Chapter 2: When Spidey Senses Go A Tingling

A/N: I just wanted to thank everyone for their wonderful reviews, alerts and favorites. I was not expecting so many from just the first chapter. I haven't had a chance to reply to all of them but please know that I read them and appreciate them greatly.

Also big thanks to chicpea who is betaing this. Tomorrow is Tuesday and there will be a new chapter of "Birds of a Feather!" (YAY!)


I didn't roll out of bed until noon the next day. Luckily for me, Merlotte's was not going to open until four and, since I'd worked the holiday shift last night I didn't have to be back at work until tomorrow's dinner shift. Gran was up already, naturally. I listened as she fluttered around the kitchen. I inhaled and her cooking hit my nose even through the closed door. Pie. Yum. Gran was really the matriarch of our little family. Her cooking, while probably not always the healthiest thing around was still some of the best in Bon Temps. In my opinion, anyway. Possibly I was biased.

I stretched and rubbed my face to get the sleep out. My fingers brushed across my neck and last night flooded back in a sort of dazed, surrealistic memory. I had learned several new things last night; one – vampires were real; two – yes they did drink blood but no they didn't have to kill people in order to do that. And the more I thought about it the more that made sense if there really were vampires living among people in secret. It would be a lot of bodies to hide if a vampire killed everyone they ever drank from. They also had some sort of hypnotic power they used to keep themselves hidden, which, incidentally did not work on me. The best one, to me was that I was not the only one out there who was different. This was a major upheaval in my rather mundane and often lonely, life. And lastly – finally there was someone I couldn't hear.

Some people were more difficult than others to hear. Sam, he was one of those. I only got stray thoughts and occasional images from him. His mind felt different; kind of swirly and unclear. I got emotions from him usually but it tended to be much more opaque than, say, the majority of the people who came into Merlotte's. It was one of the reasons I liked working for him so much. When you can hear everything your boss is thinking, from bills to employees, to who was working out and who wasn't, not to mention the sometimes illegal things they did, continuing to work under that person becomes difficult. There was that couple who owned a clothing boutique and beat their kids. They didn't see it like that in their heads though. The kids needed to be taught how to behave properly. I'd had another waitressing job with a manager who occasionally liked to help himself to a little extra from the daily earnings. He was also pretty handsy and had an affair going on with another waitress. Though he was married.

I grabbed some warm clothes from the closet; one of my few turtlenecks (I only had two) since the weather so rarely necessitated them, and brought them with me into the bathroom so I could dress quickly after my shower. I would have to buy something to hide this bite.

I could hear Gran wondering what was taking me so long, even though I'd barely gotten a full night's sleep. She was making a list in her head of groceries. It was simple to focus on that; carrots, bread, cream cheese, baking powder…oh. I smiled to myself. She was going to make a carrot cake later. I'd pick up the ingredients when I went out later.

As I scrubbed, my mind wandered back to the vampire from last night. No memory. He couldn't remember his own name. And he'd been wandering around, lost and alone for nearly two weeks, relying basically on what seemed to be instinct alone. Surely, he had people – other vampires who were looking for him? What if he really was alone? If no one from his regular life even knew he was missing? The longer I thought about the vampire, the more questions I had. And I couldn't answer any of them. I thought it was safe to say in the two weeks of his memory loss he'd been relying primarily on instinct; whatever instincts vampires had when they were…born?

Tina had been waiting for me when I opened the bathroom door and let out a small meow before standing up and rubbing herself against my legs. She ran ahead of me into the kitchen.

"The pie smells great, Gran." I said when I saw her.

"Oh, good." She was smiling as she took it out of the oven. One was already cooling on the sill.

I took another whiff. "Apple?"

"Of course. Still a perfect time for it." Then she reached for a second one.

"Oh, Pecan too!"

"Which one do you think Jason will take?" She asked.

"He'll probably want one of each."

Gran nodded and closed the oven. "Sookie, do you think you'll have time to run over to the WalMart later? I was thinking of making something for your Aunt Linda."

