"Sookie, hurry up and let's go!" Dawn was standing in front of me impatiently while I filled the last of the salt shakers. She had already changed out of the Merlotte's summer uniform that Sam has us wear. It was Friday night and we were just finishing up the early shift. Dawn had been begging me for days to go with her to the vampire bar in Shreveport.

I don't really go to bars much. I work in one and when I get off work I'd much rather go home and curl up on the couch with a book and my cat Tina by my side. But I have to admit that ever since the vampires came out of the coffin a couple of months ago I've been real curious to see one in real life. I've only ever seen them on TV and it wasn't like a vampire was going to walk into Merlotte's in a backwater town like Bon Temps any time soon. So if I wanted to meet one I was going to have to go Shreveport with Dawn, to this vampire bar called Fangtasia.

I finished up and went back to my boss Sam's office to change. I locked the door and got the dress I had brought with me. It was white with red flowers and came down to just above the knees. I fixed my hair real quick and touched up my make-up. Like I said, I don't go out much, but when I do I like to look nice. I spend so much time in shorts and a T-shirt that if I'm going somewhere special I like to make an effort.

I finished up and Dawn and I got in her car. We sang along to the songs on the radio all the way to Shreveport. I don't have many close friends, so it was a treat just to hang out and be silly with Dawn.

We arrived at Fangtasia and I got carded for the first time in years. Normally this would have surprised me, but I was too busy being in awe of the person who was doing the carding. She was very beautiful and very pale, and she was the first vampire I had ever seen. Finally she let us in and I looked around the bar.

"This feels a little bit like what a vampire bar would look like if it were a ride at Disney World" I told Dawn and she just laughed. We went over to the bar and I got a gin and tonic and Dawn got a Jack and Diet Coke. We sat down at a table, just taking it all in.

For the first time since we walked in, I let my shield down. I have a little disability, see. Ever since I was a little girl, I could hear voices. Other people's voices, the ones in their heads, the ones they think no one else can hear. The ones no one else should hear, but that I Sookie Stackhouse, freak of nature, most certainly can hear. I'm what you would call a telepath. And let me tell you, being telepathic is no walk in the park. In fact, it made my childhood pretty miserable. It made high-school hell, because the last thing you want to hear when you're on a date with a guy you've had a crush on for months is all his nasty thoughts about what he wants to do with you once he gets you home. And that was pretty much all anyone was thinking in here too; sex, sex, sex.

I looked around and something else caught my attention. In the middle of the room, there was a throne-like chair and on it sat the most beautiful man I have ever seen. He was blonde with a broad chest and a strong handsome face and though he was sitting down, I could tell he was really tall. There was something about him that just drew me in, and it was pretty clear that he was the main attraction in this bar. Everything seemed to revolve around him; people's thoughts, their stares.

Almost everyone in the bar was either looking at him or pretending not to be looking at him, while trying to sneak a peek. The vampire looked really intimidating, so I couldn't blame anyone for not wanting to be caught staring at him. Then a man walked up to him and before I could tell what was happening the vampire kicked him. The man flew across the room and in an instance a bunch of vampires surrounded him like vultures. Maybe this wasn't exactly like Disney World after all.

After a few minutes things seemed to have settled down and Dawn leaned over and whispered into my ear: "Sook, I'm gonna go over there and talk to him."

I turned to her with what must have been a shocked expression on my face and yelled over the loud music: "Dawn, don't! You saw what just happened to that guy. Don't go over there, that vampire is mean as a snake!" Dawn just laughed.

"Sookie, I'm not some middle-aged bald guy. There's no man alive – or dead" she added with a smirk,"who can resist me."

You had to hand it to Dawn, when it came to guys she had a self-confidence that couldn't be matched. And truth be told, she was real pretty and I didn't know any guy, including my brother Jason, who wouldn't beg to spend the night with her.

"All right" I sighed, "but be careful. And come right back when you've talked to him. I'll be waiting right here."

"Don't worry about me, Sook, I'll be fine." Dawn gave me one of her big smiles and tugged on her shirt to reveal even more cleavage. Then she turned around and walked away from me towards the vampire.

I sipped my drink slowly, staring at Dawn as she made her way through the crowd. As she got close to the stage I saw the vampire look up from his phone at her and I held my breath. What if he kicked her like he had done to the man? What if she started to bleed like he had, and a bunch of vampires flocked around her, trying to bite her? I was starting to mentally prepare myself for going to her rescue and I was trying to figure out how to get us out of of this place as quickly as possible.

Maybe that's why I couldn't hear the thoughts of the young boy who all of a sudden was sitting next to me in Dawn's chair. I jumped as I noticed him, and he gave me a soft smile.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"Don't worry about it" I said and ducked my head down to sip my drink.

"Your friend over there", he nodded towards Dawn "she's brave."

"Or foolish", I muttered under my breath, real low so he wouldn't hear it over the loud music. I could hear the boy chuckle.

"Yes, or that." I looked up at him, and saw him smile.

He couldn't have been more than 17 or so and he had the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen. He was wearing a white shirt and I could see part of a tattoo peeking out from under it.

"Can I buy you another drink?" he asked me.

"Are you even old enough to buy alcohol?" The boy laughed.

"Oh, yes. I'm old enough. Would you like me to get you another gin and tonic?"

I let my shield down. I wanted to peek into the head of this strange boy who was starting to intrigue me. Once my shield was down, I reached out to his mind and heard...absolutely nothing. This startled me so much that I blurted out without thinking: "I can't hear you!"

He looked at me said "Can I get you another gin and tonic?" again, slower and louder this time.

