A/N: Holy smokes. Thank you to permisable, Capo LunaRossa, Emmettluver2010, Liz, Jfozz, Racheeele, calice45, Aryabloodlust, Catherine Smith, and 3rd for the reviews! I read them so many times to keep me going and I'm amazed at the positive feedback for something I almost didn't think was worth posting. Finding a new review in the morning was better than three cups of coffee. And of course, thank you for the follows and the favorites.

So the pressure is now on and I hope this next chapter doesn't disappoint you.

Disclaimer: I do not own True Blood.

I didn't get any more answers out of Bill and it was turning out to be the worst car ride of my life. The tension was palpable and I'm sure it would have suffocated me if I had still needed to breathe to survive. He wouldn't even let me keep the radio on which would've helped me ignore the fact that my life was no longer my own to do with as I pleased. Damn vampires.

He was driving like a maniac and if it wasn't for my quick vampire senses I would've missed the sign that said Shreveport was ten miles away. It's then I realized I had no clue what town Bill's house was in. At least we were still in Louisiana.

"So, are we going to Shreveport?"

No answer.

"What's a Sheriff?" I asked for the fourth time.

Silence.

"This is bullshit. I'll jump out of this car unless you tell me what's going on." To prove my point I cracked open the door and felt the air whoosh in, messing up my hair. It would be a bitch to get the tangles out. Wait, did a vampire's hair grow? Was I stuck with my haircut for the rest of my prolonged life?

"You will do no such thing." Finally, he spoke.

"I will too." I opened the door further and leaned towards it. I hadn't put my seatbelt on so it looked more threatening than if I had been buckled in.

"As your Maker, I command you to shut the door."

"No."

Bill slammed his fist on the steering wheel making the car swerve a little and I tipped further to the side, opening the door even wider.

"You are not supposed to be able to resist my direct orders."

Good, we were getting somewhere. I closed the door and settled back into my seat. "I'm not?"

"No, it's unheard of unless the Maker has released their progeny from their bond."

"We have a bond?" How come I was only hearing of this right now? That's kind of important information and I'm pretty sure it's part of Vampire 101. And it explained why I had kissed him, although it could hardly be called a kiss. Right?

"Yes. At least we're supposed to." Bill frowned. "Right now I am unsure."

"Good. I don't want a bond with you." I perked up. "Does this mean I don't have to live with you?"

"Not necessarily. But you'll still do as you're told. You are a newborn and you need guidance."

I couldn't argue against that. I knew jack shit about being a vampire and I had a feeling there was so much more to find out. Vampires were secretive and now I would be privy to their society. I'd already had a taste of it. Their trials were barbaric and so not in line with the public image that Nan Flanagan kept pushing. What a fraud.

We pulled up to a building where the parking lot was nearly full. "Fangtasia? I've heard of this place. Popular vampire bar that I have zero interest in visiting. So not my style."

"This is the place of business of our Sheriff." Bill explained as he parked the car. "His name is Eric Northman and if you want to remain unharmed I suggest you don't speak. And if you insist on speaking, do not sass him."

"I don't sass," I said. Bill gave me a long stare. "Okay, maybe I do a little bit." More staring. "Okay, a lot. But you deserve it for turning me into a monster."

He had nothing to say to that. We got out of the car and began walking to the entrance. "You must show the utmost respect."

"Yeah, yeah."

Bill stopped walking and grabbed my arm so I would too. "Take this seriously, Tallula. If not for me, then for your own sake."

This sounded ominous so I decided I was going to try to take his advice. I couldn't make any promises because of my new impulse control issues. At least that's what I'm going to blame it on. It was a nice cop out since it wasn't my fault I was a vampire but Bill's.

We breezed right past the long line of fangbangers with a handful of tourists and a group of college students who needed to be studying or beer ponging somewhere far away from vampires. Aside from the fangbangers, who looked like they wanted bad things to happen to them, all those humans could be a meal against their will and that's the last thing they might do on this earth. I wanted to glamour them to run but I didn't know how to do that yet and I'm sure Mr. Sheriff wouldn't take kindly to me for chasing away his customers.

