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Chapter 2- Missing those that are gone.
Bill stood looking up at the window from the roof of the building adjacent to it.
There were shadowy movements behind the curtains, the light from inside allowing him to see her silhouette as she paced the floor while talking on the phone to a man that she was obviously close too.
It had been three weeks since he had saved her from imminent death and he hadn't been able to stay away since the first time he had smelled her.
His behavior was less than considerably gentleman like, but his nightly visits to her window had become an addiction.
He had followed her home from work almost every night since she had been attacked just to be sure that she came to no harm all the while trying to get a handle on what she was.
"Okay." Her voice was tearful, he could hear the sadness wrapped around her words as she spoke to whoever Jason was.
Bill had missed the first few minutes of their conversation, but from what he had heard someone was ill or had passed on into the afterlife bringing Sookie to tears as she heard the news.
"Whens Gran's funeral?"
That answered all his questions, even though he had no right to pry into her life or have questions that had anything to do with her life.
"Wednesday." Jason replied.
"Okay, I'll drive down tomorrow. I'll stay the weekend. Do you need me to do anything?" She sounded so lost and quite solemn as she asked.
"Nah, but I'll wait for you to come and we'll make the arrangements then."
"Okay Jason," she sniffed "See you soon. Love you."
"Love you too, drive safe."
Sookie hung up and Bill heard her footsteps stop. She disappeared from sight so he assumed that she sat down.
Love.
The word caused a flood of images to come to mind of Caroline.
But that had been a lifetime ago.
Love.
That was something that stayed in the past with Caroline, something that had alluded him for the last one hundred and fifty years.
Feeling his strength ebb away slightly, Bill decided to leave Sookie and return home for the remaining hours left until sunrise.
All the way home his mind tried to understand the madness behind the methodology of humans. Sookie had said that she would drive down, yet she walked to work and home every day. He had yet to even see her car, but then again it really was none of his business.
Sookie navigated the roads cautiously.
The way was familiar, yet new as she let fond memories of Gran guide her home to the town and the home that she had grown up in.
Bon Temps was a small town in Louisiana, a town so small that when she started talking about her ability to hear peoples thoughts she was shunned by virtually the entire town.
Growing up had been hard, she had few friends but Gran had made it seem so inconsequential. After her parents had died Gran and Grandpa had raised her and Jason, Gran taking special care to raise her with the understanding that because she was different didn't mean that she had to feel like she was an outcast.
Even if she had been.
The day after she had finished school, Sookie had packed two bags and descended the staircase to the sounds of Gran making breakfast in the kitchen.
Gran had emerged from the kitchen, Sookie setting her bags down on either side of her feet before looking up to find a sad smile.
"You'll always have a home here." Gran had said not even trying to talk Sookie out of leaving. She could see the determination set in Sookie to leave this life behind and start a new one where nobody knew her or of her ability.
For as long as she could remember Sookie had wanted to leave Bon Temps to start a new life where she could be who and what she wanted to be.
She had been back five years ago for three days when Grandpa had passed, but other than had she hadn't been back.
She had however called Gran every Tuesday and every Sunday and Jason at least once a week unless he called her.
The only other person from Bon Temps that she had stayed in touch with was Tara, her best and only friend growing up.
Tara was more like a sister than a friend and they talked virtually every day.
She missed Tara something awful, but Tara had been the one who convinced her to make a break from Bon Temps while she could.
The roadside information sign told her that she only had 25 miles to go, and then she'd be home.
And she wasn't looking forward to the stay.
Bill knew that she was gone, even before he ventured up onto the rooftop of the building next to hers. But he went anyway, and found himself staring at an apartment shrouded in darkness.
He had waited outside her place of work for well over an hour before he even realized that he was waiting for her.
The action of waiting for her had become like a second nature, it was done without consideration and now that she wasn't here the motions felt empty and pointless.
"Sook," Jason yelled as soon as he opened his front door to find her standing there. He wrapped her up in a giant hug and swung her around wearing a huge smile.
He lived in what had once been their parents house, their first of two childhood homes.
He had inherited the house and moved out of Gran's on the day of his eighteenth birthday. That had been two years after Sookie had left.
But he looked after Gran and Grandpa until he passed and Sookie had sent money to him every month to help out where she could.
"Hey Jason." Sookie returned his smile when he set her down on her own to feet and gave her some room to breathe.
"You look good." He added after letting his eyes roam over her. She could tell that he meant it too.
"So do you." She jabbed him in the stomach. He had been working out and his shirtless appearance at the door showed her that he had been taking care of himself too.
"Sook?" Another voice drew Sookie's attention as warmth spread through her at the familiarity of hearing her name.
Whirling around she found Tara standing in the doorway looking tearful.
"Tara." Sookie crossed the distance between them and allowed herself to be wrapped up in a hug as tight as the one that she gave Tara.