"No, I can hear you, I just can't hear you."

He looked at me a little puzzled, then he said, even louder this time: "My name is Godric. What's your name?"

What was I thinking, I had totally forgotten my manners! I reached out my hand and said: "My name is Sookie Stackhouse and it's very nice to meet you."

He smiled, but he made no move towards my outstretched hand. "It's very nice to meet you too, Sookie. Are you from around here?"

I was just going to answer when the thoughts of a man standing close to me intruded into my mind. For the second time in less than five minutes I did what I had spent my whole life learning to avoid; I blurted out something that gave away my disability.

"We have to get out of here!" I told him and started to get up.

He didn't move, just stared at me with his intense blue eyes. "Godric, the cops are coming. There's gonna be a raid."

I looked at him, trying to convince him that we had to leave and realized that the kind, innocent face I had seen a minute ago was gone. Instead, the man whose eyes bore into me now looked cold and menacing.

"Tell me you're not an undercover cop" he demanded, his voice suddenly as intimidating as his face.

"I'm not, but that man in the hat is" I said, nodding towards the cop. I had hardly gotten the words out before people started yelling and all hell broke loose. The police had arrived and bar patrons, humans and vampires alike, where running in all directions.

In the commotion, Godric picked me up and before I could understand what was going on he had whisked me through the crowd, through what must have been a back entrance and out into the parking lot behind the bar. He put me down and grabbed my hand and we walked quickly across the parking lot to his car. He opened the door for me and I was so shook-up and dazed from what had just happened that I got in the car without thinking.

Within a second, Godric had gone around the car, gotten in, put on my seat belt for me and was speeding out of the parking lot. I just sat quietly for a couple of minutes before I got my bearings back and started to realize that I was sitting next to a stranger who I had just met and who could be a serial killer for all I knew.

"Where are we going?" I asked him, half fearing the answer.

"I'm going to take you home, Sookie. Where do you live?"

I told him, and felt much better. Of course he wasn't a killer, he was a nice, polite guy who was going to take me home.

We sat quietly in the car for another couple of minutes. I was deep in my own thoughts about tonight's events when I suddenly remembered Dawn. Oh my god, I had completely forgotten about her and just left her in the bar! What if she had gotten arrested? Or what if she had been taken by that big scary blonde vampire? I was starting to panic now; what a great friend I had turned out to be!

"Godric, turn around! We have to go back! I have to find Dawn." Godric took his eyes off the road and looked at me, his face again as sweet and innocent-looking as it had been when I first saw him.

"Sookie, we can't go back," he told me calmly. The police has closed down the bar by now. She won't be there."

"Well, if she has gotten arrested there's all the more reason to go back. I'll have to go get her, she can't spend the night in jail!"

Godric just looked at me and smiled. "Trust me Sookie, she won't be spending the night in jail."

"How do you know?"

"I saw her leave with Eric when the police arrived. She's probably spending the night with him."

"Eric, is that the big blonde vampire?" I asked him. Godric nodded.

"You know him?"

"Yes, I know him. Don't worry, Sookie, she'll be safe with him."

"Safe? With that big scary vampire? She'd be better off in jail!" I blurted out. Godric just chuckled.

I got my phone out of my purse and called Dawn. She didn't answer so I wrote her a message and put my phone away. I really didn't like the idea of Dawn being alone with that vampire, but if I was honest with myself I had to admit that being alone with him was probably what she had been planning all along. As much as I didn't like it, Dawn was a big girl and could take care of herself. And even if I could find out where she had gone with the vampire, which I couldn't, she probably wouldn't be happy if I interrupted them. I sighed and looked out on the road.

"Sookie, how did you know about the raid?" Godric's voice was soft and gentle, and scared the heck out of me.

In my shock and panic, first about the raid, then about having left Dawn behind, I had completely forgotten that I had given myself away back at the bar. I didn't know how to answer Godric and was desperately trying to come up with something. I'm a terrible liar, but the truth was probably not a good idea. "I..." was as much as I could get out, then I fell quiet again. I was starting to feel really uncomfortable.

"You said you're not a police officer and I believe you" Godric said. "I don't think you knew about it until right before it happened. Which means you probably heard him say something."

Oh, of course. Simple as that, why didn't I think of it? I had been so caught up in trying to cover up my telepathy that I hadn't thought of the simplest explanation. Of course I had just overheard him. And in a way it was the truth, I had overheard him even if he hadn't actually said anything out loud. "Yes" I said, relived at this obvious explanation "I heard him ask where his back-up was."

"Except Sookie," he answered calmly, "I don't think you are being truthful with me. I didn't hear him. And trust me, I have better hearing than most." Uh-oh. Ok, now I was back to feeling really uncomfortable.

We were both quiet for a moment. Then I heard Godric ask, "Sookie, can you hear people's thoughts?"

What? Plenty of people thought I was weird because of my telepathy, but no one had ever guessed the reason behind it. Most people just figured I was a little crazy.

"You are nothing like the other telepaths I have met, but I am fairly certain that is what you are. Am I correct?"

Other telepaths? There were others? I had wondered about that some times, really wished to meet someone else like me, but I never had. I had just assumed that I was telepathic because something was wrong with me. I had learned about mutations in freshman biology and I figured that must be why I had turned out like this.

"You've met other telepaths?" I asked Godric. The cat was out of the bag anyway, so there was no use pretending. Besides, if he could introduce me to others like me, that would be wonderful! I had never been sure that other telepaths even existed, let alone thought that I would ever get to meet one and now Godric was saying that he knew several others.

"Yes," he answered. "And they were all delicious."