Author's Note: Note: So here we get a taste of Belle's fiery nature when it comes to sticking up for her family, a lot like Sookie does sometimes. Family trait! (:
You also get a first insight to how Belle uses her telepathy, like tuning into the thoughts and the emotions as well! Woo!

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Disclaimer: I do NOT own True Blood (it's really a shame I don't), its characters, or any other copyrighted/trademarked material that may be mentioned within the story. I DO own my original character, Annabelle Carnevare, and those of OC's of her family members.


~Annabelle's POV~


We screamed and kept screaming for a few moments before I covered my mouth with my hand, silencing it and backing up from the bed toward the door as a means of escape. I moved my eyes from the body, refusing to look at it any longer. This wasn't supposed to happen here; I left New York to get away from this kind of thing, not so that I could walk right into it.

"Oh sweetie, what did you get yourself into?" Sookie murmured quietly to the dead girl.

Death, I wanted to say, that's what she got herself into.

Instead the sound of shattering glass made me jump at least a foot in the air, wincing as the small shards cut into the back of my legs some. I let out another small scream of surprise, whipping around to face whoever the hell it was with my fists raised.

Jason stood there, open-mouthed.

"Holy-freaking-Hell JASON!" I yelled, glaring at him with my hands on my hips. "You scared the shit out of me!"

"Oh my god, Jason." Sookie murmured, moving toward him quickly.

He reached out his arms immediately and I was ashamed to say I almost felt left out for a moment but then his right hand snagged the back of my tank top and yanked, dragging me to him and pressing my face into his chest in comfort. Sookie and I stood there in his arms, burrowing into him to keep the gruesome scene from our eyes. I was so flooded with adrenaline that I didn't even hear the jumbled amount of thoughts coming from him laced with fear and sadness, I just relaxed into his strong and protective hold as a tremor ran through me.

"It's okay," He murmured, stroking our hair.

Sookie whipped back dramatically, "Like hell it is! Look at her she is definitely not okay!"

She started beating at his chest frantically in an attempt to deal with the situation and a sound of distress escaped my throat quietly while I kept myself plastered to his side regardless of the jostling she caused. Memories of bloody tiles flashed through my mind, slipping through the mental walls I'd erected in hopes of keeping them hidden forever and I squeezed my eyes shut to keep them away.

It didn't work.

"Well hittin' on me ain't gonna change anything none!" Jason shouted and soothed at the same time, still holding onto me tightly. "Plus you're scaring the shit outta Belle!"

They both turned to me then, Sookie squeezing my other side in a hug while Jason kept his brotherly hold on me, all too aware of what seeing a dead woman might trigger in my mind. They were both whispering soothing words as I looked around frantically, desperate to rid myself of the memories. Suddenly another shrill voice interrupted us though and I jumped again, cringing at the sound that reverberated in my mind.

God her voice was annoying, the one out loud and in her head.

She was going on about Jason being responsible and I got a quick flash of thoughts from him as he stroked my back comfortingly. He had been here the night before, they had fought over some kinky sex shit and the girl had been pissed. She took a gun out and shot at him but he made it out, slightly pantless, and left. There was nothing of him coming back though, not until this morning with the makeup flowers where he found us.

I turned, glaring at her menacingly but staying close to my favorite cousin.

"Yeah! We had a fight," He admitted. "But I came here to apologize!" He shouted brokenly.

"She fired a gun at you and you came back to apologize?" Sookie asked incredulously.

I had to side with her on that one, it was just plain crazy. Psycho girl shoots at you for no good reason and you come back with flowers?

That shit isn't going to protect you.

"Sook! Belle! I didn't do this! You gotta believe me!" Jason said, hurt coloring his tone.

The other lady, with the ungodly annoying voice that was like nails on a chalkboard, shouted about calling the police and stormed out, freaky robe and all.

"God, she's a bitch." I murmured, earning a small smile from Jason before he tossed the flowers angrily to the floor and left the duplex, sinking to his ass on the front steps.

