A/N: Thank you so much for the encouraging reviews and alerts! Because of them, I have decided to continue this story. Once again, I'm not quite sure where this will go other than correcting some of the things that happened to Sookie once Bill entered her life that I believe Eric will handle better. Not because he is the sexy dangerous Vampire that he is, but because he is something that Bill is not; honest, even if sometimes brutally so.

On another note, a few of the reviewers have asked that I not use Anna Paquin as the physical description for my version of Sookie. All I can say is that this is a True Blood fanfic and I'm going to describe them as the actors that portray them (if not, Tara would have been Caucasian, Pam would look like a teenager, and Claudine would look like a supermodel). I don't have any problem with her playing the role. I've read the books and I know Sookie is described as a busty blue eyed blonde, and if I were writing an SVM fanfic, that's how I would describe her. Beyond that, I'm not going to say what she looks like in every chapter, so feel free to use your imagination otherwise.

Again, thank you all for the reviews, alerts and favorites. I only hope this story lives up to your expectations.

Chapter 2

She couldn't believe it. He was real and he was a Vampire! The sexy blonde alien licker was sitting not a foot in front of her wearing a black tee shirt under his grey suit jacket with jeans and boots on. Besides the clothing, he looked exactly the same. "Tara and J.B. had me convinced you were a figment of my imagination!" she said excitedly.

For the first time in many a year, Eric Northman, Vampire Sheriff of Area Five of Louisiana, didn't know what to say. The second she had walked into his bar, he had remembered her. It had been a little over seven years since he had stopped on his way to meet with Godric, the Dallas Area Sheriff and his maker, to have a quick bite at the amusement park. It had been before the Great Revelation when a Vampire had to still hunt for his meals, something he didn't have the time for that evening.

When he stumbled upon the heavenly scent of the sweetest blood he had ever smelled since he last tasted a fairy, he couldn't believe his luck. To find it in the beautiful package that was Sookie Stackhouse had just made it all the sweeter. She was too young for him though, still a child, really. And though some of his kind enjoyed feeding from the young, he had never developed the taste for it, much like his maker.

She had looked at him as most women did, with a great deal of lust and a hint of wonder. It was easy to convince her to let him taste her. Eric knew she didn't know what he was, or what he was doing. Most humans chose to deny the fact that there was more to their world than just them to live in blissful ignorance. It was a good thing he could glamour her to forget.

Her taste was exquisite, even with the dirt mixed in. Eric would have licked it off of the bathroom floor if he had to. Shuddering from the flavor, he made sure not a drop was wasted and cleaned her hand thoroughly; keeping himself in check so he wouldn't sink his fangs into her soft flesh like he desperately wanted to.

The arrival of her friends was no great inconvenience to him, he had already drunk the little he needed and had cleaned and healed her wound. Catching their eyes he easily had them in his thrall, the big lummox holding the stuffed animals barely needed the glamour. With a few words, they would forget ever seeing him while the taste on his tongue would haunt him for years to come.

But here she was, wearing a dress wholly inappropriate in a bar like Fangtasia, virginal white with red flowers resembling splotches of blood, with so much tanned skin exposed she may as well have tattooed 'Come and get it!' across her throat. Pam had come to the stage and whispered "Dibs" in his ear mentioning that one of Sophie Anne's lackey's was here 'mainstreaming' with a breather that had to be smelled to be believed and that she was asking questions about two women. All of this was said in Swedish to keep the conversation between him and his Vampire child.

"Eric?" This time it was Pam who said his name, making him realize he had just been sitting there staring blankly at the girl that should not know his name. He looked up to see his progeny, her face a mask of boredom while their bond radiated concern. He sent his strength to her and looked back to his visitors.

"Wow, Bill! I guess you weren't the first Vampire I ever met." Sookie giggled. One of Pam's carefully sculpted brows raised up just a bit. Bill's face had gone stony. If Eric were to have guessed, he would say the younger Vampire looked constipated. But then again, that was his usual expression. "I don't know why I didn't think of it before. You must have glamoured my friends into forgetting seeing you."

Eric leaned forward, intrigued now "And how would you know that?" He pressed his influence on her, willing her to tell him how she had remembered their meeting.

Feeling that weird buzzing=bubbling in the back of her mind that happened when a Vampire was trying to glamour her, she shook her head with a little frown. "Cause I can't be glamoured. Bill and a few of his….acquaintances have already tried. By the way, I don't appreciate anyone trying to make me do something against my will."

Both Pam and Bill tensed with her outburst, waiting for Eric's reaction. Bill had taken Sookie's hand in his own and gave it a cautionary squeeze. In turn, she shifted her frown to Bill. Pam wondered what her master would do after being scolded like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar in front of other Vampires. She hoped whatever happened he would let her have a little fun first. A feisty meal was always tasty.

Despite being confounded by her, he was also quite amused, enough so that he smirked and gestured to the seat beside him, "I apologize, Miss Stackhouse. Please, do not judge me too harshly for my transgression. I was merely curious. If you would please have a seat."

