need a replacement for the…..entertainment there."

"From what I hear, vamps are on display and tortured by your customers. I don't think that's true but….I could be wrong." Lafayette looked at the innocent looking woman who looked hurt by the accusation.

"We are simply a place for relaxation and entertainment and I seek some entertainment. Namely a certain vampire you are well acquainted with. Deliver him to me and my club and your mother will be safely returned. Having said that, I work closely with some v-powered weres who are all too wiling to do whatever I ask of them as I have ensured they are supplied with v on a regular basis."

He certainly didn't like the way this conversation was going and wanted badly to hit this slippery eel of a woman. "I can get the cops here in-"

"You get the cops involved or any of your little friends and I assure you your mother will be dead within the hour. I could even make it sooner than that. I have powerful friends of my own and I am willing to work with you peacefully in this matter…I would think you would want to go through this eagerly. After all, weren't you locked up like a dog in his dungeon once? And from what I understand you were there when that vampire slaughtered my brother. True, he and I weren't close at the time but we were still family and I promised to avenge his-"

"That redneck who got killed that night…..he was your brother?" Lafayette said, his mind going back to that night he thought was going to be his last. That the redneck had apologized for his behavior at the bar had started a dialogue between the two, only to have the idiotic redneck produce a hidden piece of silver to try to use on their captor. "He may have lived if he hadn't bee stupid enough to try silver on that vamp…..then again…." Lafayette doubted that any of them would survive their captivity, truth be told. But he did and it was clear that this woman was full of hate and rage, directed at one person.

"Forgot to tell you….you can call me Miss Evelyn. That is all you need to know about me…I find it hard to believe you are friends with that monster after what he did to you. You would be willing to let him stay free and risk your mother after what he did to you? The psychological damage, well, it must have been…intense."

"Honey you ain't got no idea. But people change and I know better now. He and I…we are cool now."

"Your mother, however, will not be unless you deliver him to me and as much as I don't want to have to do this, I need a new attraction for the bar. The last one…didn't keep well." Evelyn said, Making Lafayette shudder. She handed him a business card with only a cell number on it. "don't bother trying to trace it and like I said, you get anyone in your little circle of friends involved….." she retreated to her own car, which appeared to being driven by a hulking figure. Left alone to ponder the threat, Lafayette knew all to well it was not a option to try to circumvent this. There really was only one option for him to follow through with.

Chapter 2

The words that he had listen to had hit him hard and in unexpected ways. As he perused through the box he still kept around. He only had the best in anti vamp gear, left over from the dark days of the hep v crisis when marauding vamps were everywhere and attacking everyone. He had of course, only bought the best of the best in terms of weapons and as he pulled out thick chains of silver as well as a couple of pairs of silver shackles for wrists and ankles, he pursed his lips in anger as the past started to haunt him again. And there still was that residual anger, that fear that had always lingered there. And it was what Miss Evelyn had hoped to tap into. Desperate as he was and as cowardly as he was feeling now, there was no question that there was a feeling of vengeance coursing through Lafayette's veins. Mingled with the desperation he felt to save his mother, it was a dangerous combination. He had called her moments earlier and she had given him further instructions and so it was time to make a second phone call. Knowing that the devious woman was nearby but not close enough to raise suspicions when his guest arrived-hopefully-Lafayette put the plan into action and was thankful to have reached him on the phone, spinning a tale about there being a concern he had about Sookie, a easy enough way to get him to come over and sure enough within ten minutes he had Eric on the front stoop of his modest little home.

"Come on in." Lafayette said with grim seriousness, which was certainly no act. What he was bout to put his friend and by extension Sookie thought was something he knew he wasn't going to forgive himself for. Then he remembered the time he had spent in that dark, dank, and eventually quite bloody dungeon…well, it was enough to keep him on track.

"So….you interrupted some cozy time with the girl in question and if you were not a friend, I would be a little more agitated than I currently am. So…what is this problem you have to speak to me about? What is your concern about her?"