There were a few protests and I decided to hiss at them. It was actually quite fun when you weren't doing it because you were at risk of bodily harm from your asshole Maker. My fangs even came out which seemed to delight about ninety percent of the humans and the rest looked like they were reconsidering their daring night out. Good. Run while you still have a choice.

Bill wasn't a fan and gave me an admonishing look but really, like that was going to make me feel bad. "Put your fangs away."

"I don't know how to control that yet." I smirked, which was a little hard to do with my fangs out. Put that on the list of things I need to practice.

"At least try."

I sighed. I thought about how it feels when my fangs come out and sort of tried to reverse that. It took a few seconds but it worked.

We reached the entrance and came upon a female vampire guarding the door. She had blonde hair and was wearing too much red leather for it to work but somehow she pulled it off.

"Why hello there, Tallula," she said, completely ignoring Bill. "It's nice to see you up and walking. You look much prettier when you're not crying."

"Uh, thanks?" She must've been at the trial and I tried to remember if I'd seen her but I was drawing a blank.

"Tallula, this is Pamela. Eric's child," Bill said.

"Call me Pam," she drawled. She looked me up and down, raising an eyebrow at my attire which up until now I had completely forgotten that I looked ridiculous and I squirmed under her gaze. This was not the first impression I wanted to make.

"Pleased to meet you," I said, hoping it was indeed a pleasure to make her acquaintance. She was the second vampire I've met face to face and the first female one. A part of me hoped we could be friends but she seemed so above me that my chances were slim. God, I felt so lonely.

"Bill, I see that you're taking excellent care of your child," Pam said, making Bill look uncomfortable. Ha.

"We are still settling in," he said.

"I'm sure you are. Is this visit business or pleasure?" Pam asked Bill while still staring at me.

"Business. Is Eric here?"

"Eric is still in his office. I'm sure he'll be delighted to see you." Pam's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "You know the way."

Pam stepped aside and I got a full view of the place. I didn't know what to expect from a vampire bar but honestly, I should've known what to expect from a vampire bar.

"What do you think?" Pam asked me. The question startled me because I hadn't realized she was still paying me any attention.

"It's very... red." It was all I could say that wouldn't come across as rude and I hadn't met Eric Northman yet and I liked Pam as of this moment so I had no reason to be disrespectful to their livelihood.

"Come Tallula," Bill ordered and I did a small wave of goodbye at Pam before following after Bill.

We had to walk through the bar and people ignored me in favor of Bill but I got a few strange looks most likely because I was wearing ill-fitting men's clothing. It's not like they had a right to judge me with their stereotypical gothic attire that most of them probably had never worn before the Revelation. Not that I had anything against goths but it felt like the fangbangers here were trying too hard. I kind of feel sorry for them.

Bill led me to a back hallway and we stopped in front of a door which he knocked on.

"Enter," a deep voice said. Bill opened the door and I trailed in behind him. He blocked my view of the Sheriff and I wondered if he was doing that on purpose.

The office of this mighty Sheriff surprised me. I expected it to be more in line with the bar but there were only two gothic-ish red and black chairs in front of a rather ordinary desk and a red lamp in the back corner. The office also worked as a storage closet for things like extra merchandise and alcohol.

Could vampires get drunk? Maybe by drinking from a drunk person but wouldn't the alcohol get metabolized too fast? 'Metabolized' might be the wrong word because I don't think vampires have a metabolism. And I'm drifting. Focus, Tallula.

Anyways, whoever this boss vampire was, I could tell he was practical and not too afraid to get his hands dirty. Take that Introduction to Psychology that I dropped after the first week of classes.

"Sit. Both of you," the Sheriff said and Bill moved aside to take the chair on the right so I took the one on the left.

The man behind the desk immediately intimidated me. Eric Northman had a commanding presence, exuded power, and even with him sitting down I could tell he was tall. He felt much older than Bill or Pam. Was detecting relative age a vampire sense?

I tried to keep my face neutral and I think I was succeeding. We waited for him to look up from whatever paperwork had captured his attention. A few minutes of strained silence passed before he deigned to look up at us.

