As Sookie made her way to Shreveport, something told her to take the back roads. She wasn't sure why she felt like she needed to go that way; it added an extra 20 minutes to the drive, and she was already running late. Eric wanted them to meet up at Fangtastia at dark, and the sun was already going down. But, something told her she just had to take the back way there.

As she drove, she felt the lightest brush against her mind, the way it felt when she was too far from a mind to really hear it, but close enough to make contact. As the feeling got stronger, words started coming in, little snippets of thought.

'Why me?'

'Why… kill me… didn't… anything…'

Finally, a full stream came to her.

'How could they leave me to die like this?'

Sookie pulled the car over on the side of the road and got out. The signature was faint, anguished. It was a young woman, and she was in serious pain. Sookie grabbed a knife, one that Eric had insisted she carry everywhere, and began to walk in the direction the thoughts were coming from. She followed it into the woods, gritting her teeth at what she was hearing. The girl had, for whatever reason, been left out in the woods, apparently bound in some way so she couldn't leave.

It wasn't just a simple matter of being left behind; someone had literally left her to die. She was human; Sookie could tell from the mental signature. So, it wasn't some weird vampire or were punishment for a crime. Some sicko had just left here there.

After ten or so minutes of walking, Sookie came to a clearing, and her jaw dropped. There, in the clearing, was a large slab, and a young woman was chained to it. Her wrists and ankles were bound, and the chains had been wrapped around her waist and neck. She was laying there, limp, in dirty, torn clothes.

As Sookie got closer, she realized that the chains were silver. The slab was apparently coated in it as well. There was blood on the shackles and the slab, and from the looks of it, it wasn't the girl's. She didn't look like she was bleeding at all, actually. There was no blood on her, only the slab and chains.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" Sookie asked, walking up to the slab. The girl was awake; Sookie could hear her acknowledge her presence.

'Who on earth is she, what is she doing here?'

"My name is Sookie, I'm here to help you," Sookie told her.

'Here to help? No one knows I'm here but them, she must be one of them so how can she be here to help me, they're all soulless bastards I hope the rot in hell like they said I would-'

"Hey, are you awake?" She knew the girl was awake, but she didn't recognize her, which meant she probably didn't know about Sookie and her 'gift.'

The girl moaned a little, and her eyelids twitched.

"I'm going to get you out of here, okay?" Sookie told her, phrasing it like a question, keeping her voice soft to keep the girl calm.

'How can she get me out I couldn't get out when they put me here they forged the chains together my wrists still hurt from where they welded the shackles together there isn't a lock or a weak spot the links are really strong I don't think it's really solid silver I think that it's just coated in silver'

Sookie pushed the girl's voice out of her head to focus on the chains. Just like the girl had thought, the chains weren't solid silver, and she could see where they had forged the chains and shackles together. "Looks like I'm going to need some help," Sookie told the girl. "Can you tell me your name?"

The girl's throat worked a little, and she moaned again. Sookie heard her think the name 'Alice,' and hushed her. "Don't worry about saying it out loud, Alice, I'm telepathic, I can hear your thoughts," Sookie told her.

'Telepathic is that even a real thing Jonathan never told me that people could be telepathic I mean he should know that stuff right I guess she is really telepathic because she knows my name is Alice I mean I don't think I've ever met her before her voice doesn't sound familiar can you hear me thinking this, ma'am, if you can say something say butterfly'

"Butterfly, and don't call me ma'am," Sookie responded, and the girl's state of mind shifted from confused to amazed.

'That is so incredible, you can hear me, do you have a cell phone can you call someone if I ask you to my boss will be worried about me I have been out here for a while I think it's been three or four days but I'm not sure'

"Three or four days?" Sookie exclaimed, her eyes getting wide. "You poor thing, I'm getting my phone now!" Sookie told her, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "I'm going to call the police station and have them meet us to get you out of here, okay?"

'No you need to call Jonathan he will be worried sick about me he is family he needs to know where I am'

"Alice, he is going to have to wait, we need to call the sheriff and have him come out here to get you and take a statement and all that," Sookie told her, but Alice's thoughts got even more panicked.

'No you need to call Jonathan he is my great, great, great something uncle he will need to know where I am he will be so worried and I need him to come get me and I don't want the police involved they can't do anything anyway and it will just be all complicated and I don't want to deal with anything'

"Alice, the sheriff needs to be told, of course the police can do something about it… besides, you said he's your great-something uncle, right, so he's a vampire?" Alice's thoughts told her she was right, and she continued. "He won't be able to help; the chains are coated in silver. We need human help to get you out of here."

'I wish you wouldn't call the cops Sookie I don't want to cause any trouble I just want to go home and not ever have to think about this again if the cops get involved there will be a big investigation and I'll have to deal with this for ages and it'll never go away'

"It's not going to go away if you ignore it, Alice. You need to have an investigation, so the people responsible won't get away with it"

'They will, though, and if there's an investigation it'll end up in court and they'll just use it to further their cause and it'll just make things worse I just want them to burn in hell like they said I would I don't care what happens to them here'

Sookie had a sinking feeling she knew who had left Alice here. "Who was it, Alice? Who chained you up to die?"

'The Fellowship of the Sun' Alice told her, confirming her fears.

'They said that vamp whores should be killed by God's light like their vamp lovers'