Aunt Linda was Gran's daughter, my father's sister. She lives in Monroe and had just finished her first round of chemotherapy treatments. Not too long ago she'd gone in for her yearly checkup, which included a pap smear and mammogram. As she told it, the initial ultrasounds picked up some strange shadows in her uterus. After a few more tests and a biopsy, they'd found something that was malignant. The doctors she had were good, from what we understood. Her job provided her with the insurance she needed to take care of the chemo and the medication she needed. And thank God for that, otherwise it could be a whole lot worse.

Gran didn't take the news well. She put on a brave face for Aunt Linda but she couldn't hide the sadness from me. I tried to stay out of her head as much as I could but I'd still hear her praying every night for God to take care of her baby girl. She had a daughter, my cousin, Hadley who was a couple of years older than me. I didn't know where Hadley lived and no one had seen her for a few months now, though Gran and Linda both suspected she'd drop in if she needed something.

"Sure, Gran." I took a mental inventory on what we were low on. "Just make a list of what you need."

There weren't too many places open on New Year's Day, but WalMart was one of them. Thankfully, it wasn't terribly busy. The store was having its New Year's Day sale but by the looks of the haphazardly strewn items around several of the aisles, the majority of sale shoppers have come and gone. However, since it was a sale day, I allowed myself the luxury of wandering up and down the different aisles on the chance of finding a few deals.

All the Christmas items were heavily discounted and I picked up a few decorations for next year. I found a box of nicely decorated Christmas cards with images of a snow covered village. Gran would like those. I meandered through the clothing department and found a couple of pretty scarves for myself which wouldn't look out of place, given the current temperatures. And since I earned a record number of tips last night, I thought I'd throw in a new pair of pants as well (heavily discounted).

Passing through the men's side, I paused. Jason could afford to buy his own clothes now that he'd been promoted to supervisor on the road crew. But that led me to thinking what I had taken from Jason's leftovers at Gran's and the vampire they were for. Nervously, I ran my hand over my covered neck where he bit me. It seemed irrational that I should be worried about his wellbeing.

He could have killed me.

But he didn't!

But he almost did!

He's a vampire. A vampire! A hungry vampire. With amnesia.

The world was suddenly remarkably bigger. I looked around the department and the other people nearby. Most people's thoughts were revolving around their soon to be purchased items. If something would fit and how much weight they gained over the holidays. There was one mind I couldn't see into. It was sad; that much I could tell, but it was otherwise a cloudy snarl. This man looked like he'd fit right in at a Hell's Angels gathering. He had a dark beard, cropped close to his face and he was wearing a bandana over his hair. Simply put, he looked like a badass. Except for the fact that he was shopping for dress shirts.

I watched him for a moment longer before he caught me looking at him. His mind was different; like Sam's but not. I smiled, a little too cheerfully and turned my cart to move quickly down a different section.

I had been careless. That right there was one of the reasons people I went to school with had coined me with the moniker, "Crazy Sookie." Trying to stay out of people's heads wasn't easy. Sometimes it was absolutely impossible, which made it difficult to concentrate on what those individuals were actually saying. Then sometimes a brain would really catch my attention and I'd be so lost in following it that the occasional vacant expression was often mistaken for simplicity.

I sighed and kept walking. I found myself in front of some men's t-shirts and frowned. Nervousness had me tapping my finger on the handle of the cart. I couldn't figure out if I should be excited or fearful at the possibility of running into the vampire again. Cautious might be the most appropriate course of action. Approach with caution. And possibly with a stake. Well, even if a stake didn't kill him, it was still a weapon. There are probably a surprising number of things you could kill with a stake in the heart. That's the word in Sunnydale, anyway.

I picked up two extra-large and plain t-shirts for four dollars each and put them in my cart. They weren't expensive and if I didn't see the vampire again I could always return them.

He had no shoes. While I'd noticed that when he was lying in the road, it turned out to not be the most pressing point of discussion at the time, what with the possibility of death and all. But now I had time to think about it and wonder if vampires could get frostbite. And if they did, would the exposed areas turn black? And if they have no pulse (and therefore no heartbeat) how does the blood…pump?

