Chapter One
Jamie's POV
I love the hot sultry Louisiana nights, when it seems like anything could happen. I smiled as I got out of my car and stretched, it had been a long drive from New Orleans to the tiny town of Bon Temps. Why did I even bother, the simple answer to that would be that the man who had made me lived there.
I smiled as I walked into a bar and sat down at a table, before looking down at the menu and considering what to order. I was hungry and felt like a rare hamburger. I put aside the menu and smiled at the waitress that came over to my table. "Hi, I'd like a coke and a rare double deluxe with two orders of extra bacon, oh and a basket of fries." I ordered and she looked at me surprised. "Actually I'll still be hungry after that, so get me a rare stake too."
"Anything else?"
"Not at the moment." I replied and smiled as she walked away, I hesitated a moment before opening myself up to my gift. To my astonishment, the woman was a vampire, well that was unexpected; I focused on the man at the bar instead.
Wonder who she is, don't often get strangers into the bar, she seemed to have an odd order. She's so skinny but she ordered all that meat, I wonder if she is a shifter. No, that's unlikely, why is she staring at me?
I looked down a moment, before a man entered the bar; he had my hair and eyes. He was in his thirties and I smiled at him, before going over to his table and sitting down. "Hello, I'm Jamie." I said and stuck out my hand, before opening the connection again.
I wonder who she is, she sure is pretty though. She must like me, how do I tell her that I'm married? Anyway why would she want to be with a man that's twice her age at least?
"I'm Jason." He replied and smiled, I smiled back and hesitated, I decided that it would be best if I waited. I mean the man was raped after all and I didn't know how he'd react to having a daughter.
"Nice to meet you Jason, what a lovely wedding ring." I complemented and he stared at me nonplussed.
"Thank you." He said, before smiling.
"Of course, I came here because I wanted to meet some relatives." I explained and he stared at me. "I'm related to the Stackhouses." I added and he stared at me blankly.
"How?" He asked and I shrugged.
"It doesn't matter, all I want to know is if there's any special talents in the family?" I asked and smiled.
"Talents?" He asked and shrugged. "You'd have to talk with my sister Sookie, she'll be coming over soon anyway."
"Thank you." I said. "So you're a cop?" I asked and he nodded.
"Yes, I am." He replied as the waitress came over and smiled at him.
"Good evening Jason, what can I do you for?" She asked and he smiled.
"I'll have a beer and the chicken fried stake." He said and she nodded. "Sook, this is Jamie, she's related to us?"
"Really?" Sookie asked and I nodded, she smiled at me and I smiled back. "I'm Sookie Compton, so what's your relation?" She asked and I smiled.
"My ancestor unknowingly got a woman pregnant and she didn't want to be with him." I said, which was true enough, but mainly because she was thirteen at the time. Social services stepped in, when they discovered how poor the conditions in Hot Shot were. I'd been adopted and raised in New Orleans by a nice couple from California who'd moved after Katrina to help rebuild. A nice couple that luckily for me, happened to be werewolves and didn't mind me turning into a Jaguar kit and then adolescent. My parents supported me wanting to find more about my heritage and I'd managed to shift into my jaguar form and listen into my mother's thoughts.
I'd discovered that I could influence what people would think about sometimes and I'd managed to find who my father was and about how I'd been conceived which made me not really that interested in learning about my kin on that side of the family.
"Well its nice to meet you." She said and I smiled.
"You too." I replied and smiled. "So any good vampire bars around here?" I asked.
"Why?" She asked and I grinned.
"Well I like to donate, it's amusing." I replied and it was very true, I didn't donate however I charged a premium for my blood and then watched the amusing antics of the vampires it affected. Sometimes however I traded for V, it really depended on what I felt like.
"Amusing how?" She asked and I shrugged.
"My blood is a bit different." I replied and grinned. "It gets vampires high." I added and smiled at her. "There's nothing funnier then a stoned out vampire."
"That's dangerous." She said and I laughed.
"No, its not, first off its done in public, secondly I don't actually open a vein in front of them." I added. "I was wondering if you had similar blood."
"Not anymore." She said stiffly. "My husband turned me." She added and I nodded.
"And you?" I asked Jason and he shook his head.
"I'm normal." He replied. "You should talk to Sook, after she gets off work."
"Alright." I said and grinned, the table became fairly silent for a while, before another waitress brought me my food.
"I should get back to work." Sookie said and stood. "I forgot that you wanted the chicken fried stake." She added and Jason smiled at her.
"I don't mind waiting a bit longer." He said and she nodded, as I dug into my food. It was great, I loved the stake, burger and fries and demolished everything. Jason stared at me and I smiled.
