I apologize for the lame summary. I honestly couldn't sum up this story in the length given, so hopefully the story itself will be better than that half-assed attempt!

CHAPTER ONE

The butterflies came back

I'd thought I was fine. I boarded the plane in London nearly 12 hours ago. I was fine.

After an incredibly long flight, I arrived at the New Orleans Airport, waited for my luggage and promptly loaded up my awaiting rental car. I was fine.

I was fine until I saw the town limits sign of Bon Temps, Louisiana. Then the realization of what I was doing there hit me like a semi-truck.

I was there, searching for answers. Answers to questions I'd waited far too long to hear.

Bon Temps. A small town in rural Louisiana. Blink. You drive right past it. Many people may wonder what a girl who was raised in an upscale neighbourhood in London, England would be doing in a roughneck town such as this. Well, let's just say I have a family history that is deeply rooted in this place. My mother's entire family was born and raised in Bon Temps. In fact, my uncle still lives there. As far as I knew. He was in fact one of the people I was seeking out. I remember the last time I was there. At my mother's funeral.

I was 10. A young girl who had just lost her mother; sad, frightened and didn't understand why she was gone and why she wouldn't ever be coming back In many ways, I still felt that way because there were still so many unanswered questions surrounding her death. It was the main reason as to why I made that long trek 'across the pond' to the deep south.

I was sweating. I wasn't sure if it was because it was 100 degrees outside with a humidity that I had never experienced in my lifetime, or if it was because I was nervous about being back here. I decided it was a combination of both factors, so I turned up the air conditioning and tried to calm my nerves by blasting my favourite tunes.

Neither worked.

I was finally here. And there was no turning back. The one problem in my plan is that I had NO clue how to get to my Uncle's place. But it was a small town, so it couldn't be too hard to find it? Or at least find someone who knew where it was right?

I approached a turn off that went towards what looked like a restaurant. As I got closer, I read the sign, MERLOTTE'S BAR AND GRILL. I pulled into the parking lot, found a space (which wasn't very hard to find), parked and got out of the car. I walked slowly towards the door, and walked inside. As soon as I stepped inside, it all came rushing back. I'd been here before.

"Now Mackenzie, you can have anything you want. Okay darlin'?" My uncle said to me after we sat down in the plush red seats of the booths. I remembered he was wearing a black suit, and a black tie. His eyes red from crying, his sandy blonde hair disheveled.

"A chocolate milkshake?" I said quietly as I fiddled with the hem of my dress. A nervous trait that I kept, even to this day.

"Can I get a chocolate shake, here?" He called out to the server.

"Sure" She responded solemnly, giving me a sympathetic glance as she walked away.

I remembered, even then I hated the sympathetic glances and comments I would get when people found out I lost my mother at such a young age. I didn't want sympathy. I just wanted some resolve.

She brought the milkshake over and I immediately began to drink from the large glass. "Uncle Jason?"

"Yes darlin'?"

"Will you come visit after I go back to London?"

A few tears fell down his cheek, which he quickly brushed away in an attempt to hide them from me. It didn't work. "Of course."

I smiled. The first smile I'd had in days. "Good. I know Mama would like that. I can show you my school. And the park she and Daddy would take me too."

He gave me a half smile. "I'd like that."

Just as I finished up my milkshake, my father walked in the door. "Mackenzie, darling. Go wait in the car. We have to leave now."

"Uncle Jason said he will come visit us in London!"

"That's wonderful isn't it?" Daddy said. "Now go wait in the car. I'll be out in a minute. Say goodbye to Uncle Jason."

I turned to my uncle, who could no longer hide his tears. "Don't cry Uncle Jason. I'll see you soon okay?" I gave him a huge hug. "I miss Mama too." I grabbed my napkin, and wiped a few of his tears away and crawled out of the booth.

That was the last time I ever saw him.