Why was I even thinking about this when he attacked me and tried to make me forget about it? It was evident that this vampire was hungry. He took what he wanted and now he'd move on and try to figure out how he got…however he is. Somehow. Except, a small part of me was gleefully excited at the prospect of talking to him again. Talking to him and nothing else. I wouldn't have to concentrate on having to block out his thoughts.

That was simply wonderful. Plus knowing about vampire anatomy would just be, well, neat. Though with the amnesia, he might not even know.

I ventured past the jeans area, having no idea what size the vampire was, instead picking up some sweatpants. Sweatpants were definitely more generous when it came to size discrimination. I put them in the cart and glanced at my watch. I had wasted a lot of time lost in my own thoughts. Moving on, I took a guess on shoe size and grabbed a pair of simple canvas slip-ons for eight-ninety-nine. I was saving the receipt for all of these items.

In the winter weather department, the store kept fireplace logs for sale. I glanced at the price, hoping with the sale day they'd be reasonable but for the number of logs we would need, it wouldn't be worth it. We had plenty of woods around our house, naturally, but tree chopping was never something I'd enjoy or want to do. When Jason was living with Gran and me, he'd chop up a small tree and it would usually last most of the winter. Since he'd moved, that stopped. Maybe I'd nudge him into cutting one down for next winter.

My last order of business was the grocery department, where I managed to find everything on Gran's list and a couple of the items we were running low on. All in all, New Year's Day was not a bad day for shopping. Finishing up in the checkout line, with everything bagged and loaded into my cart, I headed toward the parking lot, except I stopped short in front of a bulletin board near the exit and was nearly run into by the person behind me.

"Sorry." I barely glanced at the woman as she went around me. I was too busy looking at a candid picture my vampire. There, in large print was the word, "Missing," and underneath it, "Have you seen this man?"

What the hell?

The photo was a close up. His hair was down and he was looking off to the right at something unknown and away from the camera, his attention clearly focused elsewhere. It reminded me of sports shots I'd see the newspaper all the time, all meant to look like you're right next to the player but really they were taken from yards away. Underneath the photo was information. "Answers to the name Eric Northman. Long Blond hair. Blue eyes. Approximately 6'4"-6'5". Mr. Northman is a prominent member of the Shreveport business community. Willing to reward up to $50,000 for information leading to his whereabouts." The flyer listed a phone number with a Shreveport area code.

I looked to my right. I looked to my left. Glancing quickly behind me, no one was paying any attention when I ripped the flyer off the board, folded it in half and shoved it into the front basket of my cart. I walked quicker than I normally would have and loaded everything into the trunk of my car in record time before returning the cart to the dispensary and getting into my car.

Unfolding the flyer, I reread it. I let out a surprised laugh at the vampire's name. "Eric Northman." I said to my windshield. It was certainly…simple. Nothing vaguely European or old fashioned about it. He was no Basil or Oliver for this vampire. At least I could stop referring to him as "the vampire." But something was clearly disingenuous about this missing person's flyer. Had I not known Eric was a vampire the photo wouldn't strike me as strange, but as someone who was simply looking away when someone stole a candid shot of him. But why would someone take a candid shot of a vampire, anyway? And what did "a prominent member of the Shreveport business community" mean, anyway for a vampire? Surely someone would notice the odd hours.

I stewed for a bit longer and didn't come up with any ideas on who might have put these flyers up. Could be whoever he does associate with. But those people could be the same ones who gave him amnesia.

Maybe these business associates didn't know he was a vampire. There was certainly no indication on the flyer that would suggest anything untoward if you happened to see him on a street. He was kind of hard to miss. Whoever was putting these up certainly wanted him back if they were willing to offer $50,000 for information. That was a lot of money in these parts. I know plenty of people who could use that kind of money. Of course, I was one of them.

