A/N – I do not own Eric, Sookie or any of the other characters in the SVM books. They belong to the most talented writer, Charlaine Harris. All the other characters are my creation.

I want to thank my new Beta extraordinaire, Moushee2 for her help in correcting my English. She is amazing! If you still find some mistakes in this chapter they are all mine.

Also, I want to thank every single one of you that left me a review or sent me a PM. And to those who added my story to story favorites/alert and put me on author favorite/alert. You all made me extremely happy! *Big Viking Hugs*

I will try to keep updating this story weekly. Here you have Chapter 4. Hope you'll like it and if you want to hear from me just leave me a review or a PM. I surely would love some feedback from you! Hugs to you all! *sits down and waits patiently for your oppinion*

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CIRCUS

IV

SPOV

I was feeling hot! Really HOT! I woke up in a pool of sweat and all I wanted was to drink a whole river of water. On second thought, I also wanted to immerse myself in that river. My body needed cold refreshing water. Badly!

My eyes fluttered open and momentarily I didn't know where I was. Then I remembered... oh, yes, I was in a tent in a Camping site. Jesus, now I knew how all the plants and vegetables felt when they were grown inside a greenhouse. I was inside one, now, myself. I had to get out of here or I would soon be a fried Sookie.

I quickly got out of my little room and put on a bikini, a T-shit and a pair of shorts. Amelia seemed to be sleeping still and I decided to go out of the tent. The sun was fiercely hot and the sky was perfectly blue. There was not even a single cloud to be seen in the sky. I headed to the public toilets to take care of my human needs and once I took care of that I washed my hands and put some water on my face and neck so I could cool down a bit.

WATER, I wanted my body to be put into plenty of cool water. Beach, Ocean... Yes, that is what I needed. I practically ran to the tent and I would wake up and drag Amelia with me this instant. She was already getting dressed and complaining that it was too damn hot inside the tent. I told her that outside it wasn't any better and told her to hurry up so we could go to the nearest beach.

As it happens, the nearest beach was only 10 minutes away by bus. We couldn't be happier when we finally got there. The sea was of the deepest clear blue I had ever seen and there were huge rocks placed strategically in the middle of it. The yellow soft sand felt like cotton under my feet. After putting our stuff on the sand, taking our clothes off until we were just in our bikinis and putting lots of sunscreen on, we ran, like little girls, into the water screaming and laughing. The water was not too cold and not too warm, it was just perfect! I told Amelia that I could stay in it for the rest of the day. She said she wouldn't mind doing the same either, but we wouldn't be a too nice sight in a couple of hours looking all purple and blue with our skin wrinkled.

We spent the whole morning swimming and lying down in the sand. It felt so good that I was wishing we could stay there, indefinitely. The hours passed very quickly and we went to get some sandwiches for our lunch in a little restaurant by the beach. We sat close to some rocks, so we could hide a bit from the sun in their shadow, while we ate our lunch. We spent most of the afternoon doing the same exact things we did in the morning. But around 4 pm we agreed that it was time to go or we would look like shrimps or even worse, like red tomatoes if we weren't careful. The sun in Portugal was not a joke, the temperature was around 35º Celsius. Yes, no Fahrenheit. Also I was weighting Kilograms and Grams and my height was in Meters and Centimeters. No Pounds and Ounces, no Feet and Inches. Oh, and we were drinking Liters of water and juice, not Gallons and Pints.

When we were leaving I decided that as soon as we would get to the Camping I would call Sofia, my penpal, to see if we could meet somewhere. I was looking forward to it since it would be my very first live meeting with one of my penpals.

Before we took the bus we wandered around downtown of Albufeira and went into some shops. Amelia bought herself some dresses and I got one for myself, too. It was beautiful, just like this place. It had tiny straps and reached my ankles. It was very colorful, it had yellow, orange, red, violet and blue stripes and it felt like velvet. Amelia said that it really looked good on my tanned skin and that it fitted me like a glove. She said it was a Sun dress that totally was made for "Sunny Sookie". I laughed at the nickname and told her that we should go and take the bus.

Once we arrived we went to the tent to leave our shopping bags and then headed to the shower rooms. Afterward, we went back to our tent and we both put on our new dresses. We decided to go out and eat an early dinner in the restaurant. The food looked really tempting and we opted to order some seafood this time: shrimps, crabs, oysters and a delicious looking seafood rice. While we were waiting for our food to arrive I told Amelia that I was going to call Sofia and she said she was going to call Tray.