Eric's gaze went over Bill and he stared at me with piercing blue eyes so I crossed my arms, looking right back at him. For some reason I didn't want him to think I was weak.

Eric looked away first, not because he was backing down but because he was dismissing me for the moment. I was too relieved to feel offended and after all, I knew I wasn't seen as very important and I had done nothing to earn any status in the vampire world. But hey, I was only a two day—wait—two night old vampire so I gave myself a break.

"Have you not been feeding her Bill?" Eric asked. Huh, did I look like shit or something?

"She refuses to drink TruBlood," my sorry excuse of a Maker said.

"You can hardly blame her," Eric said. Yes! Maybe this vampire would make Bill let me have a proper meal. I could only hope.

Bill began to speak but Eric cut him off. "Why are you here and why have you brought her with you?" he said, getting straight down to business. I guess he didn't like small talk which seemed perfectly in line with his persona.

"I need a favor," Bill said. I had a strong feeling that this favor had something to do with me. Bill wouldn't want me around unless there was a good reason I needed to be with him.

"Really?" Eric asked, his interest piqued.

"I would be in your debt. And of course, I will return it."

"That is a given. What is it you want from me?"

"I need you to take care of Tallula," Bill said. What? I felt my neutral face replaced by a bewildered one. I'd say this was a joke but I don't think Bill makes very many of those, if any at all. I didn't know Eric Northman and I had no clue how he is or if he'd be better than Bill, even though Bill set the bar low. So low a limbo champion couldn't get under it.

"She is your punishment, not mine. What am I supposed to do with her?" Eric asked. Thanks for reminding me I was a punishment and thus a burden. What a great boost to my self-esteem.

"I cannot have her around. She tried to attack Sookie," Bill said.

"Her name's Sookie? Wow, that's even worse than my name." I let out a short laugh but then noticed that Eric now looked like he wanted to attack me. "I wasn't going to kill her." Eric still looked pissed. "Look, I didn't know who she was. I'm fucking starving here and Bill left me alone and she smells amazing."

This seemed to calm Eric down a little bit although he still looked at me with narrowed eyes. Why was this Sookie so important to him? She wasn't his girlfriend.

"Command her to leave Sookie alone. There, problem solved."

Bill minutely shifted in his chair and he looked uncomfortable again. "She does not obey my commands."

Eric tilted his head to the left a few millimeters. "Show me."

Bill turned to me. "Tallula, go stand in the corner. As your Maker, I command you."

"Nope," I said, immensely satisfied with my disobedience.

Eric looked at me as if I had just done something astonishing. "Did you release her of your bond?"

"No, I did not."

"Interesting," Eric said.

"As you can see, I cannot guarantee that I can control her so she is a danger to Sookie. I also have urgent matters I must attend to."

"Urgent matters of Sookie," I said sullenly and Bill didn't deny it.

"Haven't you done enough for her?" Eric asked.

"If any harm were to come to her because of my absence, you would be..." Bill trailed off. Woah, was he threatening Eric?

"What?" Eric asked, leaning forward a little and looking suspicious.

"Without her helpful skills," Bill said. Now I was suspicious. I barely knew Bill but I could tell he was deflecting. Also, what 'helpful skills' did Sookie have that vampires would be interested in?

"Does she have superpowers?" I asked.

"That is none of your business," Bill said.

"Fine, whatever. I'm only trying to get to know my future stepmother." No, I wasn't. I was flat out being nosy.

Eric smirked. "I will take her in but since this is no small matter, you owe me big time."

Bill nodded. "I understand." He stood up, walked to the door and opened it. "Goodbye Tallula," he said as an afterthought before he disappeared from the doorway.

And just like that, I had been abandoned by my Maker and pawned off to a stranger. I would've cried but I didn't like Bill.

Eric and I studied each other. I had no clue what to say and he obviously wasn't in any hurry to start a conversation but then an image from the trial flashed through my mind. "You were there. But you weren't cheering."

"I was not there for my own amusement."

"Would you have cheered if you were?"