I briefly tallied up the amount I'd spent on the men's clothing in my trunk and the amount I so happily worked my butt off for last night. My tips were a pittance in comparison to $50,000 true enough, but still, I wouldn't be the only one thinking there was some kind of catch to it all. People here were hard workers. They knew the value of a dollar. To offer that kind of money for…what, information? No. It wasn't normal. A thousand, maybe. Or two thousand. Certainly not more than five.

I glanced up at the sky. It was cloudy, as it tended to be in January, and the sun was low. There was maybe another two hours or so before the sun would set. I needed to find a phone. I knew the description of the vampire I had encountered was accurate but nothing else to indicate anything truthful. Except, maybe that whoever put these up didn't know he had amnesia. How would he answer to the name Eric Northman if he didn't know that was his name?

There was one way to find out. I started driving, making my way back toward Bon Temps. A solitary payphone stood at the gas station about three miles out from WalMart.

"Yes," answered a throaty, female voice when I dialed the number.

"Hi," I said, and had to clear my throat. "I am calling about the missing person's poster I saw in…" I wasn't ready to say where I'd seen it. There were probably a lot of them around. "Shreveport." The WalMart wasn't in Shreveport but if he was from there, I was positive there would be flyers throughout the city.

There was a brief pause and I think I heard fingers snapping in the background. "You've seen Mr. Northman?"

"Maybe. I can't be positive it's him. He didn't tell me his name."

"Where was this?"

"Alexandria." I'd thought up a few answers on my drive to the station.

"That's a long way's away from Shreveport." I heard some shuffling in the background and a chair scraping the floor.

"Well…he's kind of unforgettable, isn't he?" I was going for enamored and I think I hit my mark. "You know what I mean? He's quite the looker." At least he would be after a shower or three.

There was another pause. "Yes. He's very handsome."

"So," I said, in an overly cheerful voice. "I was wondering if – "

"The reward is contingent on our locating him. Where in Alexandria did you see him?"

"Actually I was hoping you could tell me a little bit more about him? Because you see, I wouldn't want you travel all that way and find yourself on a silly wild goose chase." I faked a laugh there as if driving for two-plus hours for nothing would just be the silliest thing in the world. "And since I didn't even catch his name…" I let the sentence drift off on purpose so the woman could draw her own conclusions. I'd rather they think I was only calling because of the reward anyway.

I start to tap my fingers lightly on the metal that boxed in the payphone. I was used to awkward silences. Sort of.

"The last thing he was seen wearing was a pair of black jeans and a white t-shirt."

This woman had been there the night he lost his memory then.

"Anything else?"

"He…has an accent." She said, sounding irritated.

"Does he…" I stopped here both because I wanted a dramatic pause and because I wasn't sure how to phrase what I wanted to ask without bringing additional suspicion. "The flyer mentioned he is a prominent member of the Shreveport business community so it seems weird that a young looking guy like that would just disappear right? And this guy, well, he didn't look like he was kidnapped or anything so I suppose I'm just wondering if there's something else going on. You know, upstairs?"

Based on the sound of uncertainty on the other end before the woman became completely silent, she didn't know how to answer.

"Is it something violent? Should I be concerned about approaching him?"

"Yes," she said, eventually. "It would be better if he is approached by us since we are familiar with his…condition." Yes, his need for blood, super strength and daylight allergy is certainly a "condition." "Just point us to where you saw him; that would be best for everyone. If you know where he is, we need to know."

"We?"

"Myself and the others looking for him."

"Are you his family?"

"Yes. Of course." I didn't know if vampires had families or not.

"How are you related?" I asked.

There was another brief pause. "What does that have to do with telling us where you found Mr. Northman."

"No member of a family would address another member so formally."

I hung up. Whoever this woman was, she'd been involved in what happened to the vampire Eric Northman. I didn't believe she was related to the vampire I'd met. For one thing, it's day. Vampire family would all be…vampires, I expect. I suppose they could have human families but…this was all too much. Too many questions and not any answers.

I walked over to my car and started driving back to Bon Temps. I made it home around five and with an appetite.

