The first thing I did when I got home from Merlotte's was grab the phone, jump on the couch and call Jess. I hadn't really had a chance to talk to her since being home and missed her terribly. She had a great way of helping me through problems and the one my brother had now was a doozy. I thought that she may have an interesting take on things. Also, I wanted to know how things were going with Owen.

"Hello?"

"Hey Jess, it's me Arabella. How's everything going?"

"Bella! God, I miss you! Things have been great! Owen's still A-MAAAAA-ZING! We just rented a little house near the ocean in Los Angeles and are teaching surfing lessons. Who would have thought it, huh?"

"Ahhhh, not me. Bon Temps isn't exactly near any ocean and I've never seen you on a board Jess, how the heck are you teaching others? And, isn't expensive to live near the ocean?" I asked. Now, we had worked some strange jobs while on our journey, but everything we did usually could be learned quickly or we already knew how to do, but surfing and teaching it, I don't know how you teach something to others you never did before, especially something as intense as that. And, how could they afford a place near the ocean? Maybe they weren't as close to it as she made it sound. Not sure what to think…

"Learning to surf was a breeze and it's not really that expensive to live where we are… Hey how is everyone back in Bon Temps?" Jess asked, but I could tell she was trying to avoid the questions about her new job and place. I mean please, I'm no fool, she clearly was off her rocker if she thought I was going to believe her, but I knew she would talk to me about it when she was ready… that was just the way she was at times.

"Well, it's been tough. I can't even believe I have to tell you this, but Gran was murdered in her house and the police think Jason did it as well as a few other murders. Gran was so loving to all. She didn't deserve what happened to her. It just doesn't make sense. And then Jason… You know Jason…" I said, trying to stifle back the tears that wanted to come.

"Oh my word Bella, I'm so sorry. You should have called me sooner. I loved your Gran like she was my own. She will be missed for sure. You're right about Jason though, cute as all get-out, could charm the pants off of most females, and I believe he has, but definitely not the type to murder anyone, let alone your Gran. He loved her, no doubt. Plus, and don't take this the wrong way, he's just too plain stupid to do that." She paused for a moment and added, "Who else was murdered?"

"Don't worry Jess, no offense taken, he is dumb. Do you remember Maudette and Dawn, I think they were in Sookie's year at school?"

"Yeah, I think I do. They had quite the reputations, didn't they?"

"Yeah, they pretty much would sleep with anyone, and I guess lately that has included vamps." I said thinking it's weird that those girls were sleeping with vamps. Even though they came out of the closet a few years back, I had never actually seen one, even on our journeys, let alone up close and personal. Not that I've been up close and personal with anyone with a heartbeat either. Damn telepathic powers.

"Well, did the victims have anything in common?"

"All the victims had relations with Jason and vamps, well except Gran. Now wait a minute, I have to take that back…" I said as Jess interrupted.

"Your Gran had relations with a vamp? Now come on Bella I'm having a hard time picturing your sweet Gran getting it on with anyone let alone a vamp."

"No… not that kind of relations. A vamp had just moved into the old Compton house that Gran had heard through the grapevine lived during the Civil War. She wanted to see if he would be interested in speaking to her book club. She thought it would be beyond amazing to have someone who lived during that time speak about actual events, especially if he may have known some of the town's descendants. I know she was trying to contact him either by phone or mail, but I never heard more about it. She was asking around though to get info on him. Oh I hope that wasn't what got her killed." I said now regretting that I didn't get more involved to help Gran, although thinking about that now, it may have gotten me killed too.

"Were the victims drained?" Jess asked after thinking about the vamp connection.

"No. Sheriff Andy said that they all had bite marks, with the exception of Gran, but the marks were old and everybody still had blood in their bodies."

"Well, I doubt a vamp did it then because if they did, there wouldn't be an ounce of blood left in them. A vampire would never waste blood like that." Jess said with certainty in her voice, as if an authority on the subject.

"Well, I kinda thought the same thing, but you really sound like you know about these things Jess. When did you become a vamp expert?" I asked half joking, half really wondering what was up.

"I'm no expert, but I've read a few magazine articles that lead me to think that." She said in a huff clearly trying to placate me.

"I'm sorry Jess. I'm not trying to give you the third degree… I'm just really worried about Jason and this mess he's in." I said thinking about how small our family was now and if something happened to Jason, well, it would only be me and Sook. The thought made me shiver. I wanted my family, all that was left, to be safe and happy.

"I know. Listen, I know you have your 'gift'. Use it around town and try to pick people's minds for clues. It doesn't sound like it's a vamp, but it's probably someone in town. And please try to be safe. If Jason's been with a few of the victim's, then it's probably a safe guess to say it's someone he knows too. And, if he knows them, they may know you and Sook. Have you been practicing with your other 'gift'?" Jess asked knowing that I didn't use my other gift often at all. You see, not only am I telepathic, but I also have the 'gift' (or curse, if you want to call it that) of being telekinetic. Jess and Sook were the only ones who knew about that though.

"No, not as much as I should be practicing I guess." I replied.

"Well, you should start practicing again because it may save your life one day."

"You're right as usual Jess. It's funny, Sook mentioned that we should listen in on people as well. Great minds think alike I guess. Thanks for listening, it's helped a lot."

"No problem Bella, you know I'm always there for you, right?"

"Of course, and me for you. So, onto more pleasant topics, tell me more about your Mr. Amazing." I said needing to clear my head of all these heavy thoughts for a moment.

"Well, he's just about the most perfect guy I've ever met and knows so much about so many things. Things I never even knew existed before. He just blows me away on a daily basis. Oh, and the sex is HOT!" She said, obviously in love with the guy.

"Well, I don't need to hear about the sex details, saying it's HOT is enough for me, but what kinds of things has he shown you that you didn't know existed before?" I asked because it kinda sounded a bit… off for Jess to say. I mean, who talks like that?

"Oh, you know just different stuff. Hey, that's the door opening. Owen and I are supposed to do something real special tonight so I gotta go. Love ya and please Bella, call me and keep me posted, even if it's just to say, 'hey I'm still alive'. Gotta go. Bye!" Jess said before quickly hanging up.

Well, I felt better after the call. It was always good to talk to Jess. She seemed so happy with Owen, but still, she sounded a bit off when she spoke about him or their life. It was probably just my overactive imagination at play again.

I passed the time between the call and needing to pick up Sookie by going through some of Gran's things, trying to see if she ever got a hold of the vamp, but also to see who else she was in contact with before her murder. I made a list of everyone she had contact with either by phone (thank goodness for caller ID and the fact that Gran and Sook never erased a number), e-mail or who she had in her planner. Dear Lord my Gran talked to a lot of people. Luckily a lot of the people were repeats so the list wasn't too long and most of the people were people who couldn't have killed Gran because they were doing something else, weren't around, etc. It really didn't seem like that killer was someone she normally saw. Shoot, whoever the killer was certainly did a bang up job of staying in the shadows. No one can stay there forever though. Hopefully no one else would fall victim before they're found.

Well, now I was depressed again and bored, so I decided to head over to Merlotte's to get Sook a little earlier than I needed to. I really needed to get my mind on other things. So I dragged my butt over to Sook's dilapidated car and started the drive to the restaurant.