There are times when life simply will not let one do what one wants.
Barry had been determined the first time to never have anything to do with Sookie Stackhouse again. Fuck if he was going to put himself in danger with other people knowing about his ability. It had been frightening enough to find someone else who was the same and he had no desire to discuss it with her.
All right so, wow, they weren't alone in being telepathic but was that really such a good thing? Barry would never have cursed anyone else with this. He did not understand why Sookie had been so adamant about them getting to know each other or whatever else she wanted. The two of them being near each other would arouse enough suspicion as it was. If people know about her then they would know about him. Maybe Sookie didn't realize the way of the world well enough but normal people and vampires would only want to use their abilities for their own ends. She was crazy if she didn't realize this.
So, he'd left the Carmilla, gotten away. He'd run. There were other vampire hotels. There was nothing to tie him to that one in particular. He'd only really made one friend there.
"You can't leave," Theodore had said to him. "You know you're just about my only human friend."
"Well, I guess your slate will be clean then," Barry said as he cleared out his locker.
Theo snorted. "Oh yes, poor human Barry."
Barry smiled in his best 'I'm telling the truth' way, "You won't miss me too much, you know that."
"You are just a human," Theo replied, pursing his lips.
"Exactly, you've had 150 years worth of us. Why miss the one?"
"Trying to make me laugh, are you?"
Barry pulled the last extra shirt from his locker and closed the door. Turning around as he folded the shirt, Barry looked at the vampire. Theo was staring at the floor, arms crossed where he leaned against the wall. It was somewhat hard to believe it but Barry was going to miss Theo.
"It's been nice knowing you," he said, keeping it light. "Don't let them work you too hard."
Theodore looked up at him and smiled thinly. "I'll try."
Barry just nodded then put the shirt away in his bag, zipping it up. He hoisted the bag onto his shoulder and smiled quickly.
"You sure you won't let me taste you before you leave?" Theodore asked, flicking out his fangs once. "It'll be my last chance, you know."
Barry snorted. It had been a bit of a creepy joke between them. As one of the humans who worked in the hotel but wasn't on the room service list all the vampires who did work there were, of course, quite interested in what his blood would taste like. Fortunately there was a clause in his contract for the hotel which forbade the drinking of his blood by any staff member or guest. Still they'd all teased him about how he was probably the best tasting of all or how they'd 'love a bite of that.' It was no problem though. Barry could handle the 'let me drink your blood' teasing if it meant less noise in his head.
"I guess you'll always have to wonder," Barry replied, shaking Theo's hand quickly. "Good bye."
Theodore nodded. "Be seeing you."
So that was it; Barry quit. He knew there was a nice vampire hotel in Austin he could apply to; he had good references. Moving on was a good idea.
Then, like the god damn plague, Sookie Stackhouse had burst into his head again before he'd even left the city and scared the shit out of him. No one wants a voice in their head speaking directly to them all of a sudden when they're in line to get a coffee. The regular thoughts of everyone around him were bad enough without someone knowing what they were doing. He'd practically knocked out the person behind him when he jumped in surprise.
It had turned out Sookie was in trouble and needed his help. (See, this is what happens when you let people know about your ability). Still, she wasn't a bad person; he knew that. He couldn't ignore her. So, he went back to help her, to tell her boyfriend where she was. What did he get for it? His blood was sucked by a creepy vampire who told him he tasted different and then was hit over the head with a plasma TV by Sookie's boyfriend. What the hell?
That should have been the end. Barry told Sookie it was the last time. He wasn't going to help her or see her again. End of story. Except that it turned out it wasn't.
Barry was in Bon Temps, Louisiana.
"What the hell am I doing here?" Barry said to himself for the seventh time.
Bon Temps was just another town like so many in the south. It was small with streets that led off into the swamp or old manor houses. There were friendly people with their secrets and vampire prejudices and useless thoughts screaming through his head. Everyone knew he was new in town because everyone knew everyone that lived there. It made him feel like he stood out even more when every person he passed thought something along the lines of 'now who is that?'
