Hostage Situation

They all arrived separately, as requested. They all arrived unarmed, as specified. Sookie clutched the thick card of her invitation anxiously and gazed up at the well-lit plantation house. Other cars were already there, she could see Bill's black Sedan and Pam's sporty hatchback next to Eric's corvette. When she got out of her own vehicle, Jason and Sam's trucks could be spotted next to the house under some trees. There were a couple of cars she didn't recognise, but then – she didn't know who else had been asked to come to this shindig.

All she knew was that the old Blanchard plantation near Ruston had been bought by a Supe and they were inviting important, local Supes to a housewarming party. It didn't explain to Sookie why Jason would be there, in the Supe world he was insignificant compared to a True Shifter like Sam or a 1,000 year old Vampire like Eric. She guessed that she, as the only known Telepath in Louisiana, ranked with the big boys rather than small fry's.

She straightened the skirt of her dress and smoothed her hair before knocking on the door. Sookie thought that they could have put a little more effort into the restoration before inviting folks over. But then she considered that this was a Supe party and maybe it was best to let them get rowdy before any expensive work gets done. Her contemplative look immediately switched to a hundred watt smile as the door opened, but the smile dropped as she saw who answered.

"Quinn! Is this your house?"

"Sure is Babe. Come on inside."

Sookie stepped over the threshold and felt a shiver travel up her spine; it was odd but gone in the blink of an eye.

"I thought you were banned from Area Five?"

"Well, there are ways round those kind of things." Quinn grinned and rubbed his fingers together to explain he was talking about money.

"Oh."

Quinn put a hand on Sookie's lower back and gently pushed her toward a set of French doors. She could hear music and voices coming from the other side and grinned with anticipation as she pushed the doors open. She felt a shove from behind and fell to the floor of the room she was entering, watching in confusion as Quinn quickly stepped in behind her and pulled the doors tightly behind him.

"Now the gangs all here, this party can really get started."

Sookie looked around the room, blinking in confusion. The music and voices she heard were coming from a stereo system in the corner and all of her friends were bound to a selection of furniture. She could smell the burnt flesh of the Vampires as they struggled in their silver chains; the same metal had been used on Sam, Jason and Alcide. The person she was most surprised to see was Godric.

"Didn't you die?"

"Yes." He looked at her blandly. "In the books and the TV show, but since that rooftop scene they haven't been able to let me rest at all."

"Enough chit chat." Quinn said gruffly. "Am I gonna have to tie you up too Babe?"

"What? Why would you want to do that?"

The Were-Tiger grinned. "Well, in many other situations I can think of a lot of reasons."

"You stop that dirty talk Mister! Why on earth have you brought us all here and why do you have to tie us up?"

Sookie stayed calm as Quinn gently sat her in a chair and began binding her hands and feet together.

"Aww Babe, you know how it is. I'm a fucking Rock star in the Supe world, I'm a Were-Tiger and that makes me even more rare than your buddy Sam here but do I get any recognition? No, I get ignored."

"Ignored? By whom, Quinn, we all know you and I most certainly don't ignore you!"

He chuckled and shook his head from side to side. "Not you Babe, not even your Supe pals over here, I'm talking about the writers."

Bill and Eric rolled their eyes as Alcide bit back a laugh.

"Writers? What writers?"

"The fanfiction writers, Sookie. It's clear as day now. Did you know they're having a Secret Santa style story exchange?"

Sookie cleared her throat and nodded. "I heard about that, yeah."

"Yeah. It's Team Neutral. Do you know what that means, Sookie?"

"It means that people can write and ask to read about any characters they want."

"Exactly. Can you guess how many of the 39 writers that are taking part want to write or read about me?"

Her brow furrowed, if Sookie didn't answer it might anger Quinn more. If she did answer it might have the same effect.

"None." It was barely above a whisper but Quinn heard it loud and clear.

"That's right, Babe, none. A big, fat zero." He snarled and pointed to Godric. "A dead bloodsucker has more requests for stories than me and he isn't even in the books!"

Sookie started to panic, Quinn was obviously unhinged. There was no telling what he could do. "It's just some stupid story exchange, Quinn, it doesn't mean anything!"

Quinn grinned at her. "Oh it'll mean something soon. The date for people putting their names in the Secret Santa Hat is getting closer and closer. These writers only have until Sunday 6th November to RSVP to this shindig."

"That's still 2 days, Quinn, who knows what'll happen in 48 hours!"

The Were-Tiger stood up and walked slowly across the room, picking up a black box that looked like the controller for a toy car.

"I know exactly what's going to happen in 48 hours, Sookie, and I'll miss you."

He smiled sadly and tugged at the curtains, pulling them back to reveal a solid wall of C-4 behind them. Sookie started to sweat as she watched him go to the other window in the room and uncovered a similar set up.

"You don't need to do this Quinn, these fanfiction writers don't matter! It's what happens in the book that counts!"

Quinn slumped onto the floor next to the Telepath and gazed at her patronisingly. "Babe, you just don't get it. Fanfiction is my only hope; Charlaine doesn't want me in the books anymore."

"That's not certain, Quinn; maybe she'll change her mind?"

He stood up and smiled at her, stroking her face with his rough hands. "Always the optimist, Babe, but your sunny side up attitude isn't going to fix this."

The Were-Tiger whistled as he played with the controller, sweat started to bead on Sookie's forehead as she struggled with the rope that Quinn had used. She had to do something, anything, to save her friends from being blown to kingdom come. But what?

A/N: How will they get out of this one? Suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Do you know what else is appreciated? Checking out our Secret Santa fic exchange profile to find out how YOU can take part! It's easy – you write a fic and get one in return, everything is explained here: www . fanfiction . net /u/3335966/Sookies_Secret_Santa and it all starts with a simple email saying "Hey, I'd like to take part in this!"

We stop taking registrations on Sunday 6th November at 9pm GMT (4pm EST) and currently have 37 writers taking part! Everyone should have the name of the person they will be Secret Santa for by the 13th November, around this time we'll be posting the list of all participants so you guys can have fun guessing who YOUR Secret Santa might be! Your gift fic should be sent to us by the 18th December – giving you around 5 weeks to write a fic with no minimum or maximum word limit and no judging procedure. Gift fics don't even have to be beta'd if you don't usually use one.