While Jason was upset that his accomplice was a "Vamper" instead of being worried that his brain had been tampered with, I was busy wondering why they needed to glamour him in the first place and coming to terms with the fact that I couldn't hear vampires. A part of me wanted to go back in and give that big Indian a hug. I could all of a sudden understand what Hadley was drawn to. They might have been dead, but they held a certain power. I was brought out of my thoughts by the thoughts of a man walking past the truck.

"Gotta get some dirt. Gotta shut these freaks down. This town don't need anymore freaks."

This wasn't good no matter what. That one vampire already thought I was with these guys. It would look way too suspicious for me to have been in the same night as they get raided. I was spazzing out.

"Sookie, what's up?"

"I've got to warn them!"

"Warn them about what?" But he was already talking to the back of my head as I pushed through the club doors. I didn't waste any time. "Mister!"

The bartender looked over at me, but still didn't smile. "It's Longshadow. Change your mind about playing on the railroad tracks?"

"No! That man that just came in. He's trying to get y'all in trouble. There's going to be a raid."

"How do you know that?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm right."

"Even if you are, we aren't doing anything illegal….here."

I let the vague threat stand. "Not out here, but when I was in the bathroom someone was….having dinner?" There really wasn't a polite way to put that out there. His expression flicked like a switch and he was gone before I blinked. That just left me and….Jason now. I guess he came in after me.

"Whoa, Sis. There's a ton of cops outside. Like swat team shit. Let's get out of here."

"We can't. It would look suspicious and we didn't do anything wrong."

Before we could have turned around if we wanted to there was an influx of police storming in. I half expected to see Darth Vader following them in. I spun back around and saw Longshadow standing behind the bar again. "We don't want any trouble, officers. What seems to be the problem?"

"We have a warrant to search the premises for suspected criminal activity." The cop from a little further back held up a sheet of what could have been his last year's W2 for all we knew.

"Feel free to look around. We have nothing to hide, but please stop scaring the people."

With that the cop in front looked at me, and I did my best quiver of fear for him. He lowered his gun and stood up straight.

"Sir, We're going to look around. Please do not move."

"Yes, Officer."

They wandered around and took down some people's information, but found nothing incriminating. I could hear that they at least hoped to scare some people straight while they were here. The first cop that had dropped his gun came over to me. "Ma'am, I don't presume to know your business, but you're too lovely to be in here with these…." but before he could finish his statement there was a large black tank top blocking my view. It seemed to growl a bit which I thought was odd, and it seemed a little snarly for my taste, but what was weirder was that it was talking.

"This Young Lady is non of your concern. She just stopped in for directions, and she'll be leaving now." The shirt spun around and took me by the elbow to escort me out. From this distance it had grown a body to go with it, and a head. And what a head it was. He didn't have his hat on anymore, and he had a head full of dark wild curls and beautiful green eyes. He gave me a smirk and a little pull to get me to follow him. He walked me right over to our truck and opened the door and put me up into the seat and was buckling my seatbelt while Jason was still struggling to get past the policemen.

"Thanks."

"No, thank you. All hell would have broke out if you hadn't warned us."

"Why'd you give my brother your card?"

"Maybe I thought it was a smooth way to give you my number?" His eyes sparkled as his sideways smile crept up his cheek.

"I don't think so. I prefer my men more honest."

"Ouch! She bites!" He shut my door and leaned down to lean his forearms onto the door frame. "Speaking of biting. You're brother's gonna need a friend pretty soon, and I know it's not my business really, but when he does, have him give me a call."

" What if I don't?" This man was entirely too beautiful, and rugged, and mysterious to sit well with me.

"Then maybe you'll have to give me a call yourself." His smile widened to a full grin as he ran his huge hand through his messy locks.

"But you didn't give me your card. You gave it to Jason." Before I could expect his reaction, he was through the window and in the cab with me kissing me. I was suddenly so hot that I felt like we were going to steam up the windows with only that little contact. He tried to deepen the kiss but I pushed him back. It was a good kiss. A really good kiss, but it was strange that I still got nothing from him but a weird red buzz. "What was that for?"

"I wanted to give you something to remember me by. Didn't want you to feel left out." He leaned back out the window to continue what I was beginning to think of as his trademark smirk when his face met Jason's fist and hard. He fell backward into another car.

"Stop it!" I shouted.

"No. That ain't right. He's trying to take advantage." Jason was all wound up and spoiling for a fight and I just knew our visit with the police wasn't going to be the only one tonight. This guy was bigger than Jason by a good deal, and I would assume since he worked as a bouncer, he had seen a good brawl or two, and by the looks of his still pretty features, had won most of them.