The frown slowly disappeared and a polite smile returned to Sookie's lips .Slipping her hand out of Bill's, she took the offered chair, perching on the edge, ankles crossed hands in her lap, like the lady her Gran raised. Eric sat back in his throne, still trying to figure her out; Pam leaned on its edge to watch this play out, noting with satisfaction that her maker never once offered Compton a seat.

Bill, who was still too stunned to move, finally spoke. "Sheriff," he said with a respectful nod.

Eric kept his eyes on Sookie. "Bill. What brings you here with such a lovely guest?"

The Civil War Veteran shifted in his loafers. "I have brought Sookie here to ask a few questions about two women that have been murdered in Bon Temps."

Sookie went into her purse and brought out the pictures of Dawn and Maudette, handing them to Eric. "Your bartender said they had both been here."

Eric looked at the pictures, remembering both, Dawn in particular, but hesitated in telling her how they were acquainted. He didn't want to scare Sookie off now that he had just found her. "They have both been here on a number of occasions. Do you believe a Vampire is involved?"

Sookie placed the photos back into her purse with a sigh, "No. Bill said that if a Vampire had killed them, they would have been drained. Both of them were strangled." With the worry for her brother's fate and finding Dawn dead in her bed on her mind, her shields slipped. It was then that she heard a cop among the crowd thinking of the sight in the bathroom and calling for backup. The image of a Vampire about to feed on a bleeding man Eric had kicked earlier paraded through her head. "We have to get out of here."

Eric leaned forward again and took one of her hands in his "I agree. Your place or mine?" A cheesy line that had Pam's eyes rolling in their sockets, but he knew he had to say it if only for the look Compton gave him.

In a flash, Bill had his fangs out and had made his way between the two. "Sookie is mine!" he growled.

Pam's own fangs snapped out and she hissed at the Vampire who dared threaten her maker, "Step. Back." She took a step forward and narrowed her eyes, "Don't think being one of Her special employee's means I will not turn you into a stain on the hardwood floor for threatening your Sheriff, Bill."

"Enough, Pamela," Eric's own gaze intensified, if that was possible. "If Compton wishes to meet his final death at my hands, he is more than welcome to do so."

Sookie, far from being frightened like her good sense told her she should be, just groaned. This was a pissing contest, just like the thousands she had seen from working at Merlotte's and being Jason's sister. She supposed that fangs took the place of wangs in the case of Vampires, even though she was sure any minute now they'd pull those out, too. Pam included.

But right now, they did not have the time, and she could do nothing for her brother sitting in a Shreveport jail. "Would ya'll just cut it out!" The south came out in her voice when she was upset. "We need to leave before the cops get here!" She said this just loud enough for every Vampire in the room to hear her.

Suddenly, the attention of said vampires was on her. If it weren't for the oblivious fangbangers, tourists, and the loud music, the sound of her gulp would have echoed off the walls.

Eric's blue eyes bore into her, "How do you know this?"

Her mouth drier than the Sahara at that point, she nodded at the uncomfortable looking man in the baseball cap standing by the bar, "He's a cop. He saw that Vampire, Taryn, in the bathroom about to bite that guy you kicked earlier. We don't have time for the third degree right now. Please, if you just get us out of here, I'll explain everything." She was desperate. Being in a bar full of people that looked at her like a slurpee was getting to be unnerving. Add the police to the mix and she was sure this would end in some sort of blood bath/media circus she wanted no part of.

Tara was right. She was a trouble magnet.

Eric took a moment to weigh his options, deciding to trust the girl. With a nod of his head the Vampires in the room cleared out. Grabbing hold of Sookie's arm, he pulled her out the back doors with Pam and Bill at his heels. Once in the night air, he could hear the sirens in the distance draw near.

Outside, Bill took Sookie's free arm and tugged her. "I will take Sookie home then."

Eric's grip only tightened. "She still owes me an explanation."

"Could somebody just drain the bloodbag so we can leave this alley?" Pam tapped her stiletto on the pavement. This was getting annoying. "I would like that to happen before I get my mug shot in this dreadful outfit." Her lip curled when she touched the black fabric of her dress.

"Look, why don't the both of you stop treating me like Stretch Armstrong and lemme go!" Sookie jerked her arms out of their grasps. Huffing at the childish behavior of the men standing to either side of her she wanted to just go home and forget this entire night ever happened. But she couldn't do that. If Eric could help her brother, she would do anything she had to. "Now, why doesn't Eric drive me home so that I can fill him in on everything on the way?"

Eric gave a satisfied grin.

Bill growled again. "Sookie is mine!"

"Would you stop that? I am not yours!" Sookie planted her hands on her hips, standing in front of him defiantly.

Bill's face fell, pleading with her to listen. "Sookie, you don't know what you are saying. If you do not admit that you belong to me, Eric could claim you."

Sookie was done with the posturing. "Not now! The cops are on their way."