I took my little address book out of my bag and looked for her contact under the S letter. I dialed the number and it rang 3 times before a female voice answered in Portuguese. I didn't speak a word of it... hell, I didn't speak a word of any other language besides English, so I simply said: " Hello! My name is Sookie Stackhouse and I would like to speak with Sofia Lopes, please."

"Sookie?? You mean Sookie from Louisiana, in the U.S.? My penpal?" The voice answered surprised.

"Yes, this is Sookie, Sofia, your penpal from good old US of A!" I told her giggling a bit.

"Wow! You really surprised me. So, how are you, Sookie? Gosh, it really sounds strange to be talking to you on the phone." She said while laughing a bit.

"I am doing just fine, girl and I wanted to know if you would like to meet me today or tomorrow. I would really like to meet you in person, Sofia." I told her.

"What? You are in Portugal? Since when? When did you arrive? Where are you?" She screamed excited into the phone.

"I am in the Algarve, in a city called Albufeira. I read somewhere that Faro is only 30 Kilometers (ah, yes, no Miles either) away from here, so I was wondering if you would like to come over here so we could meet. What do you say?" I asked her.

"You are in Albufeira? Oh, my God, I can't believe it! And of course I will go there and meet you, just tell me where you are and I will find you. I still have that picture of you that you sent to me with one of your letters. I can't believe you are here so close. And I can go and meet you with no problem at all and I can even show you around a bit if you like. I am on holidays since yesterday and until the end of the month. But enough blabbering... tell me where you are staying and I will get in my car and get there in less than an hour." She told me.

"Oh, that is so cool. I started my holidays yesterday, too. And I arrived last night. We are staying in the Camping area, do you know where it is?" I asked her.

"Yes, I know where it is. I spent some really crazy Summers there with my friends when I was younger. It is a nice place. Look, can you be at the gates in an hour or so? My car is a black Convertible Peugeot 2006." She told me.

"Sure, I will be there with my friend, Amelia. We are traveling together. See you soon, Sofia! Bye!" I told her.

"Okay, see you in an hour, Sookie! Bye-bye!" She replied before hanging up.

I closed my phone and put it inside my bag with a smile on my face. It would be really great to meet my long time pen-friend and I was sure she would keep her word and shows us around a bit.

Amelia finished her phone call not long after mine ended and she was smiling, too. Our food arrived just as we were about to start talking again. We waited and when the waiter left wishing us a "Bom Apetite" we started talking while eating our tasty food.

"Sofia will be coming here to meet us in about an hour. We will meet her at the gate." I told her.

"Oh, really! That is so cool! Maybe she can point us to some really nice places to go to. You know, maybe she knows some bars and some clubs that we can go to. I feel like dancing!" She said.

"Yes, maybe she does. She told me she could show us around and not just today. She said she is on holidays, too. So, how is Tray? Was he still sleeping? Oh, no wait, it must be around lunch there by now. Is the time difference -5 or -6 hours from the one here?" I asked her.

"Oh, he is missing me like crazy. He even said that he wanted to get himself in the next available flight so he could meet us here. But otherwise he is fine." She said with a big smile on her face.

"I see. What a lucky girl you are, Amelia! Tray sure is a definite keep." I told her.

"Yes, I am indeed lucky and I am definitely keeping him. Oh, and about the time difference, it is around -6 hours. He was going to eat lunch now." She informed me still smiling.

"I am not feeling strange with the time difference. Are you?" I asked her with a puzzled look on my face.

"No, I am feeling fine. But give it time, it will hit us soon... " She replied, still with that dreamy smile on her face.

We ate our food, had some ice cream for dessert and then decided to start walking for the gate since an hour had almost passed by.

We didn't have to wait very long. Soon, a black car stopped close to the gate and a girl with long curly blond hair got out of it and walked in our direction.

"Sookie and Amelia, right?" She questioned us with a friendly smile on her face.

"Sofia, so good to finally meet you in person. I am so happy to finally see you face to face." I replied as we both kissed and hugged each other. Then she and Amelia said hello to each other.

