Marie screeched with anger and fear as his hand slid up her leg. Her head thrashed from side to side and she sucked in air as she prepared to scream. The man on top of her was incredibly strong and his fingers dug into her shoulder, painfully. He leaned forward and her eyes widened as his mouth met hers.
With inhuman speed her attacker flew backwards and glared at her accusingly. Severely confused, Marie sat up clutching her towel more closely around her. Her eyes darted to the door he was blocking, searching for a way to escape.
He watched her for a moment, and then rushed forward again at a ridiculous speed. He was just a blur until he grabbed her by the throat, slamming her head into the wall.
"Why are you here? What kind of trick is this?" He growled in a low, threatening voice. He had a stupid haircut in her opinion, though not quite as bad as Logan's. She didn't find him particularly attractive, his features seemed a little caveman-ish to her.
Marie only managed a strangled cough as answer and he loosened his grip.
Marie tried again. "It's not a trick! I'm Sookie's cousin!"
His eyes narrowed and his gaze felt like it was burning her. Her throat was closing up painfully and she almost wished that the cure hadn't worked so she could protect herself.
"Call her. Ask her if a cousin is staying here with her!" Marie croaked.
He leaned in closer and commanded, "Do not move, or it will be the last thing you ever do."
He blurred again and seconds later was standing by the dresser, phone in hand. Shaking, Marie rubbed her throat, trying to hold back her tears. He glanced back over to her, casually, as he held the phone to his ear.
"Sookie? Are you all right?" He asked.
Marie could just barely hear her cousin's voice chirping out of the phone. The man listened intently and then his eyes widened just slightly.
"Mmmhmm. I look forward to meeting her." He shut the flip phone with a decisive hand and slowly turned to face her. "Sookie is working late. You, her cousin Marie, are staying with her."
If she hadn't been so scared, Marie would have rolled her eyes. Instead she simply nodded.
He looked highly abashed. Good. The bastard deserves far worse than just feeling bad.
"I apologize profusely miss. I will do everything I can to make up for this breach in etiquette."
Marie was slightly taken aback. So now it was Miss? Great, my potential rapist has manners. Breach in etiquette? You have got to be kidding me.
"I'd like you to leave." She said shakily.
He nodded his head. "Of course." He turned and left, closing the door behind her. Still rubbing her neck, Marie glanced around the room, trying to collect her thoughts. She just now realized she was freezing, her wet hair dripping down her back.
She changed into a pair of sweats and a batman t-shirt, and started unpacking. She didn't even know the man's name. She assumed that Sookie was more than friends with him, considering how he had treated her when he thought she was Sookie. She wondered if she would ever get that taste out of her mouth. He tasted very slightly like dirt. She imagined that was Logan's residual senses kicking in.
Marie considered what she would tell Sookie. "Hey, everything went great! I got settled in, showered and oh yeah…I met your boyfriend. He's a great kisser!"
She ran a finger through her wet hair, enjoying the silky smooth feel created by Sookie's conditioner. Marie couldn't help but wonder what Logan would have done if he had been here. Sookie's boyfriend would probably be in pieces.
Sighing, Marie pushed thoughts of Logan out of her mind, and got into bed, hoping tomorrow would be better.
Sookie waved goodbye to Sam, and left the bar, keys jangling loudly as she walked. She reached to unlock her door and jumped into the air, gasping for breath. Bill was standing in front of her car, silently. "Gosh darn it, Bill. You can't do that!" She scolded, pressing a hand to her chest. Bill said nothing and walked towards her.
"I think it would be best if we talked." He said expressionlessly
"You attacked my cousin?" Sookie screeched, looking dumbfounded.
Bill sighed as though she was being ridiculous. "Now, Sookie, I didn't say it like that."
Sookie paced back and forth, "Bill! You couldn't tell it wasn't me?"
Bill pinched his nose, looking tired. "I already explained this. She smelled like you. She looks exactly like you. And you didn't tell me you had a cousin coming to visit." He glanced at her disapprovingly.
Sookie whirled around. "I forgot, okay? I was going to tell you the other night, but then you distracted me." She blushed cutely. "So how did you figure out that she wasn't me?"
Bill cleared his throat. "That's not important."
Sookie opened her mouth, but Bill plunged forward. "You were supposed to be home at that time. How was I to know you were working an extra shift?"
Sookie sighed. "I suppose it's both of our faults. I should go in and check on Marie." She looked at the house in front of them, and then started to walk to the porch.
Bill nodded and made to follow her.
She turned and said softly "I don't think it's a good idea for you to come in. Maybe tomorrow night." And with that she turned to march up the porch. Bill watched her go, silently.
Marie woke the next morning to the delicious smell of bacon and pancakes, wafting up the stairs. She grabbed a hair-tie from her nightstand, and looped it around her hair, pulling it up into a ponytail.