My father and I went back to London, to try and go on with our lives. Not a very successful feat. Only a year after my mother's death, my father disappeared. Vanished. Like he had never existed. Not knowing whether he was alive or dead, I was placed in the care of my father's aunt Beatrice, a woman I had never met until I was placed in her care. She was a wealthy woman, though I never understood where she got her money from. Family money I suppose. I really knew little of my father's side of the family, despite the fact his entire family was born in England. His own parents had passed away years earlier, much like my mother's had, and she was the only family he had left. She wasn't a particularly warm woman. Aunt Beatrice wasn't cruel, just cold. She'd never married, nor had children of her own and really had no idea how to act around children. What she lacked in warmth, she made up for with the opportunities she provided for me. I was sent to the best boarding schools, had private music tutors and ballet lessons and attended Oxford University. She passed away six months prior to my trip back to Bon Temps. She had left me with a fairly large inheritance and it was then I decided that it was as good a time as any to bite the bullet and go back.

You might be asking why I wasn't placed in the care of my Uncle Jason. A question I really can't answer. I didn't know myself. I remember staying up late many a night as a young girl asking myself that question. Did Uncle Jason not love me? Why wouldn't he want me to come live with him?

"Excuse me. Can I help you?" A thick southern accent snapped me out of my trance.

I looked at the waitress standing in front of me. She was dressed in a white Merlotte's T-Shirt and black pants. She had vibrant red hair, marketed with shades of grey. Her nametag read Arlene in bold, black lettering.

I forced a smile. "Yes. I was just wondering if you knew where I could find Jason Stackhouse."

"Oh my. Such a pretty accent you got there!" She said, her own accent getting thicker in the process. "Uh. Jason usually comes in around dinnertime after work. Might as well just stick around here and wait for him."

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

"No problem." She smiled. "Take a seat anywhere you want."

"Can I get you anything?"

"A glass of red wine?"

"Sure thing."

I took a seat in a far corner booth of the bar. The butterflies in my stomach refused to calm down. The waitress brought me my glass of red wine. I gave her a half smile in appreciation. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She said, and began to walk away, but stopped herself and turned back around. "You know. You look really familiar.'

"I do?" I took a sip of my wine. The nerves calmed a little.

"Yeah. If I didn't know any better….." Her eyes grew wide. "Oh my god. You're Sookie's daughter."

I nodded solemnly. "Yes."

"I knew it. You are the spittin' image of her."

She was mostly right. I looked almost identical to my mother, except I had inherited my father's dark hair and his tall stature. At 5'11", I was much taller than my mother had been. "So you knew her well then?"

"I did. Very well." She said and took a seat across from me in the booth. "She and I worked here together for many years. She left. I never did." She took my hand and gave it a squeeze. "So what brings you here sugar? Long way from home ain't you?"

I looked down at my glass of wine, and nodded. "I'm just here to try and find out what happened to my mother."

She gave me a sympathetic glance. "Your mama was a strong woman. Never let no one give her any crap. Especially when they found out about her…" She paused.

"Her?"

"You know. Gift."

I nodded. "Ah yes." Her 'gift'.

My mother was telepathic. She could read the mind of just about anyone. Except for a vampire's. Vampires she just couldn't crack.

Shocked aren't you? This isn't just some story about a girl finding herself by searching through her past. It's a helluva lot more interesting than that. Yes. Vampires exist, and (most of them) quite happily live amongst us mortals. Oh, and werewolves exist too.

And shapeshifters.

And just about every other mythical, supernatural creature you can think of.

Except Santa Clause, the tooth fairy, the easter bunny, and unicorns.

"Personally, I think that gift is what…."

"Killed her?" I finished.

"I know that's horrible…."

I took another sip from my wine glass. "Well, I knew it played a part in it in some capacity."

"Hey Arlene! Do you think I could get another beer over here?" A chubby man yelled from across the bar.