I turned my eyes to Sookie then and saw wariness on her face as she watched him go, a flicker of worry and doubt crossing her features that made me frown in confusion. Something else must have happened that she hadn't told me about for her to doubt her own brother. I put it aside though and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly in mine before whispering.

"It wasn't him Sook, I got clear memory flashes as he spoke. When he left last night she was alive."

She nodded at my whispers before I left the room and quickly walked out to the porch steps myself, sinking down heavily next to Jason. I grabbed for his left hand in my right one and squeezed gently, trying to comfort him as much as I could, reversing the roles. But he just ended up pulling me into his side, his arm wrapped protectively around my shoulder while I sighed quietly and murmured into his chest.

"I believe you."

He looked down at me, smiling sadly, "Thanks Belle."

I smiled brightly at the shortened version of my name. I absolutely loved the nickname he'd given me back when I was around ten or so and visiting down in Bon Temps. He started calling me Belle in place of Annabelle that summer and it caught like wildfire. Soon everyone used it when they wanted my attention. I felt him suck in a shuddering breath next to me before blowing it out harshly.

"Well, welcome to Bon Temps."

I snorted quietly…welcome indeed.


I stood leaned up against Donatello, yes my car has a name and yes it is named after my father, watching the spectacle unfold around me while I tried to soak up the sun's heat in an attempt to restore the warmth that had been zapped from my body at the sight of the dead girl. While I remained there, completely still, I came to one sure conclusion.

Bon Temps was definitely a nosey town.

It didn't take much to notice and I could easily see how hard it had been for Sookie to grow up being gifted with a talent like the one we shared in this place. It wasn't at all like New York where people held a little interest in you but kept moving on with their daily lives if you weren't someone that was important, oh no.

The red-head chick across the street had literally brought out iced tea and doilies for people.

No joke.

I twirled a lock of hair around my finger absentmindedly, opening my mind up widely to what was going through the heads of all those around me. People's thoughts and emotions were a brightly mixed array and all over the place, jumping from how sad they were that little Dawn had died, to nasty perverted images as people stood thinking of how she had died and the way her body might look. My lip curled in pure disgust as a particularly nasty image conveyed through thoughts flashed across my mind and I dropped my Ray Bans down on the bridge of my nose, shielding my eyes from the brightness of the sun.

"Who in the hell is she?"

I caught a particularly irritated and snotty thought directed my way in regard to my presence in front of Dawn's home and looked up to find the red-head who had made a show of talking to her neighbors for the past twenty minutes staring at me steadily. My lip curled up again instinctively, but this time a smirk played on my full and naturally pouty pink lips instead of a grimace. There were two men standing next to her that were kind of cute in a more homey way that I wasn't used to but still enjoyed. Especially the taller brunette, he was positively adorable, aside from the fact that the nosey lady with tightly curled hair that approached him, leaving me with a bitter taste in my mouth over her spiteful thought waves, turned out to be his darling mother.

That wasn't so cute.

"Sookie and Jason Stackhouse, and some other girl."

I watched and listened to her words that resounded in her mind before she voiced them to her company as the red-head gestured toward me and then my cousins who were still in the house behind me.

"It sounds like the girls found the body, but they think Jason might have done it!" She exclaimed excitedly.

I glared at her giddy form as I pictured ways to throw her this way and that before a deep sound echoed lowly in my throat. I swear I snarled, like an actual full-out predator's snarl that left me slightly shocked with myself at its intensity. But how dare she talk about Jason like that! Even the cute brunette saying there was no way it was Jason wasn't enough to calm me back down from my angered state.

"I'll tell ya one thing, it's way too small a town to be losing girls one after th' other like this. Whoever they is, I hope dey fry th' fuck."

I couldn't help the giggle that passed my lips at the second man's exclamation as I shook my head softly.

"Rene'!" the red-head admonished, shame clouding her mind at his outburst.