Eric put a hand on Sookie's back and guided her to his car. "Yes, Bill. Now is not the time." The Sheriff had the sudden urge to stick out his tongue, but merely left it with a smug smirk on his lips. "Pam, follow us."

Pam nodded and zipped away to another car just as Sookie buckled into Eric's Corvette. Out the windshield she saw Bill grit his teeth before growling and getting into his BMW. When Eric entered, the car engine roared to life and they sped off into the night.

Sookie clutched at the dashboard and the seat, not used to how fast and seemingly recklessly Vampires tended to drive. "Just head out to the highway towards Bon Temps."

"So Miss Stackhouse, explain how you knew about the police." Eric kept his eyes on the road.

Moment of truth time, Sookie sent up a prayer that this would go well. "Well, Eric, I'm a telepath."

The car swerved just a bit as he looked at her. His blue eyes seemed to be glowing like comets.

"But I can't read Vampires." she said quickly.

He filled his mind with some of the most disturbing images he could think of. Having a three way with a decapitated man and a woman with boils covering her skin on a floor covered in feces was what he came up with. Watching her for any reaction but getting none, he switched to him and her completely naked and writhing on silk sheets. Nothing changed in her scent to say she was aroused. It seems she was telling him the truth.

He turned his eyes back to the road. "And you had this ability when we first met?"

Sookie relaxed into her seat a little. "Yeah, I've had it all my life. It isn't as great as some people make it out to be. It's sorta like having dozens of radios and televisions on at the same time. The last few years I've managed to put up this…shielding to keep most of the unwanted thoughts out. But when I'm nervous or distracted, they tend to slip."

Something occurred to him, "Is that why you are with Bill? Because you cannot hear him?"

"I am not with Bill." He was pleased to hear how quickly she said this. "He's my neighbor and I asked him for his help to bring me out here to ask questions about Dawn and Maudette."

"But you are attracted to him?"

A blush, just the lightest flush of her cheeks was his answer. "Yeah," she scrunched her nose up as she thought of why but was unable to call to mind any specific reason. That seemed to happen a lot when Bill wasn't around. "Haven't the foggiest idea why."

"Because you have had his blood."

The sound of her jaw hitting the floor was surely heard for miles around, "Excuse me?"

Eric sniffed the air, "His blood is in you. I can smell it." He looked at her, still gaping at him. "Which puzzles me, seeing as how you are still untouched."

Magenta, the color of her face when he finished his sentence. Shrinking into her chair, she sighed, "Is it really that….plain to smell?"

He inhaled deeply again, a grin spreading over his face, "Oh yes it is. Pam called 'Dibs' on you the moment you walked in."

The half giggle, half snort that escaped Sookie had her slap her hand over her mouth. A trickle of laughter spilled between her fingers. "Could you tell her thank you, but I don't swing that way?"

"She will be very disappointed."

"She'll have to get over it." The exit to Bon Temps came; the car went down the ramp without slowing down. "You need to slow down. There might not be anyone out on the roads this late at night, but you could hit a stray dog. Plus, our streets aren't the greatest."

He slowed to an acceptable pace, looking in his rearview to see both Pam and Bill not far behind.

"Take a left at Hummingbird Road."

He took the left down the dark country road, avoiding a collie that trotted out from the woods. Sookie pointed out her drive and he turned in, gnashing his teeth together as his car bounced about on the uneven gravel. He may have been muttering Swedish curses before stopping in front of an old but well taken care of farm house.

"I should have warned you about the driveway. It's a little rough."

Eric watched Pam and Bill both pull in. "No, sex with Lucrecia Borge was a little rough. That was horrendous." Another giggle snort escaped Sookie's covered mouth, and he couldn't help chuckling with her. With the click of a button his doors unlocked. The minute they were, Bill had the door opened and was dragging Sookie out to inspect her for injuries.

"Are you all right, Sookie? Has he harmed you in any way?" He searched her for signs on her neck and arms.

Eric flashed out and once again grabbed her free arm. "Let her go, Compton." he said in a low growl.

Pam came up to them and shook her head. "Really? Are we back to this?"

This had to be the single weirdest night she had ever lived. Visiting a bar with a stupid name like Fangtasia where people crawled on their hands and knees for attention, being reuniting with someone she thought her headache addled brain had made up, running from the police, being pulled by two Vampires like a piece of salt water taffy, having the female of their bizarre quartet call 'dibs' on her. She hoped that this was as strange as things were going to get.

A blast rang out in the night sky, well over their heads. The foursome looked up onto the porch of the farm house to see a woman in her seventies in a tied off bathrobe and house slippers release the spent chamber of her shotgun before leveling the barrels at the two who still had Sookie in their grips.

"Mr. Compton? I do believe I asked you to take care of my grandbaby this evening while she was in your company. Treating her like a rag doll in a tug of war does not fall into that category!" she called out sternly. "Now, you and your fellow bully better let her be before I send the both of you off to Glory!"

Yep, Tara was right.