Hello Everyone! After being a avid reader of many Sookie and Eric stories here on FanFiction, I decided I had a good enough idea of a story to run with it. I have always loved writing, but this is my first here on this site, so I hope you all enjoy.

This story picks up 6 days after the Victor encounter at Fangtasia.

Dead Set

I needed a new alarm clock. The one that had been sitting on the nightstand next to my bed for several years was a giant heap of broken plastic scattered across my bedroom floor. I felt justified that the clock needed to meet its end. At least that s what I kept telling myself.

For the last six days and five nights, whenever night had fallen and I wasn't at work, I caught myself looking at any clock available in the house to see what time it was. Of course, that meant that my temper had steadily risen over the last six days and in a fit of blind rage, I had grabbed the clock from my bedstand last night and hurled it across the room.

In the light of morning, my foolish act of random violence against a household object astounded me, and I shook my head as I stared at the mess. Sighing, I left my bedroom and grabbed the broom and dustpan from the hallway closet and the garbage can from the kitchen. Dermot was sitting at the table enjoying a cup of coffee. He simply raised his eyebrows at me when he saw the items I was carrying.

"Don't ask", I muttered, inhaling the smell of coffee deeply, intending to grab a cup after I cleaned my mess up.

Re-entering my room, I knelt down and began to sweep up the little pieces of plastic that seemed to be scattered into all four corners of my room. As I swept, my mind turned to my main obsession of late, the reason why my alarm clock had bit the dust.

Eric. Why hasn't he called? Yes, I know that the phone works both ways and that I could just as easily jump in my car to go see him. But I was upset with him. The whole situation upset me. I was tired of so much death and destruction. I was tired of always having a target on my back. I was tired of this supernatural world that my life has turned into, with vampires, werewolves, demons and fairies running in and out of my life. Sometimes, I just wanted...normal. Did that make me a bad person? I don't know.

I felt no guilt over the death of Victor Madden. He had it coming. The man had been asking for it, if not by Eric's (or in this case, Pam's) hand, then by someone else s. Yet, I did feel conflicted by all the other deaths that had occurred that night. Victor's entourage that had followed him was wiped out as well, just because they had associated themselves with him. I'm sure some of them had been decent Vampires, but I would never know. Pam had lost Miriam because Victor, being the dick he was, didn't give the permission Pam asked for to turn her lover who was dying from cancer. Colton had lost Audrina, and I felt complete responsibility for her death. Even though they had wanted to come, I had ultimately seeked Colton out because of his warning to me in Vampire's Kiss about the fairy blood that had been put in Eric and Pam's glasses.

Just thinking of Colton weeping over Audrina's dead body caused a sob to escape my lips and a tear to slip down my cheek. So much death. And Eric was right. I was a hypocrite. I was like Genghis Khan, planning Victor's demise with relish and glee, and then when the dust settled, I acted like a judgemental zealot. No wonder Eric had bitten me so roughly. I had technically pissed in his Wheaties while he wanted to celebrate our victory; but that was just one of the differences between us. He didn t think twice about killing someone if the need came, and for me, I was happy Victor was gone, but not at the expense of all the people that had died on the journey to get there.

"Sookie, are you all right? Do you need any help?"

I gasped and looked up, finding Dermot standing in the doorway to my room. Standing, I put my hand over my heart and closed my eyes. "Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea, you about gave me a heart attack!"

Dermot looked sheepish and took a step into my room. "Sorry about that. You look so sad and I find myself concerned. You have been so distracted these last couple of days, and I wanted to ask if there is anything that I can do to help? You know that you can talk to me, if you want to."

I lifted my right hand and wiped the tear from my cheek. I looked down at the garbage can and sighed. "Yeah, I guess I have been a downer lately, haven't I? It s just...I wish things could happen differently sometimes, and it makes me angry when people get hurt and die needlessly. Can't there ever be a moment of peace? Where life just goes from day to day, without some power hungry vampire or a vengeful werewolf turning my life upside down? I thought I had come to terms with these things, but over the last few days, I've been thinking about all the chaos in my life lately and I feel resentful for all the interference that has intruded on my life."

Dermot looked thoughtful for a moment. He knelt down in front of me and reached for my left hand with both of his. It felt like he was trying to channel calmness into my body through touch, and in truth, I felt better instantly. Fairies. They sure do love to be touchy feely, but it sure did the trick.