It was exactly the kind of place Barry never wanted to be: somewhere he couldn't hide in the shadows or block everyone out into a dull roar. In the city there were so many people, so many thoughts it was impossible to pick anyone out and, in a way, easier to make all the streaming thoughts into just one big sound like TV static. It was easier to ignore a crowd that a smaller group of blabber minds. In the city he could find more vampire establishments to get a bit of quiet. In the city there were vampire hotels to work in. Here in Bon Temps there was no quiet unless he wanted to head out to the swamp.
The reason Barry was in Bon Temps was, of course, Sookie Stackhouse. He'd tried, he really had but for some reason Sookie was always there. Even when he went to Austin, got a new job at the Liatoukine vampire hotel, he could still feel her. It did not seem to matter what the distance between them was because she was a presence now. He couldn't hear her thoughts, nothing so clear as that. It was as though she was always at the back of his mind. She was an itch, a tickle, a constant slight uncomfortable feeling that would not go away.
So, he gave in and answered the call.
"I'll just have the turkey sandwich," Barry said to the teller behind the counter.
"4.65," the girl said.
Kind of cute, looks like a town boy. Bet I could give him a bit of a country feel.
"Thank you," Barry said handing her a five.
Why did people even think in stupid innuendo?
Barry just smiled as she gave him his change and walked to the end of the counter to get his sandwich. He glanced quickly at the other patrons in the little restaurant sitting at circular tables.
New kids coming around all the time. Used to be such a nice quiet town... I'm never sleeping with him again. Can't believe he called me Janet... It's seven-fifteen, I can wait an hour more for a drink. I can this time... Why am I eating this salad? I want a steak, fuck my diet!
"Your sandwich."
Barry turned and took the sandwich from the boy behind the counter, 'Chris' on his name tag. He nodded as a 'thank you.'
Barry didn't know the people here, couldn't block them out as well. He wasn't used yet to being in a smaller place with such individual minds and thoughts. He'd had a headache since he'd arrived.
God I need a new job, why the hell do I stay for 8.50 an hour?
"Is there anywhere around here I can get a drink?" Barry asked Chris suddenly.
Chris nodded. "Most people go to Merlotte's, nice bar and restaurant down the way."
"Thanks," Barry said turning quickly and leaving the shop.
Out on the street, Barry breathed in deeply and tried to clear his mind. Closing his eyes, he thought of open spaces, fields, not a person in sight. Pushing all the thoughts back, he imagined a black piece of white paper.
Then later tonight Bill and I can just relax together...
Barry's eyes snapped open and he whispered, "Sookie..."
Fifteen minutes later Barry found himself standing outside of Merlotte's. If he was sane he wouldn't be here. He would be back at the hotel in Austin where it was blissfully quiet not in front of this bar in some small town out in the sticks of Louisiana.
"What is wrong with me?" Barry muttered.
There was already so much noise in his head pouring out of the bar. Yet there also seemed to be something about this place, something that seemed like Sookie.
"Maybe a drink will dull the noise," Barry said to himself and walked forward, opening the door.
He said he'd be here but he - I'm going to tell her and then she'll - ...so no more whiskeys, they only make - - and that was the end that fucking bitch. I'm fucking sick of all the god damn -
"Can I help you?"
Barry swallowed slowly, focusing on the man behind the bar in front of him. A wave of nausea flooded over him and he sat heavily down on one of the bar stools.
"Um, yeah, could I have... uh... a beer."
The man laughed once and nodded. "Yeah, what kind do you want, tap?"
Barry just nodded. Closing his eyes, Barry tired to think of something else, anything else. It had been so quiet at the hotel, just the occasional human thought he could simply walk away from. Why was he out here? Why was he following the nagging feeling of Sookie Stackhouse?
"Are you all right?"
Barry opened his eyes as the bar tender placed his glass in front of him.
"Uh, yeah, I'm just... yeah, I'm ok."