She entered the kitchen to see Sookie humming and flipping pancakes. Upon seeing Marie, Sookie swung around, smiling brightly.
"Morning sleepy head. I made breakfast."
Marie nodded, still groggy. "I see that. Looks really great."
Sookie gave a little laugh and waved her spatula at her. "Well come on, sit down. Don't want your food getting' cold."
Marie gave her a half-smile back and sat down at the little table. Sookie set a heaping plate of food down in front of her, and then sat down across from her.
A little self-consciously, Marie took a few hesitant bites of her food. I really don't want to tell her about last night. But I should.
Before she got a chance to swallow, Sookie spoke up. "Um, Bill mentioned last night to me. He's real sorry and I promise you he didn't mean to. . . He just gets a little carried away and well …you know. And he says-"
Marie almost choked on her pancakes. She swallowed them with a gulp and looked at her cousin. "Let's just forget about it."
Sookie paused for a minute, studying Marie's face and then nodded, looking relieved. "All right." There was a long pause as they both continued eating, and the only sound was their forks hitting the plates.
Sookie finally broke the silence. "Well, last night, Sam and I were talking and he seems to have taken a liking to you. He told me to tell you that if you need a job, you've got one."
Marie looked up, eyes bright and said through a mouthful of bacon, "Really, Sookie? Oh that would be fantastic! When can I start?"
Dressed in a white t-shirt and black shorts, Marie walked into the bar next to Sookie, positively beaming. She had a job and a place to live. This was normal! This was exactly what she wanted! She hadn't been this happy in a long time. Aside from last night, things were about as normal as they could be.
Sam looked up from tending bar and smiled kindly at her. It was busy already, and the only waitress appeared to be the redheaded woman who had yelled at her. She must have been informed about Marie, because she smiled at her this time, as she carried a pitcher of beer over to a table of middle-aged men.
Sookie patted Marie on the shoulder and left her to go tend to one of her tables.
Marie glanced around and walked over to Sam. "So am I waitressing?"
Sam looked at her and nodded. "Yeup. We've been a little short on those recently. Okay let me see. Arlene is the redheaded one and Lafayette is…well Lafayette. He's the cook in back. Terry's not here right now, but he's real nice. Just try not to make loud noises round him and you'll be fine. Tara is Sookie's best friend; she'll probably be here tonight. She usually tends bar. Umm, alcoholic drinks are here, pop is over there, and give your orders to Lafayette. You need anything, ask me or Sook."
Marie nodded, trying to remember everything.
"All right, those tables-" he pointed at an area to their right. "-are all yours."
Marie smiled at him, took a deep breath and walked over to one of her filled tables.
"I'm Marie, and I'll be your server tonight. Can I get you started with some drinks?"
At first, Lafayette scared Marie, but very quickly she found herself relaxing around him. He was a huge personality, but was extremely friendly and seemed to get along really well with Sookie.
Things had been a little shaky at first, but Marie had soon settled into the routine. She became less tense around the customers and Sam gave her thumbs up about two hours in, so she assumed she wasn't failing miserably.
She didn't have the cheerful persona of the other waitresses, and decided that was something she would have to work on. She just wasn't used to interacting with people much.
She took a break when Arlene took hers and they all ended up by the cooks, chatting quietly.
Marie hadn't really been paying much attention, instead focusing on eating the massive burger that Lafayette had made for her. Besides the conversation really didn't interest her. Arlene had been going on and on about her children the entire time, which was fine but not exactly thrilling.
However, Marie looked up when she heard the word vampire. "What about vampires?" She asked curiously.
Lafayette clapped his hands together. "Oh, look you can speak!"
Marie rolled her eyes and looked at Arlene expectantly. Arlene looked surprised. "Oh sweetheart, didn't you know? Sookie is dating one. Bill something."
Marie raised her eyebrows. "What?"
Arlene nodded and continued knowledgably. "Mmmhmm. And she lets him bite her! We saw the marks today." She gave a delicate shudder. "I would never let a vampire bite me."
Lafayette rolled his eyes. "Ain't no vampire in the world who would bite you, you nasty ho."
Arlene made a pouty face and the two started bickering.
Marie tuned them out, thinking hard. She'd never met a vampire before. She'd seen them on TV; they'd just joined the mutants in the fight for equal rights. The similarities were large between mutants and vampires, if it was true what they said about the virus.
She'd never really thought about them much. She supposed she was for vampire rights, as it was basically the same principle as mutant rights.
That explained why Bill was so strong. He'd been rather pale too.
She took another bite of her burger, thoughtfully. She didn't really have a problem with Sookie dating a vampire. However getting involved with vampires wasn't exactly the right step to having a normal life.
