Going back to the old Alexander home in Bon Temps was anything but ideal. Rouxena was more than reluctant to return to the place of her birth but when you find yourself wandering the world alone, where else do you go? She rolled down the dusty road in her sage colored '71 Chevelle past the Stackhouse home and to where her grandmother's home stood. The old oak tree out front stood reaching towards the sky like it always did, although the old bench swing that hung from it was more than decrepit; it was falling apart. She turned into the gravel driveway that led to the house she grew up in, it was a sight to behold. She put her car in park and got out, she turned around to the moving crew behind her and directed them further down the roundabout to begin unloading. She walked up to the front door, unlocking it she swung the door open. Walking inside, she was immediately affronted with memories of her time here. All the furniture was covered in sheets, and a sheet covered small chandelier that hung from the lobby ceiling. The staircase that led to the upper part of the house was littered with leaves and she heard wind howling from a window somewhere. She followed the sound to her grandmother's room, a paned had broken so she took the sheet that covered the vanity and tucked it over the window tightly. That will have to do until I can get it fixed, she thought to herself.

Downstairs she helped the movers unload boxes of her personal items into the lobby and locked up behind them. Getting back into her Chevelle, she led them to Main St area of downtown Shreveport, and parked on the street where the home of her new business will be and asked them to begin unloading into the shop after she unlocked it. The business had once belonged to her Papaw, and when her Gran passed she left her the old family home and this place. It still had shelving and the necessary things to setup shop. A fresh start certainly felt good, Rouxena only wished they were here to see her and be proud.

It was nightfall when she made it back to Bon Temps and her stomach loudly growled. She had been so busy unpacking that she skipped lunch. Oddly enough, the town had become so quiet and sleepy around this time of night so she drove around looking for a good place to tuck into some good ol' southern food. Stopping at a bar named Merlotte's, it seemed to have all the business at the moment so it looked like the place to be. She checked herself in the mirror of her car, dust spots had found a place on the cheeks of her olive skin. Her curly hair a riot, she pulled it back into a messy bun and walked into the bar. Her dark eyes scanned the crowd as a sweet blonde with a high pony came to seat her. "Welcome to Merlotte's, just one?" she asked.

"Just one." Rouxena replied, with a smile.

She seated me at an empty booth in her section, "What can I get ya to drink?" she asked, handing me a menu as I sat.

"I'll have a Blue Moon and a shot of tequila."

"Can I see some ID?" handing her driver's license to her. "Roux? Rouxena Alexander?"

She looked up, curiously, "Yes?"

"It's me! Sookie Stackhouse." she beamed.

"My god! Sookie! Gosh, it's been so long." Roux knew her, in fact her was one of her best friends before she moved away. "How are you?"

"I could ask you the same. I haven't seen you since..." she slid into the opposite side of the booth. "Well, I don't remember how long but what brings you to town? Last I heard you were attending university in Boston."

"I just moved back into the old house today."

"Why the hell did you come back?" she was cut off by someone calling for her. "Excuse me, I'll back over with your drinks but need to catch up."

"For sure."

Roux perused the menu and decided on the gumbo, it had been a while since she had real Louisiana gumbo. After a while Sookie came back with her beer and shot, "Here yah go. Have you decided on something to eat?"

"Yeah, I'll just have the large gumbo." replied with a smile.

"I hope we can catch up, we are just so slammed tonight. If you're not in a rush, I can come back around after you finish eating, when we start to close we can talk at the bar."

It was around eleven o'clock, Roux was sitting at the bar chit-chatting with Sookie, Lafayette and Arlene. She met the bar owner, Sam. It was good to catch up with them and Sook filled her in on her new beau, Bill. The others weren't so fond of the fact that he was a vampire and Roux told them of her experience with vampires in Masssachussetts. Compared to big city life, this was not that bad since they all came out of the coffin. Yet, they expressed concern because of a recent rash of murders in the area which could be linked to vampire activity. From what she knew, this seemed almost too obvious for vampires. Sookie agreed and decided it was time to go, she wanted to stop by Bill's and ask him if he knew anything.

They parted ways, Roux went to her old home. It was dark out and she noted to herself that light bulbs needed replacing. Who am I kidding, there is so much to be done here I won't have time to set up shop anytime soon, she thought to herself while unpacking her suitcase. She picked up a framed picture of herself and her grandmother, Elise. They were laughing together, such kindred spirits and Roux felt lost without her. But somehow, Roux knew everything was going to turn out just fine.

The next morning, she found Sookie on her porch. Another waitress from Merlotte's had been murdered last night and she found Dawn's body. Roux invited her in for a cup of tea while she unpacked and cleaned the kitchen of her home. "Now Andy Bellefleur thinks Jason murdered Dawn and Maudette because he slept with them but I know he didn't do it!" Sookie explained everything that happened that morning.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't think Jason would do something like this. For heaven's sake, we all grew up together... but what makes you so sure?" Roux eyed her warily.

"Do you remember when we were kids and I would freak people out, tell them things that they hadn't even said out loud?"

"Yeah, I remember now..." Roux said, but in truth she never forgot. How could she forget? Sookie could never pick into her brain but Roux could feel something different when she was around her. Roux could always pick up on her moods and energy. But that was Roux's family secret, she could not share that with Sookie... but maybe she could. One thing was for sure, now certainly was not the time.

"Well, I can hear people's thoughts and it has become a little known secret among people close to me and I've gotten a lot better at controlling it, I try not to snoop but I can't help it when I'm trying to figure out what is going on. Jason hates it when I use it, but I looked inside his head. He didn't do it." Sookie explained. She is telepathic, how interesting. "I'm going to talk to Bill because both Maudette and Dawn had vampire bites. So maybe this is in fact something to do with vampires. I know that there is a vampire bar in Shreveport that they would go to every once in a while, maybe someone there knows something."

"I don't know Sook, in my experience with vampire bars, lips are sealed tight." Roux was skeptical, but her gut was telling her that Sookie was on the right track. She knew this Bill seemed to care for Sookie, but if things got rough at the bar Roux could protect Sookie. "I'd like to check it out too, I'm curious as to what the vampire community looks like around these parts." It was only a little white lie, but one she knew could save Sookie's life.

"Sounds good. Can I call you when I know for sure?" Sookie asked her.

Roux wrote down her number on a piece of paper, "Here, call me later." walking her to the door she handed her the paper. "Bye."