"Well I'll be seeing you, if you could point me in the direction of that vampire club."
"Fangtasia is in Shreveport, just go out towards the highway and find the sign for Shreveport, the club itself has a big red sign you can't miss it."
"Thank you." I said.
"Are you twenty one?" He asked and I shook my head.
"Seventeen." I replied. "But I look older and anyway they generally let me in after smelling me." I replied and stood up. "Toodles." I added tossing down a forty, before going to my car. I started up Bertha and luckily my father was right and the club was easy to find.
I grabbed my lunchbox and moved towards the door. "Card." The woman said and I smiled.
"I'm here to sell some blood, but its special blood and deserves a special price." I added and she stared at me a moment, before her nostrils widened for a brief moment and she nodded.
"Very well, you may talk to Eric, he's the one on the throne, and you can't miss him." She added and I went to where she suggested.
A man lounged across the throne and stared at me, as I came up to him. "Hello, I'm here to sell some blood, I trust that it will be alright?"
"You smell wonderful." He said and I held up a hand.
"Tubes of blood and its a hundred for each tube." I said and he stared at me.
"Why would anyone pay so much for blood?"
"It's not the most normal blood out there and it's got a kick." I replied and shrugged. "I suppose the comparison could be between diluted wine and forty proof liquor."
"As I haven't had the opportunity to get drunk off of liquor, I'll take your word for it." He said and considered. "Give me a sample, before you charge people in my club, if its good enough I'll pay you." He said and I nodded, it wasn't like I hadn't been expecting something like this, in fact most bar owners insisted that they taste the merchandise and not all paid me. I opened my cooler and took out a small vial. Everyone in the club seemed interested as Eric took the vial and downed it.
He moaned and his eyes fluttered shut, I'd been told that my blood was sometimes like V for vampires, it was just my luck that Eric was apparently one of the lucky ones. His eyes opened a moment later, completely black and he stared at me, before speaking in a language that I'd never heard before.
"What did you do to him?" A woman snarled and I shrugged.
"Look lady, it effects people differently, it's not my fault that it effects him stronger then most." I said. "I'm not entirely sure why." I added before waving a hand in front of Eric's face. "Eric?" I inquired, he said something else in whatever the hell language he was speaking. "So anyone speak that?"
"Its Norse, Eric taught me and he seems to think your someone named Alfhild." She replied and I nodded, before taking Eric's hand and pulling him up, he smiled at me and I smiled back, before picking up my cooler and walking back into another room. If my blood chemistry was changing, there was no way that I'd leave it in a vampire bar.
I walked downstairs and saw some weird circular thing with chains on it. I continued out behind it and opened another door, which lead to a richly appointed room. I saw a bed and gently sat Eric on it. He continued to stare at me, before speaking something again and reaching towards me. I hesitated a moment, before opening myself up. It took a moment but I saw a picture of a simple room, a woman that looked nothing like me stared at Eric and I saw how he only wanted to hug me, he missed an old woman and the woman he thought I was, was his sister. I hesitated a moment more, before wrapping my arms around him, he started to sob.
The same woman came into the room and Eric said something brokenly. "That's the word for Grandmother." She stated and I stared at Eric. I hesitated a moment before gently suggesting tiredness to him. He continued to sob and I patted him on the back, he continued to cry until his sobs abated and he actually started to snore, loudly in fact.
"What?" Pam demanded.
"I don't know, this whole thing is really weird." I stated and hesitated a moment, before gently laying down across the bed. I stood and considered him a moment before laying him down on the bed. "It will fade, it always does and usually the trip is good, or so I've heard."
"Why do you do this?" She demanded and I shrugged.
"I get money from selling it, it allows me a lifestyle that I like." I replied, my adopted family had no idea how my blood affected vampires and I knew my scent was appealing. So appealing in fact, that I was afraid that if I didn't sell it, someone would try to take it forcefully. "I call it S."
"I've heard of it before, but what I heard was nothing like this. Do you make it, as a sort of designer drug for vampires?" She asked and I shook my head.
"I don't know who does, I also sell V, but I get the blood in exchange for S, when they can't pay. I also like to watch people take it, I find the different reactions interesting." I added.
"What sort of reactions?"
"Different things, sometimes they'd get tipsy, other times downright drunk. It occasionally also causes sexual desire, that's why I always have people take it in the clubs. Then there are mild hallucinations, but I've never seen something as severe as this." I added. "They'd never really stopped thinking that they were vampires."
"How do you know that Eric believes himself to be anything other then Vampire?"
"He doesn't usually speak old Norse does he?" I asked and she shook her head.