Shortly after a few shoves and "Rene's" comment, I noticed that the group of people standing across the street from me began to direct their curious thoughts towards me. Each one of them was busy wondering who the heck I was and why the heck I was on the other side of the ugly yellow police tape with the cops and Stackhouses. Their musings began to get wild, ranging from all sorts of preposterous possibilities making me sigh heavily and growl in frustration, holding my hair up off my hot neck. Being able to hear people's private thoughts, especially when they were heavily laced with emotion, was both a blessing and a curse. Not wanting to listen to anymore theories on my arrival, I patted Donatello's hood as I made my way back towards the house looking for Jason or Sookie.

When I stepped into the living room all eyes turned to me so I lifted my hand up in the air as a greeting before I sank down on the couch beside Jason again, holding out my hand for his on my thigh if he needed it for sisterly support. He took it immediately and I felt the waves of worry and fear wash over me from the connection.

He knew this looked bad and he was scared shitless about what might happen next.

I wanted to tell him it would be okay, that everything would be fine, but I didn't for two reasons. One, Sook had told me how he hated the mind reading stuff, not liking that she, and now I, could pry into his private life (or his emotions in my case) on a whim.

And two, I wasn't so sure that it actually would.

So instead of trying to calm his rightful worrying I simply held onto his hand and watched across the room as Sookie gave her interview a few feet away. The guy taking it was kind of a jerk in a sweet way if that even makes sense, his main concern wanting to look out for the wellbeing of the town's girls on this second murder, but the guy at the back of the duplex with the awful woman from earlier on was a Class A dick. The waves rolling off of his thoughts brought back the bitter taste in my mouth, making me crave something to drink before I caught on to Sookie's lack of input during her questioning. My eyes widened as I watched her, totally zoning out, letting the thoughts in the room take over her.

"Sookie! Pay attention to the man!" I shrilled loudly, directing the thoughts right at her.

She immediately sat bolt upright like she'd been zapped and nodded her head toward me some in appreciation. I watched from the corner of my eye as Jason's eyes darted between us and when he looked at me steadily in question I just shrugged, the mental connection between his sister and I wouldn't be something he'd really want to hear about. I distracted myself from his quizzical gaze by turning my thoughts once more to the people crowded around on the street. There was another commotion outside between the red-head I'd listened to earlier and the Rene' guy she'd been standing with about the damn paper doilies again, but what I felt were the tall brunette's thoughts still centered on me, wondering who the new girl was.

I grinned slightly, but wiped it off quickly, not wanting the police to judge it for something else.

With a heaving sigh the dick of a cop rose from his seat across the room and approached Jason and I, making me tense and stiffen my posture, already able to tell what was coming from the general feeling of him and his arrogance without even peeking into his mind. Fresh anger rolled through me in waves and I stood in front of my cousin protectively before he even knew what was happening, shaking my head.

"Are you kidding me? You've got a bitch of a witness and no evidence!" I spoke, my voice rising shrilly as he sputtered over my outburst. "What the hell kind of protocol is this, the boondock system!?"

I felt hands tighten on my hips though as I was about to open my mouth once more to insult the man, hugging me tightly from behind as Jason stood and tried to quiet my ranting for my own good.

"Shh Belle, shh. Insulting them won't do me no good." He murmured quietly, "Try and relax."

The detective in front of me was trying to make a point of his standings as he glared down at me but instead of buckling in intimidation I simply glared right back up at him. My voice dropped to an icy and menacing tone before I spoke lowly instead of yelling, my finger pointing right at his chest.

"You better hope you do this right or we'll have your badge. I know some fantastic lawyers who love nothing more than taking down a few idiot city employees." I hissed before whirling around and pointing at Jason right in the face. "Don't you dare say one goddamn word Jason Stackhouse, not one word to these people!"

It was instinct to fight as Sookie closed a hand over my elbow and tried to pull me away from my cousin at first, the need to stick by the boy who had become like a brother to me pulling at my chest strongly, but I ended up letting her succeed, knowing it was for the best.