"You're new around here. I'm Sam Merlotte, so if you need anything just ask." He paused, looking Barry over. "You sure you're all right?"
"You wouldn't know where I could find Sookie Stackhouse, would you?" Barry asked.
All at once Sam tensed, standing straighter and staring hard at Barry. It gave him the urge to back up slowly like there was a dog with bared teeth before him.
"And why would you be looking for Sookie?"
"I just... I just need to talk to her," Barry replied slowly.
Sam crossed his arms and stared at Barry. Barry breathed in slowly and let go.
...definitely not a vampire but he could be from that church. Just another person coming to make her life harder than it already is.
"That's not it!" Barry cried suddenly.
Sam started and uncrossed his arms. "What?"
'Shit,' Barry thought.
"I, uh, I met her in Dallas," Barry explained. "She knows me."
"She met a lot of people in Dallas," Sam said leaning over the bar closer to Barry. "Most of them I don't think she wants to meet again."
I know that church still wants her, some kind of revenge, how many times do people have to try to kill her or use her. Why do people keep coming into my town to cause -
"I'm not here to cause trouble!" Barry insisted.
Sam stared at Barry then slowly stood up straight. Barry suddenly felt like Sam could see right through him. If this man knew Sookie then he might know she could read minds. Oh shit.
"I can just go," Barry said standing up. "I can talk to her some other time."
Sam did not stop staring at Barry as he came around the bar. Barry backed up, almost tripping as he tried to get away. Grabbing the collar of his shirt, Sam dragged Barry back past the bar and through a door in the back into what must have been Sam's office.
"All right, please," Barry said holding up his hands as Sam closed the door. "I really don't mean any trouble. I can just go; it's no problem."
"Really?" Sam said, crossing his arms. "You seem like you were up to something to me."
"Really, I can leave."
"Why do you really want to find Sookie?"
Barry's head whirled. "I wanted... I wanted to talk to her. I'm not going to hurt her or anything!"
"You just come to my bar poking around for information then?"
"I wasn't!" Barry wanted a way out but Sam was blocking the door.
"Trying to see what you might hear about her?"
"No!"
I'm not going to tell you anything about Sookie, so you should just leave
"I will! I'll leave! I will!"
Suddenly Sam grinned like he'd won the race and Barry let out a gasp. The bastard had just fucking trapped him! Barry looked around the room quickly, looking for an escape he knew was not there. He could not believe this had just happened.
"So, you're like Sookie," Sam said.
It wasn't a question.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Barry replied, stalling for time.
"Right."
"You can't just lock me in your office!"
Sam barked a laugh. "I'm not locking you in. I just had to be sure. Things have been… strange around here lately. You never seem to know what crazy person's going come around. You're nothing."
If Barry was nothing then what kinds of people did they get in Bon Temps? Suddenly, Barry felt like he couldn't hold himself up any longer and he slumped down in the nearest chair. He put a hand over his eyes and tired to breathe slowly. This had definitely been a bad idea from the start.
"Here."
Barry looked up to see Sam holding out a glass with brown liquid. Cocking an eyebrow, Barry took the glass but didn't drink it.
"What? I'm going to poison you or something?"
Barry gulped the whole thing down in one go, coughing quickly at the burn then placed the glass on the desk near him.
"I guess it was a good idea," Sam muttered, sitting in the chair behind his desk.
"I didn't even want to come here," Barry said suddenly. "I was just fine where I was and my life would have been just the same if not for Sookie."
Sam looked as though he wanted to interject on Sookie's behalf but he said nothing.
Barry kept his defenses up. He didn't want to know what Sam was thinking. If Sam wanted to go on about how good Sookie was and how she helped people or whatever was so great about her then he could damn well say it out loud. No one liked having people poke around in their heads anyhow. Barry certainly didn't like their thoughts invading his head without permission.
"And really it's like just one big accident," Barry continued, fists clenching on his knees. "I just happened to be the one to bring the room service and she just happens to be staying with that vampire girl and I'm stupid enough to have a slip up and respond to what Sookie was thinking. Why was I so stupid? If I hadn't done that she would never have known about me and I would never have known about her and then I wouldn't be here!"