"I am really happy to meet you both. I still can't believe you are here. So, what were you girls planning to do tonight? I can take you to some good places where one can dance all night long and really have a good time, if you wish me to." She said looking at us.

"Oh, yes, please do take us some place where we can shake our booty all night long. Oh, and where we can appreciate the wide selection of male specimens available, too!" Amelia demanded with a mischievous look in her face.

"No problem, Amelia! I can take us to some pretty good places to do those things." Sofia answered giggling.

"Don't mind Amelia, Sofia, but she is a bit crazy sometimes. But yes, it would be great to go dance. I love to dance!" I told Sofia.

"Welcome to the club, I love to dance, too. I go out with my friends practically every weekend to do just that. It is a bit early still, though. Nightlife only starts around 10 pm or so here. It's only 7 now, but I can take you to some of the near villages and cities so you can get to know the area a bit better, if you like?" Sofia offered.

"Yes, that would be lovely, but there's this place we want to go to and we have to be there at 9 pm. We are going to see the CIRCUS. Do you want to come with us, too?" I asked Sofia.

"Sure, I will go with you. I heard they were back, but I still haven't seen it this year. It will be quite a surprise for you since it is not a too conventional CIRCUS." She told us with a smile, but I could she that something was bothering her. I would ask her about it later.

"Yes, we read it is a quite unique show and we kind of got to be here because of it. Sookie found this add on a magazine while we were deciding where to travel to and well, here we are!" Amelia explained.

"Wow! So you girls came all the way here to go and see Eric's CIRCUS? Now that is something, but I am sure you will find your trip worth it!" Sofia answered laughing.

"You mean you know this CIRCUS and the owner of it?" I asked surprised.

"Yes, I have been there many times last year and I have met Eric." Sofia told us.

"Seriously? Were you involved with him? Sookie... we would love to meet the man. Or the Viking GOD, since he is any girl's dream. Oh, and a vampire... Sookie has never met one so far, you know?" Amelia told Sofia.

"Amelia..." I warned her.

"Oh, hush, Sookie. So, do tell us all about it, Sofia girl. What is he like?" Amelia demanded of Sofia.

"He is quite a character and not like any man I ever met. And, no, I never had anything with him. We met through a common friend. If I can, I will gladly introduce him to you, but I don't make any promises. You see, it is kind of hard to get to him after the show, because the women are all but sitting in his lap. The show is just fantastic, but they go there without the slightest doubt just to see him." Sofia told us and I sure felt bothered by it. SLUTS, was the word that came to my mind, actually.

"Honestly, who wouldn't want to sit on that lap? I would, Sookie would too, what about you?" Amelia said while laughing.

"AMELIA!! I would not!" I screamed at her and then turned to Sofia: "Please, don't pay attention to her. She is just impossible sometimes."

"No, it's Okay, Sookie. Amelia is quite right, any woman would be lying if they said they wouldn't want to sit on that particular lap." Sofia said laughing too and giving us a little wink. Oh brother, Amelia was growing on her. I had to stop this before Amelia got any further and totally embarrassed me.

"Okay, we are ready to go, Sofia! We still have 2 hours to kill so where will you take us? This is your territory so show the strangers its wonders." I told Sofia hoping to turn the conversation to other matters.

My mind was still stuck on the word SLUTS and on women sitting in that vampire's lap. Damn it! I am no SLUT and I would never sit on that lap. Right, sure you wouldn't... Oh, SHUT THE FUCK UP you stupid brain.

"I will take you to see the village of Vilamoura and the city of Quarteira. They are not far from here. All the foreigners love them because they are by the sea. My region, the Algarve, is very much loved by people all over the world because of its white sand sunny beaches. We get thousands of visitors every year and some even end up buying houses here. I just heard that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie bought a house close to the city of Lagos. Ok, let's get in the car and go!"

The three of us entered in Sofia's car and she took us to see some really wonderful places. Vilamoura had a huge Marina with lots of boats and cruisers and I wished I could afford one so we could travel all around the world in it. The two hours passed very quickly and soon we were on our way to go to the place I was most anxiously waiting to go to ever since I woke up this morning. Or ever since I left my country, to be more exact.

When we arrived to the CIRCUS there was no one to be seen. We got out of the car and walked closer and saw a paper at the door that said (in Portuguese and in English): "We sadly inform you that today our show won't be held due to some minor technical problems. Please accept our most sincere apologies. We will be here tomorrow for your pleasure at the same time as usual. Do come!"