There was no way I could help Jason from the jail cell next to him.

We stood as a duo on the front porch, watching as they led him out and I shouted in outrage when the asshole of a detective hit him on the squad car's hood before putting him in. The nervousness surged to the front of my emotions after they shut the car's doors and I tugged on my hair gently out of habit, watching first Jason as they pulled away and then Sookie when I felt her mind go completely blank next to me. I wrapped my arm around her waist in supportive comfort and she leaned her head down on my shoulder, heaving a sigh.

I was quick to resume my glaring from behind my Ray Bans at the huge crowd that had assembled around the front of the house and street. The one guy's mother who had left my skin crawling in distaste was actually putting sun block on him after he gave in from protesting.

His cuteness decreased even more quickly.

"What do they think this is, a freaking carnival?!" I growled out.

I sunk down on the porch steps with Sookie by my side, running my fingers through my hair while I remained completely exasperated. The heat was making my normally bouncy and volumized hair flat, and I was sweaty, adding to the discomfort of the entire morning's situation.

It was pissing me off.

Sure it was a little thing of no importance compared to the girl who had lost her life in the house behind us but it gave me something completely ridiculous to fret over, something I could actually fix. Leaning my head back some against the steel railing by my unoccupied side, I basked in the sunlight, bathing in it. I was trying to squash down the happiness the sun always provoked in me ever since I was little when I felt someone approach us. I had only been waiting because I knew Sookie wasn't ready to move quite yet, but now we had someone else to deal with and the thought was irritating. I slowly opened my eyes, still covered by my sunglasses, into the vision of the ruggedly handsome and aviator-covered face of a man. He was looking down at Sookie silently in concern, his eyes darting to me questioningly.

"I came as soon as I heard." He murmured quietly, sitting down on the step in front of us and turning to Sookie.

I cocked my head to the side in curiosity.

"I'm sorry you had to be the one to find her." He continued sympathetically, nudging her leg some.

Glancing quickly between them, my eyes widened in understanding.

He liked her! Like, liked her liked her!

"It's alright. Somebody had to do it, right?" She spoke, rationality coloring her tone and taking the place of emotion. "Besides I wasn't alone, I had Belle with me."

I wiggled my fingers at the new guy when she gestured toward me, holding out a welcoming hand to shake his. He was hesitant to make contact and the peculiar waves that felt almost like static as they off of him without any verbal hints at his thoughts peaked my natural curiosity even more.

"Hi, I'm Annabelle Carnevare. I'm Sook's younger cousin." I murmured, shaking his hand gently but firmly.

A slow light seemed to dawn in his eyes as he connected the dots in realization, putting two and two together to equal four, and he smiled some as he nodded to me.

"Sam Merlotte." He smiled, shaking mine back.

I nodded with a smile and leaned back against the railing, continuing my sunbathing and soaking up nature's heat as the two talked. It was easy to tell that he was totally into her, making it all the more surprising that she was totally oblivious to the fact. After a few minutes more of conversation that I hardly paid attention to, one of the officers stole Sam away, needing his help and giving me the knowledge that apparently he was the landlord. I was finally getting Sookie to get up on her feet so we could go home, no longer able to stand sitting next to a house with a dead person in it, when the coroner and his kid took the body out.

It took all I had not to throw up right there.

Sookie and I moved toward Donatello as we watched them roughly handle Dawn's body into the van, my feet moving at a quickened pace while hers were sluggish, still shell shocked and partially emotionless from our gruesome discovery. I turned away from the sight and slid into the front seat of my all black Camaro, much to the annoyance of the red-head across the road from what I could tell be the snarky blast of irritation from her thoughts; while the guys became increasingly more intrigued.

When Sookie slid heavily in to her seat I wasted absolutely zero time pressing down on the gas pedal, despite the cops left milling around the scene.

I wanted to get home…now.