I was jolted awake and abruptly brought out of my dream. It was a good one too; I couldn't remember what it was about, but I felt happy in it. I sat up straight in the front passenger seat of the SUV I now appeared to be in and looked around. I couldn't remember the transfer from the plane to the car. In all honesty, everything after the first fifteen minutes of the flight was now a blur. I must have had a confused look on my face because Pam interrupted my ponderings.

"Don't worry. I moved you. You were asleep." She only spared me a moment's glance before diverting her eyes back to the road. Of course, I was using the term "road" loosely. There was no pavement, which, being a back-woods girl myself, I was used to. However, we weren't in any kind of familiar territory. Kudzu coated forests may seem ominous to some, but I would have traded my current surroundings for that traditional green.

Outside my window, dunes of sand could be seen in every direction, with no end in sight. The hills were only illuminated by the full moon. I wonder where Sam is tonight? I rolled my eyes at the idea that I was thinking about Sam tonight, when there were so many more important things to consider. Perhaps it was my anxiety about the fact that I had obviously missed so much when I was asleep. The fact that Pam was speeding down the barely-there road without headlights might also have had something to do with my current discomfort.

"Wow. I don't usually sleep like that on planes, I'm usually too nervous to." I gave a half-hearted chuckle. Pam's eyes widened infinitesimally and she gave me a quick glance.

"Hm." The noise was so short and quiet I couldn't be sure I had heard her respond at all.

" 'Hm'? What does that mean?" I narrowed my eyes at her, she dutifully kept her eyes straight forward. She was rarely so cold with me these days…unless you counted her physical temperature. Something was wrong.

"Is there something you need to tell me Pamela?" At the sound of her full name, her head snapped in my direction and I found myself on the receiving end of a terrifying glare. It occurred to me that I had only ever heard Eric refer to Pam by her full name. Perhaps I should stay on more familiar terms. I had the sudden urge to call her "Pammy" just to see how she would react, but decided not to push my luck. I held my ground and stared right back at her. Eventually her gaze softened into a slight scowl before, again, turning back to the road. I guess I wasn't going to get an answer.

I stared back out my window at the passing sand, waiting for any sign that we were approaching our destination. I turned around and faced Pam when I heard her uncharacteristic sigh.

"Eric told me not to tell you," She glanced over to make sure I was listening "but I don't see the point. I drugged you." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Why?" I couldn't decide what emotion was ruling me at the moment, it was tie between anger and disbelief.

"It's strictly procedure. Humans and Weres are not allowed to know the location of headquarters. I drugged you to prevent you from being able to identify any landmarks that might help you locate the city without a guide." I stared at her for a few moments with my mouth hanging open, still angry about being unknowingly drugged by someone I would consider a friend. I eventually turned forward in my seat, but shut my mouth. I could steam without catching flies.

I decided to spare Pam my wrath, however, Eric (the mastermind of this situation) would be hearing about this when we reached the city.

"ETA in five minutes." Pam had jumped back into 'serious' mode as we neared our destination. I couldn't blame her. If being a human didn't automatically prevent me from dawning a convincing cold, bad ass alter ego…I would have too. Instead I tried to remind myself what had convinced me to be here in the first place. So I spend the last few minutes of my trip remembering what happened only 48 hours ago…

……….

"You're not going to like this." Pam skipped the formalities and had decided to let herself into my house without knocking and taken a seat on my bed while I was in the shower. Needless to say, I screamed…loudly, she caught the hairbrush I had chucked at her in defense, and I glared at her to tell her I was not pleased. Such were the salutations we offered on this particular evening.

"You're right. I don't like you barging into my house unannounced." I clutched my towel a little tighter and retrieved my hairbrush.

"Duly noted, but that's not what I was referring to." Without my seeing, she had jumped up and beaten me to my closet, which she was now rummaging around in.

"Really? You mean to tell me that you and/or someone you know has done something, without my knowledge, that affects me? And you think it's possible I may not like the outcome of these events? What a shockingly novel concept." Apparently my dry sarcasm was evident enough for Pam to turn around and give me a small smile before handing over my infamous red and white dress and resuming her spot on my bed.

"You really are my favorite human Sookie. But back to the subject at hand: We're being summoned." I snapped my head around to look at her as I was hanging my dress back in its spot in the closet.

"What do you mean 'summoned'? Summoned where?" Pam had been right. I didn't like this. Not at all.

"Unfortunately I can't tell you that. It's classified. But all will be explained to you when we arrive." I wondered if she actually expected me to go quietly with only that much information.