"No," Eric said and this made me like him a little more.

"Are all trials like that?"

"No." And that's all he said. He kept studying me and it was getting annoying.

"Are you going to keep talking to me in one-word sentences?"

"No," he said. I glared at him but then he smirked.

"I don't appreciate being messed with," I said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I am at a difficult stage in my undead life and I don't need you making it any worse. Bill was bad enough as it is."

Eric gave a slight bow of his head towards me. "I apologize, Ms. Riggs."

"You're still messing with me." I crossed my arms again.

"You are correct."

I huffed and we descended into silence. Didn't he have something more important to do with his time than stare at me? Like that paperwork he was doing earlier.

If we were going to sit here I might as well get some answers. "Why did Bill have to make me?"

"He killed a vampire to protect a human. Killing a fellow vampire is a grave offense."

"What human?"

"Sookie Stackhouse," Eric said.

"Oh, his girlfriend. I can't be too mad about that but I'm going to be. What's so special about her anyways?" Not that it bothered me.

"I don't trust you enough to divulge that information."

I rolled my eyes. "Fantastic. Now you're starting to sound like Bill," I said, fully intending it to be an insult.

"You don't like him."

"Duh, Captain Obvious," I said. Eric gave me a scary warning look. Uh-oh. He didn't appreciate my tone and I wouldn't put it past him to physically reprimand me. I might've been able to guilt Bill out of hurting me but that wouldn't work with Eric.

"Are you not grateful to Bill for turning you?" He seemed genuinely curious.

"Maybe," I admitted. I didn't feel like lying to Eric right now. I'd rather save that tactic for later before he could figure out my tells, which I'm sure he would. I was a great liar but I wasn't perfect at it. "But I liked being human."

"You will like being vampire even more." He was so sure of it, as if he thought being a vampire was the greatest thing in the world.

I wasn't too optimistic. "Please tell me when that's going to happen."

"First, you need real blood."

I sat up straighter and leaned forward in my chair. "Seriously? This isn't a joke? I get to feed on a human?" I asked, full of hope and hopefully full of blood soon.

"I will even let you choose who. Although, they have to be willing."

With that said, horror came crashing down on my excitement. Mother of God, I wanted to drink a person's blood. I craved it but I was a human a couple of days ago and here I was eager to bite somebody without remorse. What was wrong with me? Oh yeah, Bill had turned me into a blood sucking monster.

"Never mind. Do you have any TruBlood?"

Eric stared at me critically. "You must remember now, you're a different race. A superior one."

"But vampires used to be human," I pointed out.

"We've evolved," he said loftily.

"By magic... presumably. We are definitely not a part of Mother Nature's plan. Vampires aren't natural. All living things must die."

"We are dead." He shrugged. Wow, his shoulders are really wide.

"You know what I mean. Die and not become reanimated corpses."

"I am ending this conversation. You will feed on a human tonight whether you want to or not," Eric said firmly. Very firmly.

Oh boy, he wasn't my Maker but the way he ordered me made it feel like I had no choice but to obey. And obey I would. He frightened me right now more than feral Bill had earlier in the night.

"Pam," he said and in a few seconds she appeared in front of his desk. I would've said she had teleported but the office door was open again showing that that's where she had entered the room.

"Yes, Eric."

"Take Tallula and dress her in something more appropriate. She will be joining me in the bar tonight," he said. I was? And what exactly were Eric and I going to do in the bar? I refuse to dance and the no feeding in public places government policy meant I wouldn't be dining on a customer in front of the customers unless Eric wanted a visit from the law so I had no clue what to expect.

I dutifully followed Pam out of Eric's office and a little ways down the hall. Pam opened a door that brought us to an even shorter hallway and made a beeline for an open door on our right. She flipped the light switch on as soon as she entered and my eyes went wide at the sheer amount of clothing stuffed in the small room.

"I know exactly what you should wear."

