The car made its way down the winding dirt road in the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. I had been driving for hours and I was exhausted. Ever since vampires had come out of the coffin, excuse the pun, life in the city had become a little too, how should I put it, exciting? Not exactly the right word but it will have to do. I decided a quiet town might be a better choice, and I was after all a southern girl so staying in the south was in my blood. Though Louisiana wasn't my first choice, but nevertheless I was given the old family house. I kept checking the map on my phone.
"Fucking hell, where is this house?" I complained to myself. I hated road trips when I was alone. Long hours in a small confined space crammed with luggage and no one to talk to wasn't my ideal way of spending the day. Several minutes later I was pulling into the driveway of a quaint vintage styled house not far from the local cemetery; lovely. I stepped out of the car and into the muggy air. I was immediately regretting the decision of picking this over some small town in Georgia I'm pretty sure wasn't even on the map. I stretched, cracking my back, and grabbing as much luggage as I could carry from the car and stumbled into the house. I still had to wait on the moving van with the rest of my very tiny collection of furniture. I grabbed the rest of my belongings from the car, placing them wherever I could for the meantime till I felt motivated enough to unpack. The house wasn't anything too special. It had a small guest room down stairs and two bedrooms upstairs, a decent sized kitchen complete with pastel tiling and cream colored walls, and a lovely wood table that was just missing a checkered tablecloth and some flowers. I laughed at the thought of myself with a kitchen like that, like some old southern bell setting up for a dinner with the family that I didn't have.
There was a honking noise outside, I went to check it out. The moving van had finally arrived.
"Just put the boxes in the living room, I'll deal with them later. Thanks." I waved the men in as they carried the few boxes of things I had brought from my place back in Orlando. It didn't take them very long to bring everything in and I was relieved to finally be able to go out and see the town. I took a look at the mass of objects in the living room, I sure did have my work cut out for me, but it would have to wait till tomorrow. My bed was in place, my car had gas, I had what I needed for the night.
The sun was beginning to set on the horizon as I hopped into my shiny, new black Camero. It was a gift from my parents for actually making it through college. I had gone to Florida State with a major in Psychology and a minor in Literature. Wasn't exactly sure what to do with it yet, though. The town was small enough to where it took not time at all to drive from my house to the 'downtown' area. It was so different from Florida. Even the small towns there were better than here. I stepped out of the car and began to roam around. I stumbled upon a small diner and decided some food and a beer would be a good way to welcome myself to the town. The diner was rather small and painted a deep green color, I stepped and took a seat at a table in the far corner and waited for a waitress. Soon enough a cheery redhead strode over.
"Hello there, welcome to Merlotte's. What can I do for you, honey?" She had a thick country accent that made me smile. I ordered a Bud Light and a burger, realizing how hungry I was after the long trip. It didn't take her long to return with my food. I happily polished off the burger and two beers before the cheery waitress returned with my check.
"Hey, miss. Can I ask you something?" I said as sweetly as possible. I didn't have the accent most people around here did, in fact, I sounded more Irish than anything. My grandmother had been from Ireland and most of my time as a kid was spent with her, giving me a slight accent.
"Well, sure, honey. Whatcha need?" The redhead sat down in the seat across from me.
"I'm new here, just moved in the old Barrett place, and I was wondering if maybe you'd be hiring here?" I asked hopefully, the woman smiled.
"That's something you're gunna have to ask Sam. I get him for 'ya." She promptly got up and scurried to the back, reappearing a few minutes later with a handsome man.
"Hi, I'm Sam Merlotte. This is my bar." He held his hand out to me which I gladly took in mine.
"I'm Kyna."
"Kyna, that's a strange name." He let my hand go, the absence of warmth made my smile falter a bit.
"Yessir. It's a family name."
"You're the Barrett girl?" I nodded, "I've heard of you. People been talkin' about you comin' to town." His smile was warm, his eyes a stunning blue that made me melt, and his voice was so smooth I wanted to listen to it all day.
"Yes, well, I actually had a question. Would you happen to be hiring?" I put on my best smile and when he hesitated, quickly changed it to a pout. This made him laugh.
"I guess we could try you for a bit. But you'll have to watch Arlene here for a few days till you get the hang of things."
"Thank you so much, Mr. Merlotte."
"Please, call me Sam." He said with a bit of a flirt to his voice. Could it be that he found my plain, boring looks attractive? Maybe things were different here. In the city men wouldn't look twice at me, but here was this handsome man standing in front of me smiling like a school girl. Arlene smiled and congratulated me, telling me I would start in two days and to where black shorts. I thanked them and walked out, the sun had already fallen and with all the vampires running around now days being out at night made me a bit uneasy. It was a bit of a walk to my car, but I wasn't too worried. I knew how to take care of myself, my older brother made sure of that from a young age. Kaegen was the overprotective type. He was kind and caring most of the time, but if anyone even looked at me wrong he would be on them quicker than I could even respond. He was living it up with his wife somewhere in Ohio and I hadn't seen him in nearly two years. I kept thinking I heard footsteps behind me, but would turn around to nothing; that seemed to happen a lot, more than likely just my paranoia.
