Lover Lay Down

Sookie

I walked into the house and shut the door behind me. The sun was just setting over the horizon, and though there were still wisps of pink in the clouds, I could see the stars. It was going to be a beautiful night and a warm one too. I'd bought the perfect dress to make the Viking go crazy with arousal. I could see his dark blue eyes rolling over me, from the tips of my painted toenails to the crown of my blond head. Those tight jeans he always wore would have to strain to contain him.

Okay Sookie, calm down. You haven't slept with Eric in nearly a year.

But I could still remember, vividly, what his hands felt like between my thighs. I wanted him, and for a second, I didn't care about all the politics and baggage that came along behind his tight behind.

I could hear Amelia fiddling around upstairs, so I shouted a greeting at her before walking into my bedroom. I closed the door and turned on the light. I'd left the gown out on the hook over the back of my door. It looked even more gorgeous in the low lamp light. Perfect. It was absolutely perfect for a warm Louisiana night.

In the bathroom, I smoothed soft body butter over my skin. It smelled like morning glories, a musky floral scent that filled the room. I inhaled it with a little giggle. Yep, Eric would be begging for it. He'd be head over heels with lust. Can't wait to see the look on his face.

I tied my hair back in a low knot beneath the curve of my skull, and a bunch of strands fell forward around my cheeks. Perfect. I put on just a bit of makeup, just enough to accent my lips and the blue in my eyes. I'd been tanning since April, and now, in mid-May, I had the perfect mildly bronze glow.

From the underwear drawer, I pulled out a lacy convertible bra and adjusted it so that the strap looped around my neck. Sure, that position might bother me later (breasts are heavy!), but it was worth it to wear the dress without straps showing. I added a matching lavender lace thong to the ensemble and went to grab the dress off the back of the door. It practically fell from the hanger; it was so fine and silky. There was no zipper, so I pulled it down over my head and poked my arms through either side. The gown had no back, and I was thankful that the dragon scars I'd earned a year ago had faded considerably. The halter strap tied behind my neck, and the gown curved over my skin, completely open, until the seams took up again just above the dimples of my hips. Oh yeah, I looked good.

The gown was perfect, just a light shimmery blue organza silk with a sheer layer cascading over the top. I checked myself out in front of the mirror, turning one way and then the other. Eric's tongue would loll out of his mouth. Maybe he'd fall on the floor and drool. He'd definitely try to sweep me up and fuck me against the wall in his office. Ooh, or maybe he'd shove everything off the desk and throw me over it. My knees wobbled a little. I slid my painted toenails into a pair of silver slip-on sandals.

"Hey, Sookie!" Amelia grinned at me when I stepped into the hallway, a small evening bag tucked under my elbow. I could hear her broadcasting all the way down the stairs, and there she was in front of me. I need help with a spell. Please don't say no.

"There's no way. I have to go to Shreveport anyway." I frowned at her and shook my head. All I could think about was the eight ways from Sunday Eric would want to screw me when he saw me. I didn't really need to be in Shreveport until the club opened (in four hours…), but I didn't want to be stuck in the house until then.

"Come on, Sookie," she begged me, sticking out her lower lip in a profound pout. "It'll only take a couple of minutes. The sun has barely set! Please, please, please…" She held out on the last 'e' in "please" for a solid twenty seconds. I sighed. I had really wanted some gelato from the Shreveport summers-only ice cream shop. I knew it would calm me down a little (unless I thought about Eric dipping his penis in the cream and having me lick it off, which I was not thinking about…). Finally I nodded at her, slightly.

Amelia grabbed me by the arm and wrenched me up to the second floor.

"Okay," Amelia said when she'd indicated that I should sit on the floor opposite her. I pulled up my dress and sat down, cross-legged on the floor. I didn't want to wrinkle the fabric by kneeling on top of it.

"So what I need you to do is take this," Amelia was going on. She held out a pinch of unnaturally colored fine-grain sand. I put out my palm and she poured it out, "and sprinkle it over the flame at the same time I do."

I glanced at the candle in the middle of the floor. There was a spell book open beside Amelia, and her laptop was sitting open. The candle looked like it had been dipped in ink and then rubbed mostly clean. It was white with weird grayish streaks. "Then we both say 'lover lay down' and you blow the candle out. Got it?"