When I pulled up around the back of the house, Jason's truck was there. I left all the clothes in the trunk and started bringing in the groceries. Jason and Gran were at the kitchen table gossiping away over all the activity New Year's gave Bon Temps the excuse to provide.

"Hey Sook!" Jason greeted as I walked in. He stood up and grabbed some of the bags I was carrying. "Whatcha got here?" Jason asked it more of the bags than me and started dumping out the groceries I'd bought on the table.

I walked out to get the rest and heard Gran telling Jason, "I expect you to put some of that away."

Once I brought everything in, Gran exclaimed over the decorations I bought for next year. Jason was set with the task of stowing it up in the attic while Gran took out a warm plate from the oven for me and got to work preparing the dishes she was making for Aunt Linda.

Jason came back in to the sound of Gran chopping on the cutting board. "Sook, you hear about Holly yet?"

"No, what's up?" I remember Holly had submitted an application to waitress at Merlotte's a few months after it opened. Sam had called her at one point after one of the waitresses left in September to go off to college. But when Sam heard she was pregnant, he didn't want someone who would work for a short time and take off for maternity, especially if he wasn't certain what day she would be back.

"She had her kid. She's up in the hospital in Clarice. Day before yesterday."

"You're kidding, right? She wasn't due for a couple more weeks."

"Everlee called me not five minutes before Jason got here and told me the same," Gran chimed in. "She's named the boy Cody."

"That's a nice name," I said, nodding appropriately.

Gran hummed, "Isn't it? You think we should take her something to say congratulations?"

"Um, we're not really close."

"That's not what I asked you, now is it?"

Jason chuckled and I flicked a bit of potato at him when Gran wasn't looking. It hit him right in the nose.

"Ow!"

Gran didn't bother turning around, having grown used to what we do when she's not looking.

"Sookie?"

"No."

"Good, so I'll make you a cake to take over to her. She's lucky. A perfectly healthy baby and early too. It's all anyone can ask, really."

Jason and I looked at each other from across the table. It wasn't anywhere near all anyone could ask, according to Jason's head.

Jason stayed until Gran had finished her cooking and grabbed a pecan pie (I may have hidden both apples) and one dish full of chicken to bring out to his truck. Gran asked if he wanted to go with her to Linda's but he said he had an early start tomorrow. It wasn't a lie, technically, but he was planning to spend the rest of the evening with someone named Cynthia.

I helped Gran load one of the pies and the rest of the food (minus some for us) in her car. "You'll be okay, driving all the way there on your own?"

"Of course I will, Sookie." She sounded a bit indignant that I would suggest she was anything other than one-hundred percent within her faculties. Truth be told, I noticed her hearing was not quite what it was a year ago. "You enjoy your night off. This lady may be old but she is still capable."

I raised my hands in surrender and backed off. "Okay." The security lights had turned on by now and we were both standing out in the cold circles of light. I hugged myself a little closer. I was still wearing my sweater but hadn't bothered to put my jacket back on when I was carrying the food out.

Waiting until she was gone, I skipped over to my car and took out the rest of the bags from the trunk and brought them inside, shivering a bit from the cold. I turned around to shut the door, taking a moment to scan the illuminated back yard. I was alone.

I put the t-shirts and sweatpants in the bottom drawer of my dresser and the shoes in my closet under a few other things. As I hung up the scarves on a hook behind my door, I had time to mull over the conversation I'd had on the payphone. There was something not quite right about how long she took to answer. As a distinguishing feature, I thought an accent might be something you mention first.

Deciding to take another look at the flyer, I glanced around. It wasn't in the kitchen either. That left it still in the car. I huffed, threw my coat on and jogged out to it. It was right where I left it, folded and on the passenger side. Grabbing it, I jogged back, eager to get out of the chill that had set in the air. I'd left the back door open since I was just going to the car but the hinges of the screen door will force it shut automatically if it isn't propped open. As I stepped over the threshold of the house, I didn't hear the screen door shut like it normally would. It didn't make any sound at all.

The barrier I forced myself to uphold in my mind had been in place and I hadn't heard anyone coming. Letting it down, I turned to face the vampire at my back.