"Good point." She admitted and I flicked on the light, before going over to Eric and pulling back his eyelids, his eyes were still completely black, like he was thirsty or something.
"Do you need to be upstairs?" I asked and she stared at me.
"I'm not leaving you alone with him." She said, before catching my gaze. "Now, you have nothing to fear."
"Nothing to fear." I repeated.
"Have you not told me the truth?"
"No." I said dreamily, I had also paid some to see how others acted under compulsion.
"Where did you get the S?" She demanded again.
"I don't know." I replied.
"Did someone ask you to attack Eric?"
"No." I replied.
"Did you attack Eric."
"No."
"Is this really abnormal?"
"Yes."
"Has anyone ever had a similar reaction?"
"No."
"Do you know any dangers?"
"No."
"You will not harm Eric, you will help him to recover and you will not leave the building until he is recovered."
"Yes." I said and she smiled.
"You're right, I do need to go upstairs and if anything happened to Eric we'd know it was you."
"Can I have some true blood to give him?" I asked. "I don't donate myself and I don't know if his fangs will come out."
"Why?"
"It might help lessen the effects, sometimes it helps." I replied and She nodded. "The true blood is necessary because I don't know if his fangs will come out."
"Very well." She said.
"I'll also need a straw, what's the word for drink?"
"Mungát." She replied and I nodded, repeating it until I got it right. "Very good, you have a talent for languages."
"Thank you." I said and smiled at her. She went upstairs and a moment later she returned with a case of true blood. "I don't think I can get him to drink that much."
"Try." She suggested and I nodded. She left and I hesitated, before putting Eric's head in my lap and gently waking him, using both my gift and my hands.
He stared at me a moment before muttering a question, I suggested feeling weak and sick. He closed his eyes and started to shake slightly. I opened a bottle of true blood and pressed it to his lips. "Mungát Eric." I said and he took a sip before grimacing and uttering something that sounded like a curse word.
I smiled and put a hand to his forehead, before running it through his hair. The woman hurried to us again.
"What's wrong?"
"I think he's reliving a sickness." I replied. "I've got it, but how do you say sickness?"
He said something else and she smiled. "Just speak to him normally he'll understand, but he doesn't seem to notice me."
"Odd." I said and he said something else. "Hush now, drink Eric, its alright." I said and held the bottle to his mouth. "Its medicine and you'll get better if you drink it." I stated and he drank. I switched bottles and he continued to drink and put away a good ten bottles of blood. "That's very good Eric." I said. "You should rest now." I said and he nodded, closing his eyes, as I ran my fingers through his hair, he sighed and relaxed against the bed. I checked his mind again and smiled when his thoughts became fuzzy again, now I knew that something happened when a vampire was made that changed their thinking process. I road with him and the fog cleared and I realized a moment later that he was snapping out of it, but I could still see into his mind, into what he was remembering, so much pain. I gasped and jumped back.
"What happened?" he demanded suddenly.
"You remember what happened right?"
"Yes, it was amazing to feel so young, it felt amazing ton not have the years weighing down on me." He said. "Can I buy some more?" I glanced at him.
"Look, I gave you about ten bottles of true blood to get it out of your system and your girlfriend was chewing out my ass the whole time. My life isn't worth you going viking lad." He glared at me.
"I do not have a girlfriend and I do what I like. You do not deny me human."
"Alright, alright!" I said and he nodded.
"I remember my sister." He said. "We were very close I'd pay you to pretend to be her."
"You might have a different reaction, its entirely possible. I might not wind up as your sister again and you're..."
"Progeny."
"Progeny then, freaks me out."
"She will not harm you." He stated and stood. "Come with me." He added, before going upstairs. I fallowed him up the stairs, taking the blood with me and he went strait over to the woman. "Pam, I'm going to try to look through my past again, I'm taking the rest of the evening off."
"You're what?" She demanded.
"Taking it off." He replied and smiled. "I got to see my sister, I had almost forgotten." He admitted.
"Can I buy some then?" A young man demanded and I nodded. "I'm only selling the smalls this time round, seems as though it could be potent. I'd suggest you only take a cap full and see where that gets you. Usually it only takes about five minutes or so to get the full affect." I added and accepted his money, before handing him the bottle.
"You should charge more." Eric said and I considered him.
"Not everyone could afford it, I'm about the only one that sells it, so the price reflects that they can't get it when they want." I replied and I had several people ask for the small vials, I pocketed the money and looked towards Eric. "Now I'll fallow you to your house, I need to have my car case you get violent or something."
"Has that happened?"
"Sometimes and you should take some true blood with you, I might need to get you sober."