Of course... what else could I expect? When did things ever go well and smooth for me? Well, only in my dreams... maybe.

We turned around and just when we were getting into the car my phone started to ring. I looked at the screen and the name "Alcide" showed across it. I answered it after the 3rd ring.

"Hello, Alcide, so nice of you to call us. How are you today? And how is Alexander?" I asked him.

"Sookie, so nice to hear your voice again. I am fine and so is Alex. Listen, I called to ask you girls if you would be interested in going out tonight with me and some of my friends. I would really like to see you again!" He told me stressing that last "you" a bit. Oh, does that mean he was interested in me? Well, there was only one way to find out...

"We would love to see you again, Alcide. We were just getting in the car of a Portuguese friend of mine to go and check out the nightlife, but if it's okay with you the three of us can meet you where you are. Where should we go?" I inquired of him.

"The more the better. I can go and pick you up. My friends and I are at a private party in a Villa and it might be a bit difficult to get here. Or I can give you the address and I am sure your Portuguese friend will eventually find it. Which way do you prefer?" He asked me.

"Hold on a second, Alcide, I have to ask Amelia and Sofia what do they think about it..." I told him.

"It's Alcide inviting us to a private party at a Villa. He is asking if he should come and get us or if we want the address so Sofia can drive us there. So, what should I say?" I asked the girls while putting my hand over the phone so he couldn't hear us.

"Let him come and get us and just so we are not totally without any means of escape if we need it, Sofia will take her car also." Amelia said and Sofia nodded in agreement. Now, that was a clever idea and I couldn't agree more with it.

"Alcide, the girls said they would love to go and that it is better for you to come and show us the way. We can meet downtown close to that entrance to the beach that looks like a cave. Do you know where it is?" I told him hoping he would know what place I was talking about.

"Yes, I know where it is. Meet you there in 15 minutes, good enough for you?" He asked me.

"Yes, we'll see you soon then. Bye." I told him and hang up after he said his goodbye.

"Hmmm... I'm wondering if his friends are as good looking as he is? Now, that would make us some very very lucky girls tonight, wouldn't it, girls?" Amelia said in her playful tone.

"Amelia, I have only one word for you... Tray!" I answered her smiling.

"Oh, shut it... you are no fun, Sookie! You do agree with me, don't you Sofia?" She huffed at me and turned to Sofia.

"Maybe you are right, but I have to see them first... actually, I met a guy named Alcide last year, I wonder if it is the same guy. He was an American too, but he was working here in the CIRCUS. But even if the name is not that common I guess he must be another person. Anyway, there's one way to find out, let's go and meet him." She told us with a wondering look on her face.

We got into the car and started singing when Sofia turned on the radio and some of Lady Gaga's songs started playing. We sang "Let's Dance", then "Poker Face" and ended with "Paparazzi".

When we arrived at the meeting place Alcide and two other guys were there waiting for us. They all were really good looking, indeed. More than that, they were 3 stunning hunks. Amelia, let out a whispered: "Oh my Goodness..." before I elbowed her to keep her quiet.

"Hello Sookie, Amelia and... Sofia, so good to see you again. What a nice surprise!" Alcide said and I could see that Sofia and Alcide had already met some time ago.

"Hello Alcide. I have the impression that you and Sofia already know each other, am I right?" I asked while looking at both of them.

"Yes, we have met last year..." Alcide started to explain when Sofia interrupted him.

"Yes, we met last year at the CIRCUS." Sofia said and left it at that.

"Does that mean you work for the CIRCUS, Alcide?" I inquired of him with a very surprised look on my face.

"Yes, I do. Oh, how rude of me. Let me introduce you to my friends. This is William Compton and this is John Quinn. But you can call them just Bill and Quinn. Guys, these are Sookie, Amelia and Sofia. Of course, you know Sofia, Bill, but you have never met her before, Quinn." He introduced us all.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, my ladies." The one with black short hair and blue eyes said and he punctuated his words by giving us a theatrical bow. I noticed that he was too white, even though he was beautiful. When he hold my hand to kiss it, I felt a tingling sensation at his very cold touch. His lips were even colder. OH-MY-GOD! He was a VAMPIRE!!