Turning his back to him, Lafayette put the object in hand and his finger on the trigger, knowing he had backup at the ready. "It ain't nothing…other than the fact she is gonna be missing you and it is gonna be my fault. They….they took my mama and I ain't; got no other choice…." swerving around with speed that took the vampire by surprise, Lafayette sprayed the liquid at the stunned face of the Nordic vampire, who was able to get a couple kicks in but missed, Lafayette dodging the blows. The thunder of footsteps outside signaled the cavalry had arrived and he made quick work to try to subdue the enraged vampire. Taking a silver knife, Lafayette cringed for a moment before plunging it into the side of Eric, who seemed shocked by the turn of events but was now in pure survival mode.

"What the hell? He said angrily as the figured barged into the home, led by a impeccably dressed woman who looked more than a little smug. Distracted briefly, it was enough to get his ankles and wrists cuffed by the silver cuffs and to add injury to injury, a silver net was thrown upon him the strongest one he had ever dealt with.

"Well done and a smart decision by you Lafayette….but unfortunately this is where we leave you for now…"

"Wait! You said you'd give my mama back, right? I got you what you wanted, ain't this how it goes? You give me back what you took and I-"

"All in good time but for now, we have a exhibition to complete. " she said with a grin as she took a high heeled show and kicked the increasingly subdued vampire in the spot where the knife still rested. Looking to the two thugs-weres-who had come along for the pick up, she gestured at them to load the cargo into the vehicle they had brought and with a last smirk, she smiled at him. "I always keep my promises, your mother will be returned to you….when I am good and ready to return her to you. Make any moves when we go, I will know and you will only be given back a corpse. And nice job betraying your friend here." she laughed as she followed her goons from the house, leaving Lafayette pacing, wondering just how he could explain this to Sookie. Wondering if she would leave any piece of him intact because after all, she had her own powers he was all too aware of.

Chapter 3

The bar was silent and eerily so as they arrived, coming through the back of it. A good fifteen miles away from Bon Temps, the building was painted black on the outside, lit by garish neon lighting . And as bound as he was, as unable to move as he was, the Viking saw something somewhat troubling about the layout of this place. It was something undeniably familiar.

"Like they layout? we've only been open a few months but we borrowed the blueprints for your little bar and instead of that stupid throne where you were the center of attention and people fawned over you…well, you will be the center of attention still…but for a price, people coming here will be able to torment you. Nothing lethal, of course, you are the prize of prizes as far as vamps are concerned…..but you won't be getting off easy and I intend to make a pretty penny off that pretty blonde head of yours." she said as she had the men lugging him around stop, taking her hand and moving his head so he could see better. A silver cage with yet more shackles were in place. "I wanted the bar closed tonight before we reopen tomorrow evening, with our new star attraction."

Trying in vain to fight the influence of the silver, Eric saw that all over the room were posters depicting messy ends to vampires at the hands of wolves and humans. "It would seem you are truly not a fan of any of us, are you?" he quipped, still able to radiate that cockiness, though how he felt at the moment was less so.

Evelyn glared at him with cold brown eyes. "Not exactly. Even before what happened to my brother, I thought you were all demons. Hellspawn and just…evil creatures."

"And you are a saint yourself, kidnapping and planning to torture me for entertainment purposes?" he snapped at her, trying not to wince at the pain from the silver.

Ignoring him she led the two weres to the silver cell and unlocked it with a key she removed from under her blouse, hanging from a silver chain that looked formidable and yet was well hidden when she replaced it under her shirt. The two weres were bearded and looked like lumberjacks and had nothing to say, rather seeming content enough to go along with the wishes of their employer. They made quick work to secure their prisoner in the shackles in the cage and it was certainly not comfortable and the chains were able to be adjusted from the outside. "We can either choose to allow you to have dignity by being able to stand, or to be on all fours….but I think it would be fun to treat you like the dog you are, after what you did to my brother and if you think this is bad, wait until tomorrow….until then…." she double checked to make sure he was secure before the weres removed the silver net and the Viking snarled angrily at them, for naught. "Sleep well." she mocked as she dangled the key before him, putting it back under her shirt and double checking that the unforgiving bars on the door were locked. Satisfies, she left the injured Viking alone, unbeknownst that by putting him in distress, surely there would be help on the way soon.

TO BE CONTINUED