Author's Note: More mind reading and good family feels, yay!(:
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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~
I parked Donatello next to Sookie's car and finally sat back, sighing as I released the tension I'd been holding onto in my chest from the moment we'd found Dawn and all hell had broken loose. Sookie and I hadn't spoken a single word the entire drive home, though it wasn't a silence of awkwardness.
We just didn't really need to.
Both being able to read the other's mind, we each knew how the other felt.
It was intensely interesting to be in the company of someone else with our "little gift" as Gran called it, and it made me wonder how our lives would've turned out if I had visited more or had lived near her instead of practically near the top of the country. Our thoughts passed easily and fluidly between the two of us, like a steady flowing stream of awareness when the other's mental wall was down. It was a conversation without any words, they simply weren't needed, and the feeling of connection was…
Comforting.
As if on some silent cue, we both moved to get out of the car at the same time, unfolding ourselves from the low vehicle before trudging up the steps to the old farm house and through the door in search of our grandmother. It didn't take long to find her, she came toward us as well.
"Hey Gran," Sookie and I murmured simultaneously in low tones.
She looked up at us from where she stood with a pained expression.
"I heard."
My eyebrows rose, news travelled fast in this town, confirming my suspicion that it was indeed the nosiest town I'd ever been to in my entire life.
"About Jason too?" I asked tentatively.
She nodded with the pained expression still on her face before going on.
"He didn't do it you know!"
Her pleadingly persuasive tone caught me off guard and I nodded vigorously in agreement while Sookie looked a little unsure, making me frown in annoyance. I seriously didn't get what the deal was with that. Something had to have happened that I didn't know about.
"Jason may be many things but he is not a murderer." Gran murmured strongly.
I continued to nod while I walked to the fridge and popped it open in search of something to drink. The heat down in the South was positively sweltering and I just wasn't used to it. There were hot days in the city no doubt, but coupled with the humidity, it was more that I was prepared for. I zoned out for a moment as I drank, enjoying the coolness as it eased down my throat and sated the burning thirst sitting and standing in the sun had created, barely listening to what Gran was saying. I was quick to come back to earth and the conversation at hand though when she mentioned us, despite the grapes I had snagged and was popping into my mouth.
"They're going to find Jason, he needs your help. Both of your help!"
It didn't even take a second to understand what our grandmother meant by needing our help and I was on board, having previously decided to use my abilities to snoop around the town's people in search of who might have had it out for Dawn. Sookie looked completely flabbergasted when I glanced at her and I had to mentally roll my eyes, unable to stop myself. She might be older than me by five years but sometimes she just didn't catch onto things very quickly.
"Use the gifts God gave you, both of you! Listen in on people; keep your ears open, you're bound to hear something." Gran spoke quietly, almost a whisper.
I nodded to myself, standing away from the counter I had been leaning on with a lazy posture.
She didn't have to tell me twice what it was she was implying.
"It's got nothing to do with my ears." Sookie continued, still oblivious.
"Whatever it is you use to listen, use it. He is your brother Sookie, your cousin Annabelle."
I squeezed Sookie's hand in mine and glanced at her reassuringly. We could do this. She might be a little rusty on her control over her telepathy because she didn't use hers the same ways I had learned and practiced with mine, but I could help her. I could teach her. And we could get Jason out of trouble in the process, because Lord knows, the boy has an extreme knack for getting into it.
"Good girls," Gran murmured, bringing both of us into her arms for a tight hug.
Minutes later I followed behind Sookie up the stairs, deliberating our next move, and stopped her before she slipped away into her room.
"Hey, you're going into work right Sook? Do you want me to meet you there later? Maybe listen in some?"
She rubbed her face and forehead looking entirely exhausted and I realized in that moment that I was actually taller than her. It was barely by a two inches and hardly anyone would notice the difference but still, I was a smidgeon taller. The realization made me smile softly, soothingly, and I waited for her to answer.
"Yeah Belle, that'd be great. I just feel so weird about doing this, people…people in this town already think I'm such a freak." She trailed off quietly.