"With so much emotional upheaval, I suppose that is why I heard such a loud explosion last night. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop for a few days now. You do need a new clock, though," he said, smiling at me.

I laughed, blushing slightly. I hated to admit it, throwing the clock had seemed therapeutic, releasing all the pent up emotions of the Victor debacle and the worry of the Freyda situation. Lord. I did NOT even wanna think about that right now. I might break something else. That is one of the main reasons I was so angry with Eric. The more days that passed without any word from him, the more I worried that something was going on that I perhaps should be privy to. Like Eric told me once, "I may not tell you everything, but what I do tell you is the truth." And while I appreciated him telling me the truth, there were times like now, that I wanted to know everything, the good and the bad.

"Yeah, I guess I do." I replied to Dermot, he was looking at me serenely.

"Dearest Niece, I know that you want peace in your life, what you call normal. But you need to understand that with your gifts, there will never be any sort of "normal" life for you. The sooner you come to terms with that, the better. The harder you fight against the inevitable, it will only cause you more stress and heartache than you already have. You are what you are. You cannot change that, you must accept yourself, fully."

I raised my eyebrows, looking at him curiously. Geez, that was rather cryptic advice. But, what did he mean by "Gifts"? I already had my telepathy, and as far as I was concerned, that was the only "Gift" I had. My heart clenched. "Dermot, what do you mean by "gifts?"

Dermot flinched slightly, as though realizing he had said tot much. He opened his mouth, about to explain himself, when suddenly my cellphone rang. We both jumped, startled by the interruption. Dermot slipped his hand away quickly, happy to be saved from having to explain himself. "I will be upstairs," he said quickly, leaving my room as though he had Vamp speed.

I sat there, conflicted and annoyed. I snatched my phone off my dresser, and considering it was eleven o'clock in the morning, I doubted it was Eric calling. Sitting on my bed in a huff, I answered. "Hello?"

"Sookie?" It was Sam.

"Morning Sam, how are you?"

"Quite well, thanks. Sorry to bother you on your day off, but I was wondering if by any chance you could come in and work the lunch shift? Seems the days we have been keeping lately with less staff are over. Vic's Redneck Roadhouse closed down, and we are beginning to have quite a crowd here. Could you come in?" He sounded hopeful.

I wasn't surprised. Considering that Victor Madden had owned said Redneck Roadhouse and that he was currently a pile of ashes in a dumpster behind Fangtasia, that meant that any customers that had frequented his new bar were more than likely going to come back to Merlotte's. That was one of many positives in the death of Victor Madden.

"Sure, I'll come in."

Sam and I had been dancing around the subject of one Sandra Pelt for the last few days. Since her untimely demise of having her head cracked open like a cantelope by Sam's girlfriend, Jannalyn, and then feeding her body through the mail box of the Fairy Express to be eaten by God knew what, Sam and I had been avoiding the subject completely. This is the second Pelt that has come after me now, and quite frankly, I was happy she was gone as well. They were vengeful women, who didn't let go of a grudge, but I had a bad feeling that I was gonna have another werewolf problem on my hands soon enough. I needed to talk to Sam about that problem eventually.

"Great, I'll see you in about an hour?" he asked.

"Sure."

We hung up and I jumped in the shower and got dressed. I left my bedroom and called up the stairs to Dermot. He peeked down at me, looking anxious. Serves him right, keeping things from me. I was beginning to get a headache from all the issues that seemed to be rising up around me. If it was not one thing, it was another. All I needed now was more "Gifts" to start popping up because of my Fairy ancestry.

"Sam called, and I'm going in to work." He looked relieved. Yeah, I wasn't letting him off the hook that fast. "When I get home, we are having a talk about these "Gifts". So you have a few hours to think of an explanation of why you kept this from me and what is going to happen. I'm tired of being kept in the dark. Eric is doing it to me, I'll be damned if you are gonna do it too!"

Dermot looked contrite and I felt bad. I shouldn't talk to him like that. My Gran would slap me silly. "Sorry. I'm...just gonna go." I mumbled, turning and rubbing my forehead. Did I have any aspirin? Better swing by the Pharmacy fast. Sighing, I grabbed an apple and banana, filled a thermos with the leftover coffee, and grabbed my purse and headed out into the sweltering heat of the early June weather. Just another day in the life of Sookie Stackhouse. I snorted to myself.

Well, what do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions. I will try to update as soon as I have the next chapter finished. Thanks for reading!