I reached my car with no problem and the fear of being out at night was quickly fading. The whole point of moving to Bon Temps had been to be safer, and I hadn't heard of any vampire incidents yet. I fumbled to unlock the car and ended up dropping my keys. Before I could even pick them up a pale hand snatched them from in front of me. My breath caught in my throat as I stood to face the person in front of me. Instead of coming face to face with someone who looked like a serial killer - not sure why that was my first thought - it was a petite redhead girl with brilliant blue eyes.
"You dropped these." She smiled cheerfully, holding them out to me. I took them, my skin touching hers for a brief second. There was no mistaking what she was now. The swiftness of her movements, her cold skin, she was a vampire.
"Uh, thanks." I mumbled, trying to avoid anymore contact with her.
"My name's Jess." Clearly she didn't take the hint.
"Kyna."
"That's a funny name." Jeeze, did people here not have strange names? Where I was from it was pretty common. I'd run into many people from different countries with names I couldn't even pronounce.
"Yep. Well, Nice talkin' to ya." I had finally managed to unlock the car, but before I could make my escape she spoke again.
"Hey, you're the new girl, right? You moved into the old Barrett house. As far as I know no one's been livin' there in years."
"Yeah, just moved today. It was my granddad's house, when he passed no one wanted it." This chick sure did like to talk. I wasn't in the mood to keep up idle chit chat with anyone, much less a vampire.
"Well, if you need any friends around here, I live in the Compton house just down the way. You should stop by some night." She was a little too cheerful, which made the idea of 'stopping by some night' sound even less appealing and even more hazardous for my health.
"Thanks, but I can manage."
"You should meet Bill Compton. He's my dad. Well, sort of." Was she a child or something? She sure did sound like one.
"Listen, love. I appreciate the kindness, but I really should be on my way. Cheers." I slid in the car and slammed the door before she even had a chance to speak again. Instead, she waved happily as I sped off. Fucking vampires.
I made my way through the dark, winding roads back to my house. It was still early, only about nine o'clock, and despite my better judgment, I'd heard of a bar nearby that was hopefully in need of a bar tender. I rummaged through a couple of suitcases till I found a little black, lace dress and a pair of red heels. I slid on some dark shaded, sheer tights to cover up the marks on my ankle. As long as I could remember I'd had two rings of scars around my left ankle. I wasn't sure how they got there, but it was no accident they made their way onto my body. They were clusters and collections of lines and dots making them look like some old rune-like script. My parents had always told me to keep them hidden, and I didn't question it. I slid into the dress and stuck my feet into the slightly uncomfortable heels. I grabbed a small bag and placed my phone and wallet into it before heading back to my car.
I pulled up to the address I had been given, I looked up the sign.
"Oh fuck, you have got to be shitting me." The sign read 'Fangtasia' in bright red. Someone had referred me to a goddamn fangbanger bar. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't one of those radicals that thought all vampires should be staked, but I wasn't exactly fond of them either. I figured I'd have nothing to lose and reluctantly walked inside. It was dimly lit and filled with children of the night. I walked up to the bar, the bartender looked human, but there was no confirming it.
"Hey, doll. What can I get ya? Tru Blood?" Her blonde hair bouncing like her petite frame in the skimpy outfit she had squeezed into.
"Jack and Coke." I said rather monotone. A bit surprised, she proceeded to make the drink. I sipped my drink, looking around at the people surrounding me. My hazel eyes caught the mesmerizing blue one's of a fair-haired man sitting in a chair on a small elevated stage. I seriously hopped he wasn't vampire. I turned to the woman across the bar to ask who he was, but before I could get a word out a slender man dressed head to toe in black caught my arm.
"Hello, miss." He grinned, fully extended fangs smiling at me. His cold skin sent shiver up my spine.
"I'm afraid you have me mistaken." I spat, pulling my arm free from his light grasp.
"Oh do I now? You came here for the reason most humans do, right? To have a taste of something," he paused, leaning in close to my face, "different." He grinned defiantly at me. His hand once again finding my arm.
"You best back off, fucker." I growled, trying to yank my arm away, but he tightened his grasp and let out a low snarl. Before I had time to react his hand was snatched away from my arm and pinned to the bar.
"I will not allow anyone to harass a lovely lady in my bar. Now leave." The blonde man from before had the other one restrained, venom dripping from every word he spoke. I was left breathless. At least I got my answer on whether he was human or not. The man from before gulped hard and swiftly made his way out of the bar, leaving the fair-haired one staring at me with his crystal blue eyes.
"Uh, thanks, mate." I managed to mumble. He took my hand.
"I do apologize for the rudeness of him. Are you alright? I cannot allow a beautiful woman to be harmed in my bar." He smiled, bending slightly to touch his lips gently to my hand.
"It's cool. Easy mistake to make here." He gave me a strange look.
"Is there something I may help you with?"
"Actually, yes. Who would I talk to about maybe a night shift here. Well, I guess just a shift here." I blushed realizing my words. Of course only night shifts would be allowed here, not many customers here during the day. I figured a night job may help with the insomnia.
"That would be me. Why would you want to work here? You're not like most of the humans that wander in here." He paused a moment, giving me a good look over. "You're intentions are obviously different."
"I just want a job, and it's the only bar worth mentioning around here." I tried to keep my voice light and bubbly, but I was sure he wasn't buying it.
"Can you bartend?"
"Of course." He smirked at me, and once again shivers shot through my body, but this time in a different way.