"It is a pleasure to meet you, girls!" The very tall and muscled bald one said. His eyes were of the strangest color, almost as if violet. Odd color for human eyes. But it was dark, I could be wrong. He held my hand with a firm warm grip and lifted it to his lips and placed a soft kiss on it. His lips were full and very warm. I felt suddenly HOT. All over. Damn! The weather here sure is Hot, even during the night. YES, the weather, what else?

"Okay, people, now that we all know each other let's go and have some fun. A party is waiting for our presence!" Alcide said to us all.

We decided to go on groups of 3 and headed towards the 2 cars. Amelia went with Alcide and Quinn and I went with Sofia and Bill. I am sure I was staring, open-mouthed at him the whole time, but he didn't say anything and kept smiling at me whenever he caught me looking at him. What? I was in the presence of my very first vampire, so excuse me if I was a bit overwhelmed. Sue me!

We drove out of the city and into the countryside until we arrived to a huge gate. They opened as if they were being remote controlled and when both of our cars passed they began to close behind us. We drove for a few more minutes until we arrived at this amazing huge Villa. Several lights were illuminating it from all sides and I could see several cars parked near it. Music was playing and we knew that the party was already at full blast.

We got out of the cars and Alcide led the way. He opened the big front door and let us all in. And, amazingly, the house was empty. He then, led us across the hall until we arrived into a very spacious living room. Everything looked beautiful and top of the art in there. All looked expensive as hell, too. No one was there either. Strange. But we could hear voices now, and not few of them. Alcide walked to the end of the room and opened one of the curtained large glassed doors and led us outside into the garden. As soon, as he opened one of the doors loud music and laughter came pouring in. No doubt, the doors were somewhat soundproof, because the noise was not like this before when it was closed.

After we all stepped out into the garden he closed the door and led us into one of the nearest set up bars that were spread all over the wide large area that composed the garden. There was even a huge pool with a little waterfall in the middle of it. It was a fantabulous place to be at and Amelia and I kept exchanging looks of wonder between each other.

Alcide ordered drinks for all of us and when they were given to us we all sat at one of the many tables spread along the lawn. While the others were talking I sipped my drink and let my eyes roam around the area and saw that there was a live band playing and people were dancing. I loved music and so my head started to swing with the beat and my body soon began moving slightly with the rhythm.

When I looked down at the table again, Bill had his eyes set on me. I blushed and tried to look in another direction and was met with Quinn's eyes on me. Oh, shit! Again, I blushed, harder, and diverted my eyes to another direction. My eyes met Alcide's staring into mine. What the hell was in this drink! I am hallucinating, no doubt! I did not just got eye fucked... 3 times, did I? Redder than Santa Claus' suit and feeling a bit like Tweety being hunted by not one, but 3 Sylvesters, I quickly looked in the last possible direction available. This time I was met by two powerful magnetic eyes that imprisoned mine. I froze and stared at those eyes that were as if releasing their tractor beams and pulling me to their appealing depths. I willed myself to avert my eyes before I drowned in them and drank my drink in a single gulp. No, I didn't get drowned. But, Yes, I did choke on it. I forgot I was drinking straight Vodka, Absolut (Swedish). Go me!

The others stopped talking and turned in my direction and Amelia even patted me on the back. I took a few deep breaths and calmed down. Embarrassed? Yes! Red? Yes! Hallucinating! Yes, again. No one was in that last direction I looked before I choked. What a good Sookie way to start the night!

I got up and told the others I was going to check the band and quickly started walking away from the table. Shit, shit, SHIT! A waiter was passing with a tray full of drinks and I grabbed one of them. I took a few sips but made sure not to drink it too fast. I had enough embarrassment for one night. I stopped walking when I reached the place where the band was playing and where several people were dancing. My body started to swing to the music and I kept sipping my drink, until a voice whispered behind me, in my hear, sending shivers all over my body: "Shall we dance?"

Oh, SHIT!!!

TBC

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A/N - *looks around wondering if the readers liked it*

Damn! Can you believe it? The CIRCUS was closed. But dont' worry Sookie will get to see the show, eventually. You can bet on it!*giggles*

Now, who was the one to ask her to dance? Anyone has a clue?

Hope I get a lot of reviews asking me, would love to answer you! *bribes*

Love to you all and another dream Eric to every single one of you. *grins*