"I'd prefer it if you didn't."
"Like I said, it might turn bad and I want a safety net."
"Didn't you say it was mostly a good high?"
"Yeah but still."
"Very well." He said and lifted the crate, I grabbed my cooler and went to my car, he got into his own car and we drove several miles down the road. We got to his house and he grinned. "Welcome to my house." He said. "I built it several years back, after I got tired of having to sleep in a tightly enclosed place. All of it is light tight and the door itself is an old vault that I'll teach you how to work."
"Alright." I said and watched as he pulled open the vault and closed it, he did it a few more times. I watched how he turned it and copied him, the door was heavier then it looked, but it swung open. I nodded and closed it. "Now where do you want to take it and can I suggest that you don't take the whole bottle."
"I need to take the whole bottle. I don't know how much I need to reach that again, for the first time in a thousand years I was back in my keep."
"But you relived your grandmother dying and being sick." I pointed out. "Anyway its not like you can control the trip and you had to have been a warrior, I was really guessing when I said you were a viking, but you really were weren't you?"
"Yes." He replied. "I was a warrior." He added and I nodded.
"Alright, do you think that something will cause you to jog different memories?"
"I don't know." He admitted and I nodded.
"Alright, where do you want to go?"
"I don't really even care." He admitted. "As long as I'm back in my father's keep."
"Alright." I said. "I don't know for certain that it'd happen again." I warned and he nodded. "You should most probably sit down for this." I added and he nodded again, together we took a seat on the couch and I handed him a vial. He downed it and his eyes turned black once more. He smiled at me a moment, before hugging me and saying something in Norse. I sighed, I would seriously have to learn how to speak it from him if it went on like this much longer.
"Stay here Eric, I'm going to get some mead." I said to him, well there was some blood left in the vial, I picked the vial he held out of his hands and went into his kitchen. Luckily he actually had glasses and I filled the vial up with water before repeating the process several more times and topping off the water glass. I assumed that this would be safe enough for him and walked back to the living room. This place was huge, it resembled a sort of castle almost, except it was smaller then most of the castles I'd ever been in.
It was richly appointed with objects from many different time eras and places, it worked however and created a beautiful but chaotic effect. I sat down on the cushions, before handing him the glass and going over to the state of the art stereo system and I noticed a small CD collection, these must be his personal favorites. I found several titles in different languages, but the one I found to be most interesting was the one without a title. I took a guess and put it into the player. Instantly a haunting melody came out of the player and he stared at me a moment, before his smile widened to a boyish grin and he took my hand.
I smiled and gently moved into his mind, he had a boyish smile because to his mind he was a boy and I was a little girl of ten years or so. It was an odd dance he led me in, but I could see the steps in his mind and that helped greatly. I started to laugh and he did as well as we danced together until I tired and had to sit back down.
"I'm tired Eric, lets play something else!" I said and he nodded and said something in Norse. I smiled at him, his mind full of a game that seemed to be a lot like yahtzee. I smiled at him and considered a moment before ruffling his hair. "Go get them Eric." I said, I had a feeling that even though he was deeply drugged he'd still know where the knucklebones were if he had a set. He came back with very old bones and I smiled at him as I took a cushion from the couch and he did the same, together we sprawled out across the floor and played against each other.
Eric won, mostly because even though I had his mind to rely on, I didn't understand most of the rules. He cried out in obvious delight and I smiled. "Do you want to play again Eric?" I asked and he nodded, we started another game and this time I managed to win. He chattered about something or other and when I looked into his mind I saw sheep and I was sitting on a hill playing on a small pipe.
"Its bad weather, the sheep are in the stables for the night." I said and he nodded. "Come on," I said, "I want to go to father's library and then I'll read you a story." I said, I didn't know his age, but in his memory I was taller which meant I was older. Which was good, I didn't see him obeying his younger sister after all, if it was needed. I crossed the house again, this time searching different rooms for a library and ultimately finding one. I noticed that there were different shelves and the books were shelved first by language, secondly by subject and thirdly by alphabetical order. I found a book of Norse myths and considered a moment, before going out the hall and settling into the bed next door, I turned the blankets down and Eric snuggled against me, putting his head on my chest. I turned on the light and started to read to Eric.
I found the legends interesting and read a lot of them to Eric, watching as the apparently familiar tales delighted him. I stopped and marked my place in the book with the small red bookmark, when I heard Eric to make little snuffling snores, it sounded all the world like a child sleeping. I knew that Eric wouldn't know how to take seeing me when he recovered, but I was too tired to care.
I settled down into the bed and a moment later was fast asleep.