"Lover lay down?" I blinked at her, probably cocking my eyebrow a little bit. Seemed like a funny version of abra ca dabra to me.

"Yeah," she nodded. Amelia smiled at me quizzically.

"Fine," I sighed. Better not be any weird camera equipment recording me. I had the distinct impression that I was being teased.

Amelia read out the spell in a garbled language that I didn't know. But just because I didn't know it didn't mean it didn't sound really messed up and wrong. The way she spoke, it sounded to me like she was working the vowels around in her mouth before she recited them. I thought about interrupting her, but that could lead to me accidently being transformed into a cat or a frog or something.

At last, my part in all this came around. Amelia held up her handful of sand, and I did the same. She gave me a nod and we sprinkled the sand out over the weird looking candle. Even though I was pretty unsure about this whole spell casting thing, I did my part and said, "Lover lay down." I leaned over, possibly showing off a little too much chest in the process, and blew out the candle.

The world gave a little jolt, like I'd been kicked, and I fell backward, knocking my head rather heavily on Amelia's chest of drawers. A painful burning, throbbing sensation sailed down my spine and jarred through my skull.

Okay, ow.

"Sookie!" I heard Amelia yelp. The lights had gone out, and the whole room was dark. Amelia, for goodness sakes, turn on the lights! But as soon as I'd said the words, I realized I hadn't actually said them. Okay. That's probably not a good thing. I felt Amelia's hands on my shoulders, and then I was wobbling back and forth. My lunch churned in my throat. You know those tilt-a-whirl rides at the fair? I was on one of those. It was not what one might call a good time.

"Do over!" I heard Amelia again. I'd stopped shaking. I still felt a little sick. My head ached and I prayed to the Lord above for a big handful of Tylenol. Okay Amelia, whatever you did to me, you need to fix it! I have a Viking to seduce!

I was shaking again. Wobble wobble wobble, like one of those Weebles in the television commercials of my youth. Weebles wobble but they don't fall down. Wow, I was out of it.

"Octavia!" Amelia was yelling in one of those high-pitched squeaky voices. Was Octavia here? I couldn't hear anything else.

"I broke Sookie!" Oh. Maybe she was on the phone. I'm not broken, Amelia. I'm…well, I don't know what I am. It's dark and I feel sort of queasy.

"Sookie! I was doing a sleeping spell because I can't sleep and now Sookie is asleep! Help!" I'm definitely not asleep. I can hear you for one thing. And if I were asleep, I'd be dreaming about something much, MUCH more entertaining than this.

"So I had insomnia, and you know how modern medicine doesn't work on me. I went onto the witch forums and I found this spell for people who love sleeping. Anyway, it called for a black candle rolled in tea powder and then ritually washed. And then you're supposed to sprinkle ritual volcanic sand over the flame. I didn't have a black candle so I painted one with water colors, then I did the tea, then the washing. Anyway, at the end, you sprinkle the candle, and say 'Lover lay down' and then your partner blows the candle out."

Amelia! You painted a candle black and used that in place of an actual black candle? Look what you did to me! I had a sudden and new respect for Bob. I wanted to strangle Amelia with my bare hands.

"Yeah! It's called Lovers of Sleep!" Amelia was going on. Oh give me a break.

"Well what is it?!" Amelia was shrieking. Her voice was so high I thought my ears would start bleeding.

"Are you kidding me?" What? WHAT?

"True love' kiss? What, like Snow White?" Oh come ON! True love's kiss? I don't have a true love! And then, my mind shifted. I'm going to be stuck like this forever!

"There has to be another way…" Oh yes, please. Please let there be another way.

"Yes, Ma'am," Amelia sighed. There wasn't another way. There wasn't another way?! I was going to be stuck in weird, dark limbo land forever? Oh that's just great. GREAT!

"Who do I call? Who loves Sookie? Okay, well there's the obvious answer, but she totally doesn't love him, so that's out." Amelia was pacing, and I knew that only because I could hear her footsteps on the floor when she came near me. I wondered who she was thinking about. Bill? Bill loves me, but I don't love him.

"Oh! I know! Sam! Sam loves Sookie! I wonder if true love means romantic love…"

Sam?! You're calling SAM?!