"Why isn't Eric here to summon me himself?" I crossed my arms over my towel clad body and took a no-nonsense stance.

"He's already in Egypt, preparing for our arrival." My arms dropped at those words and my towel fluttered a little before I caught it and regained my composure.

"Egypt? We're going to Egypt?" I was shocked and not just a little frightened at this prospect.

"Oops. Did I say that?" Pam almost looked convincing in her guilt if it wasn't for the twinkle in her eye.

"Why are we going to Egypt, Pam?" I was slowly stepping closer to her to make sure I didn't miss any of the explanation.

"I told you, I can't tell you. But Eric and I both promise to keep you safe, and honestly, I don't think you'll be in much danger there. If anything, we will be more of a target than you." Her ambiguous response was not comforting me, and the last part scared me a little. Eric was there, where ever 'there' was, right now. Was he in danger? Pam interrupted my worrying:

"I've already spoken to your shifter boss, he finds himself with no need for your help for at least two weeks. Pack for warm weather. I'll collect you on Tuesday evening, just after sun down." She patted my head as she walked past me and out of my room without another word. I stood there for a long time until I began to shiver a little in my wet towel. As I changed my clothes and got ready for bed, I wondered when the time would come that I would take a trip that I actually wanted to take.

The seriousness of the entire situation had only struck me when a private plane, apparently belonging to King De Castro, had been set aside specifically for me and Pam at a private airstrip. That worried me. I didn't trust the king as far as I could throw him, and I doubted a vampire would let me throw him very far at all.

……….

"Sookie, we're here," Pam announced as she continued driving. We were headed downhill now, into what appeared to be a small valley in the sand. I could see we were headed for a small grouping of huts and tents that emitted a soft glow of candles and lamps. It only now occurred to me that the place I was going might not have indoor plumbing, a fact that would be easily overlooked by vampires. What little enthusiasm I was harboring for this adventure was leaking away even more readily after seeing my would-be accommodations.

The 'road' led us closer to, and eventually through, the camp. I saw few people, but attributed that to the late time, perhaps many were in bed. A few times I saw small groups of children running around and play some game or another. What worried me the most were the lack of vampires. I did not see one. I began to fear that somehow we were late. That something had happened and Eric and the others had been hurt. I didn't know what was going on or where I was and I silently scolded myself for allowing this kind of vulnerability. Before I could really freak out, Pam stopped the car.

I looked around once again and realized that we had pulled out outside some kind of stone structure. It was clearly ruins of some kind or another. Toppled pillars were laying nearby and the rounded edges of the stone structure were a dead giveaway. Next to me, Pam had whipped out her cell phone and made a silent call that lasted only a few seconds. She hung up and gave me a reassuring smile before the wall in front of us slowing began to lift, emitting deep groans of protest. My eyes bulged and I looked over at Pam, who lowered her fangs and gave me a smile before speaking.

"Welcome to the City of the Dead."

TBC

A/N: Well, well, well my pretties…it seems I'm back. I know it's been a while, and I'm sure you've missed me. I have an excuse though: school. It has been sucking my time away from me, but I swear I am going to make time for you now. Now…I feel there is some business to conduct.

"When is this story taking place?": Idk. I'd consider it post-D&G in terms of relationships. However, I didn't like the fairy war, so I'm pretending it didn't happen. It's my story, deal with it.

"Are we ever going to get an epilogue for DMH?": Yes. Probably. Maybe. I know I promised it, and I swear I've been working on it. It's the Sam's POV that I promised, but it's just not right yet. Sorry.

"Is this story a sequel to something?": Not technically. The idea came to me as a sequel for SBB, but the stories really stand alone, so I choose not to narrow my audience.

Mr. Imagination sends his regards. He is currently relaxing by the pool sipping a pina colada and NOT dealing with putting away Christmas decorations. Lucky bastard. We have come to an agreement in the past few months. He's not going to be as controlling, and I am actually going to plan out my stories ahead of time so it doesn't come down to the wire and he won't have to bang my head against the keyboard in hopes that some genius leaks out into the clusterfuck of whatever story I'm writing. It's a little tenuous, but we're hoping it works. (P.S. If you need a visual on Mr. I...I picture him a lot like the "Whammy" thing from Press Your Luck.)

Finally, I realize there isn't a lot to go on in this chapter, but I'm asking you to stick with me. I'm just trying to set it up right now. I'm just too excited that I finally got to a stopping point for a chapter after having this story in my head for about 3 or 4 months. I hope to get the next chapter out to you really soon, but I haven't started writing it yet.