"Please stop, Jason. I want to go home!"

The big bouncer looked over at me and smiled while wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. "No, he's right. That wasn't cool. I apologize Ma'am."

That put an effective damper on Jason's fire. "Yeah, well….don't do it again." Jason turned around the hood of the truck and while his back was turned my handsome stranger gave me a quick wink before turning to go back inside. Before Jason could get inside I swiped the business card off the front seat and slid it into my pocket. Hey, a girl never knows when she might need a friend. He had shown himself to be bright and diplomatic, and even better, I didn't have to hear him. The whole way to Bon Temps I was glad for the cool night air to help cool off my blush. I fell asleep somewhere between Monroe and the farmhouse I guess because when I woke up, I was in my old guest bedroom at Gran's.

The only thing I could remember was a vaguely lesbian dream that I had just woken up from. I needed coffee, a shower could wait.

By the time I had the first cup poured I could hear Jason getting up and around. He walked into the kitchen looking like a caveman. Unshaved, half clothed, uncombed, and generally uncivilized. I took pity and handed him my cup of Joe and went to poor my own.

"Thanks." He grunted

"Yeah, thanks too. Sorry you had to carry me in last night."

That wasn't what I should have started the morning out with. His face looked stricken. He was clearly thinking about me falling asleep and drooling on his precious upholstery and that when I started moaning in my sleep I started nuzzling the seat and said, "Pam." very clearly. Like any red blooded male, Jason liked the idea of lesbians, he just didn't like the idea of his little sister being one. Not one bit and was trying to block out those ideas, but it was making it worse. Then he started thinking about how that would explain a lot with me not dating guys and all. Then he thought maybe he should have let that bouncer have another shot, maybe he could win me back to the right "team".

"Jason, please! Stop that! I'm not gay!"

"But…um….you said…."

"Yeah, I know, but I don't even know anyone named Pam! And I'm sure if I did, that I wouldn't be into her like that! Can you honestly say you haven't ever had a dream that weirded even you out?"

He got real quiet and I knew to put up my shields as fast I could. I did not want to know what perversity could give Jason the willies. "Well, I had a freaky one last night too, so I know what you mean."

It was my turn to tease him now, "I still have that bouncer's card if he means so much to you." I smiled and tried to poke at him, but he was somber.

"Nah, you can call him if you want. Sorry about last night. You're a grown woman and you can make your own decisions. Hell, I just wish that was the weirdest thing in my dream."

"What do you mean? Did you see Gran?" I don't know where that came from, but I had heard people say they saw their relatives after they died.

He looked sad and disturbed now. Not good. Not good at all. "I guess I was still freaked out by everything. I dreamt I dragged that deer we hit off the road and ate it."

"So."

"I mean…..ate it….like ripped it apart with my hands and teeth and ate it…..all…raw like."

I had to run to the toilet and throw up. When I came back he was still sitting there but had poured himself a bowl of cereal. How he could be hungry after that , I had no idea.

"Sorry." He looked regretful. I figured I just had to hear about it. It must have been terrible to have thought it.

"It's okay. Glad it wasn't my dream."

"Can't say the same for yours." He gave me his usual horndog smile that he saved for the bar ladies and put his bowl in the sink. "So where do we start today?"

I hadn't really thought about it. "I don't know. I've never done this before."

"I think you're right and we should tell Hadley before we do anything else."

He was obviously still tired.

"Jason, I don't think there's any point to thinking about Hadley until A. We know where she is and B. She's a vampire. We'll have to wait until sundown for that anyway."

He shook his head in agreement and moved on to the next task at hand. "Did they tell you where Gran would be at?"

"No. I don't think I gave them the chance."

We both looked toward the door as the old doorbell chimed through the house. I was hoping it was someone about her death and not someone that didn't know. Yeah, hey I just stopped by for some peanut brittle and canasta with Adele. What? She's what? Oh….I guess I'll be going now.

I tried to concentrate on who was at the door, but couldn't get a read on him so I peeked out the lace sheers at him.

"There's no reason to be afraid, Miss Stackhouse. I am a trusted friend of your Grandmother's." So what do you say to that? Can I see some ID? I couldn't very well just leave him on the porch so I opened the door and asked him to come inside.

"What brings you by? You do know, right?" I really didn't want to have to tell him if he didn't. He was staring at Jason intently. Then looked back at me as if he had been caught.

"About what?"

Just my luck I'd have to tell him. "Um…Mister…" but before I could say anything else I could hear footsteps on the porch. This time I knew exactly who was on the other side. I stood up and opened the door before he could knock. I knew it was petty, but I never got along with Andy so I enjoyed throwing him a little off kilter whenever I could.