"Be there in a minute, Hank!" She screamed back at him. "There's someone else you should talk to. And I'm sure he'd be happy to see you. Give me a minute."

She disappeared into the back, and a few minutes later came back into view with a middle aged man following closely behind her. He was wearing plaid shirt and blue jeans. His hair was slightly disheveled, and grey. He was an attractive older man, his face slightly weathered, unshaven, speckled with salt and pepper whiskers.

"Oh my god." He said as he approached, quickly surpassing Arlene. "It is her. Little Mack."

As soon as he said that I immediately remembered who it was. "Sam?"

He smiled.

I got up from my seat and I gave him a hug. "I can't believe I couldn't remember this was your place."

"Don't beat yourself up about it. You were ten the last time you were here." He said, and released the hug. "Arlene, can you give us a minute?"

Arlene nodded, and walked away towards the bar. I returned to my seat in the booth, and Sam sat across from me.

His warm smile faded. "As good as it is to see you Mackenzie, you shouldn't have come here."

I was confused. "Excuse me?"

"It's not safe here for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Listen. I can't get into it here. It's not the right place." He looked at his watch. "Your Uncle Jason will be here soon. He'll know what to do."

The nerves returned. "What do you mean, 'he'll know what to do'? Tell me what the hell is going on. I didn't fly 12 hours to be pushed out of the way."

Just then, he looked over my shoulder, and immediately got up and made his way towards the entrance. I turned around and saw him talking to a man. The man looked over at me, and there was no mistaking that it was my Uncle Jason. He looked almost exactly the same, just aged. His ice blue eyes met mine and I got up from my seat and walked over to him slowly, not sure of how I would be received considering the reaction I got from Sam.

His eyes welled with tears. "Oh my god."

"Hi Uncle Jason." I said, my own eyes rimmed with tears. I blinked, and a few fell down my cheek.

He wrapped his arms around me for a hug. "You're all grown up."

"I am."

He released the hug and gave my arm a little squeeze. "It's so good to see you. But we have to go."

"What do you mean?"

"I have to get you out of here. We need to get you somewhere safe." He grabbed my arm, and attempted to drag me out the door.

I resisted. "I am not going anywhere unless somebody tells me what the hell is going on."

Uncle Jason looked me square in the eye, his blue eyes were no longer kind. They were serious. "I don't have time to explain now. All will be explained on the way."

"Arlene! Where the fuck is my beer?" The angry man from earlier screamed out again. I saw him pick up his empty beer bottle and hurl it towards the bar.

Everybody prepared to hear the break of the bottle against the wood panel. I looked the bottle. It stopped mid-air, and slowly without the aid of a person, and with a quiet thump, came to its final stop on top of the bar. No glass shattered.

Did I forget to mention I had 'a gift' too? I didn't have the gift of telepathy like my mama did. Instead, I was able to pause and move objects with my mind. Smaller objects were easier to handle, and if I overused my 'abilities', I would get splitting headaches and feel weakened. But bottles being thrown at walls? Easy.

"WITCH!" The angry drunken man proclaimed, but was too scared to approach.

Sam, Arlene, and Uncle Jason looked at me in disbelief as well. "What? You're so surprised? Are you forgetting who my mother was?"

Uncle Jason shook his head in disbelief. "Come on. You're riding with me. You can leave your car here."

I followed him out the door, and climbed into his pick-up truck. He quickly peeled out of the Merlotte's parking lot and onto the main highway stretch.

"Can you at least tell me where we're going?"

"Shreveport."

"And why the hell are we going to Shreveport?"

"Because there is someone there who can keep you safe." He said. "Much safer than I can."

"What do I have to be safe from?" I asked, annoyed by the secrecy the evening's events had taken. Hardly the warm reunion I had anticipated, or hoped for.

"Because of the individuals responsible for your mama's death get word that you are in town." He paused, his eyes never straying from the road. "I fear you may be next."

At that point I was really regretting my decision to come there at all.