Barry finished shouting, his breath heavy. Sam stared at him with wide eyes. Barry breathed out slowly trying to calm himself down. He knew it was irrational. He knew it wasn't either of their faults. He just wanted someone to blame.
Barry tired all of his life to play it safe, to keep his secret. He didn't want to fail now.
"Look," Sam said drawing Barry's attention. "I'm not… I don't know much about how to live your life but you're not the only one with a secret to keep."
"Some are more important to keep than others," Barry retorted.
"I know," Sam with emphasis, "believe me."
Barry did. He didn't need to read Sam's mind to see it. After years of hearing thoughts he didn't want to hear, listening to what a person said as they thought the opposite, he'd learned the difference in a person's face when they're lying or not.
"Maybe you don't need to keep your secret," Sam said. "I mean Sookie's like you so isn't it better to not be alone?"
Barry huffed and looked at the wall. "I don't know. I never thought so."
Pouring himself his own glass, Sam shrugged. "Well, you are here."
Sam had a point.
"Look," Sam began again, sitting up straight, "I'm not much for advice but I know that you need people. Life's not worth living without them."
Barry looked at Sam out of the corner of his eye. He could tell that Sam knew what the opposite sort of life was like. Barry wondered what great secret it was Sam held on to.
"You're sounding rather sage like to me," Barry muttered, "in a southern way."
Sam snorted. "Yeah, well, just lucky then." Then Sam's eyes flicked to the clock and back to Barry. "All right, enough of this crap. Sookie should be in soon."
"Oh god..." Barry groaned quietly.
A small laugh escaped Sam's mouth and he stood up. Taking both of the glasses he put them away in a drawer in his desk. Then he walked around his desk and opened his office door.
"Maybe you should have that beer now?" Sam asked.
Barry nodded and stood up, breathing in quickly.
Why do I keep coming here? Just a bunch of stupid ass- I know he stole it. I had a twenty my purse, I'm sure. ...but that's what she said and why the hell do I listen to her
"You town is a bit loud," Barry muttered to Sam as they walked over to the bar.
Sam glanced at him then around the room quickly. "You don't know the half."
Then the feeling which scratched at the back of Barry's mind since he'd met Sookie Stackhouse suddenly leapt into the foreground. Barry stumbled, feeling a little dizzy. The tickle of before now became a full blown mind, a mind somehow irrevocably tied to his. The door to the front of Merlotte's opened and Barry did not need to turn around to know who came through.
"Sookie," Sam said, "someone here to see you."
"I know," Barry heard her reply.
Despite the paranoia, the need to hide, and all the times he had told himself never again, Barry felt himself smiling. Turning around, Barry saw Sookie standing just inside the door with a sly grin on her face. She walked forward so she was standing beside the two men, still watching Barry.
What happened to never wanting to see me again? That was my plan, believe me. Couldn't stay away?
Barry snorted. I wanted to but I couldn't get you out of my head.
She laughed out loud. Now, that sort of sounds romantic, Barry. I think you know what I meant. I do.
"Are you two talking or something?" Sam asked pointing back and forth between them.
They both laughed at once and for the first time since arriving in the small Louisiana town Barry felt his mind clearing, the noise beginning to really fade. Perhaps it was Sookie's doing or just the both of them being together but it was suddenly easy to block everyone out. He just breathed in and pushed them all aside. For a moment there was utter silence in his mind.
"Wow," Sookie said staring at him.
"What?"
"It just seems to work better with two."
Barry laughed a little. "I guess so."
Sookie tossed her hair and walked back toward the kitchen. "Do you want something eat, Barry? It's on the house."
"Oh, it is?" Sam said.
She pursed her lips at him and Sam shrugged. "Fine," then he turned to Barry, "but just this time."
"Of course," he replied.
Perhaps Barry going to Bon Temps had not been such a bad idea after all. The place had a strange sort of feeling, like it could be home.