Pam pulled out a dress from one of the crowded wracks with a flourish. It had cap sleeves and a plunging V-neck a little too daring for my taste which I thought was balanced out by its knee length until I noticed the slit on the right side went nearly up to where your hip would be and the side of your underwear would be showing, that is if you were wearing any. The color was an intense, dark purple you'd find in a bruise. I'm sure there must be a name for it but that's what came to mind when I looked at the slinky dress.

"There's no way I'm wearing that." I shook my head. Not going to happen. I was a size ten but not one of those size ten models that somehow don't have any belly pooch or aren't sporting a little bit of back fat. This dress would not be forgiving. It's not like I hate my body but I've never been very confident in how I look. Except for my lips. Not gonna lie, they're amazing but otherwise I couldn't even fake it until I make it although I've tried. "You may be able to pull that off, but I can't."

Pam rolled her eyes and continued to hold out the dress for me to take. "Sugar, the only reason I am this skinny is because I didn't eat enough when I was alive."

"Oh."

"Human beauty standards are fickle. Do not worry yourself over them. You are vampire now. Put it on or I'll do it for you." She sounded like she would very much enjoy dressing me, perhaps a little too much so I quickly grabbed the dress and waited for her to leave the room but she didn't budge.

"Uh, can I get a little privacy?"

"I didn't take you for a shy one but all right, I'll leave." She left but didn't shut the door all the way so I had to finish closing it. There was a full-length mirror hanging on this side of the door and I ignored it. Instead, I looked for a lock but there wasn't one and I sighed. There was nothing to stop Pam from bursting in and I honestly wouldn't put it past her to do exactly that.

I took off my flats and shucked Bill's clothing, leaving them to wrinkle on the floor with no plans to return them to him. I wasn't wearing a bra or panties and the not having a bra concerned me until I noticed that the dress had one built in. I unzipped the dress and pulled it up over me. So far it fit but would it zip up all the way?

I groaned when I realized I couldn't reach the zipper past my midback and Pam would need to help me.

"Pam," I said. She was next to me in a flash and I winced. "Can you help zip me up?"

"Of course," she said, smiling like a cat that got the cream. Her hands trailed from the small of my back up to where the zipper was, making me shiver. I felt a tug as she pulled it all the way up. "There. It fits you like I knew it would."

"Sorry for doubting you," I said. "It'll probably happen again."

"Now we need shoes." With vampire speed, Pam searched through the shoes and I concentrated on following her movements. I needed the practice because if I was going to be attacked by a vampire I wanted to actually make out what they were doing instead of only seeing a blur and then ending up dead.

There was a small pile of heels on the floor before Pam finally settled on a pair. She held them up to display them like she had the dress and I shook my head again. They were satin-y gold but that wasn't the problem. The heels were seven inches tall.

Up until a couple of years ago I had been a walking disaster in heels and it took many lessons from my roommate to learn how to walk in them. I only worked up to six-inch heels because my roommate said anything above that was delving into stripper territory and he didn't think I'd ever have the need to walk in heels that tall. He was wrong.

"You're lucky I found these. You have big feet."

"Hey! I do not," I protested. Although nine and a half wasn't exactly dainty. "For your information, the average size of women's feet have been getting bigger since the early 1900s."

I had looked that up in the journal databases I had access to during college when I should have been researching Minoans.

"How enlightening. Put them on," she said with no room for argument so I took the least painful path and did as she told me.

After the shoes were on, Pam dragged me into what looked like a dressing room and twisted my hair into a sleek bun. She put makeup on me with a practiced hand. I looked in one of the mirrors and saw that I had on smoky gold eyeshadow that matched my heels and purple lipstick a few shades lighter than my dress. The effect was beautiful and I'd never looked so chic in my entire life but my nerves prevented me from smiling.

"Eric is already out there. When you walk through the bar hold your head high and ignore everyone. When you reach Eric you will sit on his right side. Absolutely do not hesitate or wait for permission to take a seat," Pam said, poking and prodding me for last minute adjustments to my dress.

"Why am I doing this?" I don't know why I hadn't bothered to ask earlier.

"Because Eric has decided to like you and he wants others to show you respect." She sounded mildly disgusted at the thought making me feel mildly insulted.

"Do you like me?"

"I haven't decided yet," Pam said.

