Chapter 4: Same Disclaimer: Rights to the Sookie Stackhouse characters are the sole property of Charlaine Harris.

"Impossible," came his reply, "he was instructed to go to Shreveport proper to pick up the number for the bank account for the rest of his fee."

"It was not your Fellowship man, Master." She kept her voice calm and emotionless, but could feel the prickling of unease over her skin as if she had a thousand tiny spider legs marching up and down her body.

"Speak!" It wasn't a shout, but a quiet yet booming rumble. It was his Sheriff's voice—the voice of a 1000 year old creature who had long bended the wills of others to his own. It was a command she could not ignore. The intensity of the voice sent chills up and down Pam's back.

"I do not know what it was. It was not human, were, or vampire. All I heard was a noise. It was a noise as if things were being moved, but very softly . . . secretly." By the time she finished they were already a good distance from the soccer field, her Master's large hands both clenched around the steering wheel.

"I don't understand how this is possible," he whispered. All traces of authority were gone from his tone. "I took all the necessary precautions. There was none of my scent on that letter. I have never been to the man's home. Unless . . . ."

"Unless we were followed," she finished his thought, her voice barely audible even to her. It was what he had been thinking, but her having said it out loud sent him into a string of curses in Old Norse that were so rapid fire she could barely keep up with it. "But that doesn't make sense either. You would have seen or smelt, or heard something unusual. My senses are good, but yours are much better . . . ." This was true, and it was logical, but it did nothing to assuage the unease of either vampire.

They were silent the entire ride back to Fangtasia. The air in the Corvette's interior was thick with tension and a touch of fear. She knew her Master was debating whether he should abandon the plan. It was only quarter after eight, but she knew that her Master had a few more things to do if he wanted to complete the plan, and could not afford to waste time waffling back and forth in indecision.

It was rare that he was so unsure and indecisive—maybe it was something in the air?

Where she had been insecure and uncertain in the early evening, she now felt very sure of herself. It was as if she'd transferred all of her insecurity to her Master. She would take this shift in emotion and use it to their advantage. "This is okay, Master. We will go through with the plan. If someone was in the house, and it comes out later we can just say that we'd heard rumors about possible threats from a Fellowship member. We merely went to investigate." She shrugged her shoulders as if to say, "See, your brilliant plan is still brilliant."

He turned his head to look into her eyes. She nearly recoiled with fear—not from fear of him, but fear for him. The look in his eyes was pure exhaustion and frustration. She'd seen it there only once, around a hundred and fifty years prior, when she had decided to leave him and strike out on her own. He had known it was inevitable, as all children must leave their masters. But, she knew he was old and lonely, and had been sad to see her go. She knew he had suffered.

Back then, seeing that type of weakness in her powerful Master had made her sick; it had made her disgusted with him. Now it made her terrified. It was a sign of how much their existences had changed. The source of his fear suddenly seemed obvious to her, "you're not concerned about the plan, are you? You're concerned for Sookie . . . ."

He looked away and gripped the steering will with such force she thought it would crumble to dust beneath his fingers.

"We'll protect her Master." She tried to keep her tone indifferent; avoiding any acknowledgement of weakness. She wanted to be as matter-of-fact as possible, like an animal lying still to avoid their stalking predator. She had no desire to incur his wrath . . . or his uncertainty. She wanted this moment to pass, and quickly. She couldn't take much more of this. She wanted the old Pam and old Eric. She longed for their ferocity and fearlessness.

He nodded, and the confidence returned to the car. He had made some decision and his mind, and she knew that everything—things she knew, things she didn't know, things she would never know—were all in place and finalized in his mind. He would let it all be done, let it all play out, and as she'd heard the gambling humans say . . . let the chips fall where they may. Game. Set. Match. She thought; her Master's favorite saying.

. . . . .

It was 11:55 p.m., and Pam was beginning to get bored. The crowd was filled with the typical vermin, and the vermin were ordering the typical drinks, and making the typical passes, and Master was sitting in his typical position. Everything was just typical. She rolled her eyes willing the seconds to pass.

It was not often that an old vampire like her felt antsy, but tonight was one of those nights. If she'd been human she would have been tapping the shiny black toe of her pointed stiletto shoes against the hard floor. She would have been wringing her hands and jumping up and down with anticipation.

As it was, she was vampire, so she stood perfectly motionless counting every second in her mind and imagining every possible scenario. She even allowed herself to imagine the "after" when some ridiculous (but good-looking) fangbanger would crawl over to her, extend his or her neck, and she would take them. It would taste especially good after a fight. She only wished that she could take the Fellowship man. She'd been hunting him all evening, and every time she caught a whiff of his scent her bloodlust nearly spiraled out of control.

Her Master was keeping a careful eye on her. He knew her all too well. He would catch her staring holes into the back of the Fellowship man's head, and then give her a small smile and a playful "No, No" wag of the index finger. She wanted to chop his head off with his own stupid broadsword. That would teach him to deny her the fruits of her labor.

But, she wouldn't do that. She had no desire to spend the next one hundred years chained with silver in some coffin somewhere, and she would probably miss her Master, even if only a little. No, instead she just pouted and turned to the front door where throngs of vermin eagerly awaited their brush with death. She would occasionally sneak a glance at the Fellowship man, and then look away before her Master noticed.

Now that she saw the Fellowship man in person she was sad that she wouldn't get to kill him. He was actually somewhat attractive, and fairly young. She placed him at around age twenty seven. He was muscular and tan with medium blond hair and a chiseled jaw line. Yes, she would have enjoyed breaking him, and then feeding from him. What a pity.

She checked her watch again . . . 11:58 p.m. Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes, it's almost time. Almost time to play. Maybe there is a way I can kill him and not incur the wrath of my Master. Oh, I just want to kill him. No, I want to bed him, taste him, and then kill him. Damn Viking never lets me have any fun.

She was walking toward one of the tables where Judy, one of the new waitresses, was taking an older (obviously tourist) couple's order. The couple shifted in their seats, visibly uncomfortable with being in such close proximity of a vampire (hello! Vampire bar . . . isn't this what you came for you pathetic bloodsacks? She thought irritably). "Judy," she purred, "I have to go to the back to do something for the Master. Watch the door."

"Yes, yes, Miss Pam." Pam gave the timid newbie a forced but friendly smile, and then turned toward the tourist couple with a wider smile, adding a little fang for the fun of it. The woman gasped and the man gaped. His lower jaw might have bounced off the table and then back again. She loved intimidating the out-of-towners. But, tonight she had more fun things to attend to, and began to walk toward the back of the bar.

Her Master had informed her that the Fellowship man was going to stand toward the middle of the floor, closer to the side with the bar. She observed that he was slowly positioning himself in that exact area. She waited until the man was within earshot and shouted to Felicia, which was unnecessary due to vamp hearing but of course this man did not know that. "I'm going to run to the back and get something for Eric!" Felicia just gave her a puzzled expression and a sarcastic tap to the ear as if to say "Shout a little louder, the people in China couldn't hear you!"

Pam just smiled and turned as if to walk away. She glanced at her watch and got very excited as she saw the second hand tick closer to the top. There. It was time. She turned around just in time to see the Fellowship man pull the stake from under his shirt.

Of course, it was at that very moment that Felicia chose to shout, "Wait, Pam! Sookie Stackhouse is on the phone and she says it's an emergency!"

TBC