"Andy. So nice of you to join us!"

He looked like everyone's uglier cousin. He didn't have anything that really stood out in a good way but still had all the flaws including a huge chip on his shoulder. "Miss Stackhouse. As I tried to tell you last night, I would need to talk to you today concerning the death of your Grandmother."

Oh, no. I looked back in horror at the man still sitting on the couch. He looked sad but not shocked. Then what did he not know about? Oh, well. I'd get back to that.

"Andy, please have a seat, I'd like to introduce you to…"

The gentleman stepped in perfectly in time. " Mr. Cataliades. I am the attorney in charge of Mrs. Stackhouse's estate. What can I do for you this morning…..?"

"Detective Bellefleur. I am in charge of this investigation." He said it with a little too much emphasis on the Detective part.

We all looked over at him with a little surprise. "Investigation?"

Andy looked a little sheepish verses his normal piggish appearance. "Yes, Ma'am. We haven't ruled out foul play yet."

"You think my Grandmother was murdered?" I was shrieking by now, but didn't care. Jason grabbed me and pulled me closer to him.

"Well, now. We don't know that, but there's some unusual circumstances."

"Like what?" Any remnants of manners had vanished. Gran would be ashamed.

"She appears to have been meeting someone. She had brought home a bag full of groceries to cook a large meal but while coming inside she tracked in some rain water and lost her balance and hit her head."

"That sounds normal to me. Is there anything else?" I raised an eyebrow at him and crossed my arms.

"No. Not at this time." He nodded to us all and then at the threshold turned to tell us, " Your Gran's body is at Spencer's funeral home. We went ahead and sent her over there since he's the only one in town." We said our goodbyes and he was on his way which left only us and Mr. Cataliades.

Jason and I looked at each other and he gave me a quick nod. We needed to know whatever he knew. The only problem was that I couldn't hear his mind at all.

"Miss Stackhouse. You can stop trying to do that now. You won't hear me no matter how hard you try."

I gasped and Jason looked like he wanted to hit the floor.

"I'm sorry to have startled you. I had always hoped we'd meet under different circumstances. Everything I have said is the truth. I am a close friend of Adele's and hope to now serve you too."

"Serve us?" This sounded too odd for a lawyer. I didn't think they were ever interested in serving anything other than their pocketbooks not even justice.

"Yes, Miss Stackhouse. By now you have come to the conclusion that I'm not human right?"

Jason looked over at me in horror but was cut off before he could say anything. "Don't act a fool, boy. Act your age." I couldn't help it. I snickered. He was definitely without a doubt Gran's friend. His lips twitched ever so slightly as a smile to me before carrying on. " You know that vampires are very real now. Did you not wonder if anything else was too?"

I had to nod. Jason didn't. He had quit catching flies though so I thought that was an improvement. We sat down simultaneously and almost landed on each other but scooted to opposite ends of the love seat. Jason spoke up first. " What are you?"

"A Scorpio." Mr. Cataliades said it with a dead pan that any poker player would have been proud of. We weren't going to get anywhere with Jason asking the questions so I took over.

"Mr. Cataliades, please excuse Jason's manners. It's been a rough day for us, as I'm sure you can understand." He bowed his head and made that little carry on motion with his hand. "Do you know what I am?" This was greeted with a full smile that looked slightly like the Grinch but contained enough warmth to make me want to weep for my Gran. I put a finger to each eye to stifle the tears. It was too early for that.

"You are exactly as Adele described. Yes. I have a feeling that I know more than you do about yourself, but we will start with who I am first. Do you know of auras?"

I nodded. I figured that was kind of what I could read of people too.

"No. It's very different. From what I understand you can hear peoples thoughts and feelings?" He had interrupted me, but he seemed to just be saving me the trouble of coming to the wrong conclusions, so I nodded. "Auras are influenced by a lot of factors. Race, sex, age, no….age is the wrong word….um….vitality that's more suitable, and most importantly personality. Lots of fortune tellers would actually make up believable future scenarios from looking at the person's aura." He looked at me to see my look of irritation at the charlatans. I had always hoped I wasn't the only one for real. "They weren't lying per say. They were making do with the best they could. They could see things others couldn't. You know how difficult that can be to grow up with. They needed to earn a living. No one was harmed…usually. Most of the time if someone asks a specific question. The answer of yes is a given."

I gave it a little thought and nodded again.