"But you sort of act like you like me." Or at least like she didn't hate me.

"That is irrelevant."

"Sure whatever you say." I shrugged. "But I'm pretty sure you like me."

"I tolerate you, that is all." As if to prove her point, Pam 'accidently' managed to pinch me.

"I don't know. You're getting a little defensive."

"It would be a shame to get blood on that dress."

"Okay, chill. I was only teasing you." I smoothed out my dress unnecessarily. "So basically, I act like my shit don't stink."

"That's a crude way to put it and inaccurate since you no longer have that bodily function, but yes." She stepped back to get a good look at me and nodded, seemingly satisfied with what she saw.

"Aren't the other vampires going to get pissed at me? I'm a nobody. They're gonna think I'm an upstart baby vamp."

"That is their problem, not yours," Pam said. "Now go. We've wasted enough time. And don't fuck it up."

"You totally like me," I said and hurried away as fast I could in my heels before Pam retaliated.

I peeked into the bar from around a corner, quickly scanning it for Eric and oh for God's sake. He was on a throne. Of course he was.

It was now the moment of truth. I could either do this right or face Pam's wrath which I felt like she wasn't beyond breaking an arm or a leg. At least that's the vibe I got from her or maybe it was only a front but I'm seriously reconsidering wanting to voluntarily be around her. Then again, being her friend might disqualify me from any bodily harm doled out by her.

Okay, deep breath. Who the fuck cares that I don't need it to keep 'living'? I sure don't because right now I needed it to survive this performance. I stepped around the corner and started to walk towards Eric on his throne (still not over it) with all the confidence I could muster and then some.

I pretended not to notice the turning heads and if my heart still pumped blood I'm sure I would be blushing. I felt absurd and wanted to turn right back around so I could hide in one of the back rooms.

Miraculously I made it across the room and sat down with all the grace of a ballerina to the right of Eric.

"Good of you to join me," he said quiet enough so only I could hear him.

"Like I had a choice," I said in an equally quiet voice.

"You made quite an entrance."

"I decided I didn't want to piss off Pam."

"You enjoyed it," he said, sounding smug.

"Far from it. You don't know me at all."

"We have plenty of time to get to know one another," Eric said with a sly smile and I knew exactly what he was insinuating. Once again, if I could've blushed I would have.

We stopped talking and Eric pulled out his cell phone while I examined my nails. My cuticles were perfect.

"You have some admirers," he suddenly said. I looked over at him and scoffed.

"Sure I do. Well, they better not come over. They can stay put and admire me from afar. I don't feel like dealing with them." I'd feel bad for having to reject them and send them away because I knew that's what Eric would want me to do. No small talk with the plebeians.

"And that's precisely the attitude I'm looking for." Eric was now staring at me and I resisted turning away.

"I aim to please," I said with a biting tone.

"You still have to look around and choose who you want."

I stopped myself from shifting in my seat and giving away how uncomfortable I was. "Damn, I was hoping you'd forget about that."

"Remember to look bored," Eric said, going back to his cell phone.

"That won't be too hard."

I searched the room looking dutifully bored, dismissing this person and that one. And so on it went as I felt like I was at a disturbing buffet. I was about to settle on a man I could at least tolerate when a woman entered the bar.

"Her." I motioned a finger without hesitation towards the woman as she sat on a stool at the bar.

"You have good taste," Eric murmured.

She had dark brown hair that was almost black cut into a short bob and even from far away I could tell she had hazel eyes. She was wearing a tight, sapphire blue dress that was already garnering attention from other patrons. It was easy to tell that this woman liked to flirt with danger and for the first time in my life, I was danger.

A/N: So what do you think? Keep the feedback coming because I need to know that I'm not mucking anything up. One of the things I'd like to know is how I did with Pam and Eric. Are they IC or OOC because I haven't been reacquainted with True Blood for very long so it's a bit difficult to get their voices (hopefully) right. Also, please tell me if Tallula ever gets annoying and I'll adjust accordingly if needed. I feel like I'm walking a fine line over here between amusing snark and irritating pest.