"I'm so sorry about Gran." Tara whispered into her ear and Sookie felt her eyes well up.
Tara had literally grown up in Gran's house with them. Her mother was an alcoholic, and a bad one at that. Gran's house had been her stability and refuse and sometimes the only place she had to get food and clean clothes.
"You look good, life's treating you well in the city." Tara said when they broke apart.
Sookie nodded.
"You look good too." Sookie smiled. Tara had grown up since she'd last seen her although she had always been mature for her age.
She'd had to grow up hard and fast and it had ended up turning her into an amazing person.
"How long are you staying?" Jason interjected into their girly moment.
"Until Sunday, if that's okay? I'll stay at Gran's."
Jason's smile dropped. "No," he virtually shouted at her.
"That's only six days Sook, that's not long enough." He managed to lighten the mood with his aloofness. He'd always been the joker of the group, and Sookie loved him even more for it.
"Okay. We'll I'm going to head over there and take a shower. I'll stop by the store and make us dinner?" Sookie saw Jason's face light up.
He loved a good home cooked meal and it showed.
"I'll bring wine." Tara said beaming at the prospect of spending time with Sookie over dinner.
"See you about seven?" Sookie asked holding her hand out. Jason handed her Gran's house keys knowing exactly what she wanted.
"It's good to have you home." He held his hand over hers a little longer than was necessary.
With that Sookie left Jason's knowing that she'd see them in a couple of hours.
Bill made up his mind to just go check on her.
That was all it was.
He just needed to still the voices inside him that screamed that Sookie Stackhouse was a trouble magnet.
It was uncanny that since the first time he had smelled her that he had this nagging urge to know that she was okay, that she hadn't run into anymore trouble.
He somehow had he sixth sense that she attracted unwanted attention from more than one person wanting to drain her dry.
He had summed the facts up to her scent; a smell so intoxicating that even he had trouble controlling the urge himself.
There was bound to be someone that would lose control around her and the thought had driven him to insanity.
He had been awake since before sunset waiting for nightfall so that he could venture out into the darkness in search of her.
He had no idea where to start although her blood donors card had said that she was originally from Bon Temps.
That would probably be a good place to start.
Sookie stirred the spaghetti sauce once more before removing it from the hot plate.
She had decided to make spaghetti bolognas with salad and garlic bread because they were all Jason's favorites. And Tara's.
Gran had taught her to cook from a young age and now she appreciated that fact.
The front door opened and Sookie heard Tara's giggle and Jason's booming footsteps as they tread the wooden floor.
Tara set two bottles of dry red wine down on the kitchen table before hugging Sookie hello again. A hug from Jason followed.
Sookie was taken back by how much she missed them, and this. Until actually being here, she had no idea that it all meant so much to her.
"Did you make spaghetti?" Jason asked digging around in the pots on the stove.
"Just the way you like it." Sookie said.
"You are the best. Let's eat, I'm starving."
Okay, so that was typical Jason.
Tara poured wine while Jason set the table and Sookie finished the spaghetti.
Light conversation flowed around the room, light laughter filling the room as they reminisced over the good old days.
Bill watched from a distance, the moment across the lawn filled with so much warmth and feeling that it almost made him envious.
Almost.
Sookie was clearly related to the Jason, they bore similar facial characteristics and had a close bond that was visible to anyone that watched them.
The other woman was close to them both, perhaps a friend that had grown up with them? It didn't matter, she was safe and loved in their company.
After an endless amount of time watching and listening to the three humans catch up their little reunion was over with the Jason leaving accompanied with who he came to learn was Tara.
Sookie stayed behind and after the others left she retired to the living room. Bill watched her wander around taking the sight of everything in. Her hand would dust over inanimate objects lightly, her face showing many emotions.
She was plagued by memories and haunted by the past.
She spent quite some time down there before he watched her head upstairs turning the lights off downstairs.
Bill allowed himself to float up in the air outside the window after she had turned the bedroom light off and the house was shrouded in darkness.
Some vampires had extraordinary abilities, some could fly, others were so fast that they became invisible. He however could ascend. Well that was one thing he could do anyway.
It was rather intrusive for him to invade her privacy and watch her sleep, but it was incredibly soothing and peaceful to watch her do it.
He stayed that way until a few minutes before sunrise before he fled the sunshine and sought shelter in his old family home.
They had a wine cellar in the basement that was light proof so it was adequate enough to see the daylight through in it.
Walking through the dusty abode, Bill briefly wandered how much more of the house had changed since he had lived here.
He briefly saw parts of it on his arrival, but the rest would be inspected at dusk later when it was safe for him to venture out.
Many a fond memory sprang to mind as he allowed himself a moment of weakness to revel in the thoughts of his past as he lay down on the floor of the wine cellar and found rest.
******Thanks for reading!
More up soon!
Have an awesome day
JBj.