"Most of them are descendants of my people. Clearly they can't be raised with us, so they're often turned out to a world where they don't fit, but back to auras. We can see a faint to bright glow of colors surrounding you."

"What color is mine?"

He gave the same warm smile and patted the cushion next to him to get me to come to him. He took my hand and said, " You, dear, are a pale lilac bordering on pink, but I do not mean pale as in weak or dim. You glow like a beacon….just like your Gran. I could not have confused you for anyone else even if I hadn't have found you here." He gave me a second to absorb that knowledge.

"Sir, Where do your people hail from?" Which won me another pat on the hand.

"So polite and swift, you are." His hand tightened around mine just firm enough to keep me from pulling away. "Hell."

Jason jumped up swinging, but before he could cross the floor to us a wall of fire leaped up around us. I knew screaming wasn't going to help. We were fine, but I was worried for Jason. He didn't know what else to do so he took off running out the door. Great. My brother the hero. As soon as he had made it off the porch stairs the flames dissipated like they had never even been there.

"Sorry about that. I would never harm you. It was just a simple false façade to get him to leave us alone for a few minutes. He isn't ready for some of this."

"I understand. He can be a little hot headed sometimes."

"Know I can be a little hot headed." and at that his eyes lit up with flames. Not like red and yellow flickers but white hot sparks then went back to the same bright hazel.

I laughed until I snorted. I was glad my Gran had a friend like this. I leaned over and put a kiss on his cheek.

"Now, back to business. I am a demon. We're not the minions of Satan, but we do come from hell. It's another dimension. Yes, it's all fire and brimstone, but remember that people adapt to anything. My people adapted to hell a very very long time ago. Just as vampires adapted to being in the dark, and you adapted that beautiful smile of yours to cover up what you're really thinking. Being a demon is quite nice really. There are very few full demons here. Even I am only half. As demons we are very good at judging motivations, auras, and arbitrating in legal matters. We are highly sought after and paid well for it."

"So what about me?"

"You are not wholly of this world either." He gave me another second. "That fact is what will attract a lot of attention to you, but it will also save your life if you let it. You come from a very strong blood line of others. I am not allowed to discuss this with you because they too are my clients, but let me just say that you have something not even they have. It comes from your Gran and they were unable to see it."

"So I'm part demon?"

"Heavens no, child! You shine like an angel. You are very rare and I want you to understand….your value in this world. Don't underestimate yourself. That's what they will want." He stood up for me to walk him to the door.

"Who?"

Before we could open the door again there was the barrel of the Benelli pointed at his chest. "Leaving so soon?"

Mr. Cataliades just looked back at me and laughed. "It's not so much the who, but the Were and the Why?" and before Jason could pull the trigger he had vanished into thin air. Being fortune tellers made more sense now. People would believe that more than magicians and be less likely to lynch you.

Jason did the only thing he knew to do and leaned the gun against the wall next to the door frame and went to the kitchen to see if Gran had a beer. "Get one for me too, if she's got any."

I sat down on the couch with him and our two Shiners staring at the manila file folder on the coffee table. It wasn't going to disappear and I had a feeling that this whole mess was just beginning. Little did I know.

I flipped it open and started flipping through the sheets, and wished that Mr. Cataliades was still here so I could hug him. There wasn't so much as one loose end to be tied. He had arranged everything….perfectly. He had a hand written note attached to the back flap.

"Miss Stackhouse,

If anything isn't to your liking, please let me know. Your Gran had become somewhat superstitious in her golden years and asked for her funeral to not be held until three days before or after the full moon. Your Mother and Father's bodies will be arranged for in the same way. I have arranged to have separate funerals but on the same day. Please try to enjoy your stay before then. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to call me."

Fat bit of luck that was. The funerals weren't until the end of the week. What were we supposed to do until then? And he didn't leave his number. But before I could get pissy again, and I knew it was just about Mom still, my phone started vibrating against my leg. I pulled it out to see a text message.

I arranged you bereavement leave from your work. You have two full weeks.- Uncle Sparky.

I couldn't make heads or tails of Uncle Sparky, but I was glad he seemed to be on our side anyway. I was kind of tired of feeling like a bobble head this morning and thought some fresh air would do me good. I put on my favorite swimsuit that I had left here from the summer before and grabbed one of Gran's old novels and my beer and was going to head out to do some sunbathing but stopped to see if Jason wanted to come too. He was sweating and looked a little rough still. I guess he didn't like the whole demon thing. It was a lot to take in.

"Nah, you go ahead. I'm going to take a nap. I'm not feeling too hot."

AN: Hmmmm? This works kind of like those hot wheels cars that you'd have to pull back to rev them up.