Protectiveness surged to the forefront of my emotions and I placed my hands on her shoulders, squeezing them some while I looked her in the eye.
"We can do this," I murmured reassuringly, "the two of us put together are practically unstoppable, probably."
She gave me a small smile and snort of laughter. I nudged her into her room playfully before finally getting to disappear into my own, shutting the door softly behind me. I took a moment and stared around my room at the mess of boxes and partially unpacked things, contemplating what I should do for the next little bit of time I had before I needed to start getting ready. The decision to show up at the bar where Sookie worked all dressed up was an easy and almost immediate one. It was a combination of two things; knowing this would be my first time really in the public's eye since it was one of the town's hangouts according to my cousin and knowing that if I was what people were looking at, they wouldn't be concentrating on Sookie. Attention would turn toward me and off my cousin so she didn't feel so much pressure, plus it would soon be obvious I was related to her and that would get people wondering about the Stackhouses.
Maybe just maybe, if I was lucky at all, I'd get a lead on Jason.
Grinning impishly in the mirror, I winked to myself before setting off to find the perfect dress in the closest that spanned the length of the wall and was already packed to the brim with my clothes, the first things I'd unpacked.
Despite the situation, tonight could be fun.
When I got to Merlotte's a few hours later I parked Donatello at the side of the crowded bar and parking lot, closing my eyes as I let the mental wall inside my mind down and began letting the clustered thoughts from the people within wash through me so that it wouldn't hit me with as much force when I walked right in the midst of it. As I suspected, they were particularly nasty…of epic proportions, and the acrid taste of my own disgust settled into my senses. It was a good thing I had asked to come, Sookie wouldn't be doing well with the horde of thoughts and, if she was like me, emotions.
I could almost feel her wanting to scream all the way from outside where I sat.
"That Dawn sure left us high and dry didn't she?"
A grimace formed on my features as I picked up on the sound of the red-head I'd seen previously in the day outside the murder scene. Her thoughts and voice were laced with a superior tone, shunning the dead for her extra-curricular activities it seemed.
"It's not like she meant to!" Sookie cried incredulously.
"Well if she hadn't spent all the time in that vamp bar down in Shreveport!" The red-head accused, annoyed and superior to the end.
I huffed in agitation as I got out of my seat, locking Donatello as I walked in front of the first row of cars and toward the front door. The chick inside was pissing Sookie off immeasurably and she had absolutely no clue. I don't think I'd ever met someone so…icky with prejudice. I slid into the bar quietly, my eyes immediately training on the two women who were too engaged in their argument over Dawn's intentions to die to hear the general conversation noise level increase at my entrance.
Just as I'd figured it would.
Familiar crowds couldn't help making the unfamiliar known amongst themselves.
I'd dressed to kill but in a classily soft and sweeter kind of way, the pink and white chevron dress hit me about mid-thigh and was sleeveless, making me look almost innocent. I'd paired it with high wedges that were peek-a-boo toed with a pink bow across the top and had a polka dot pattern.
It was a preppy version of cotton candy.
Everyone stopped, looked, then continued their conversations in a more animated fashion.
Thoughts about me struck my mind instantly in an intense wave that rolled through my awareness but I deflected them easily in the blink of an eye and headed toward Sookie who stood by the red-head, her body coiled and tense. She was damn near ready to claw the eyes out of the bitch. I laid my hand on Sookie's arm, sending her a wayward thought of calm though my lip instinctually curled in a sharp sneer when I faced the red-head.
"Back off," I murmured, my eyes narrowing.
I tugged on Sookie's arm gently, pulling her away from the confrontation and toward me instead. Just like earlier in my spat with the detective, it wouldn't help us any in our task to find out more about Jason so we could clear his name if she got in a screaming match or got her own ass slammed in jail.
"I'm taking your ranch!" Sookie screeched, grabbing the other girl's ranch dressing and storming off.
Giggling quietly, I grinned as I watched the scene unfold in front of me before turning back to the red-head who looked me up and down, calculating. I rolled my eyes, annoyed by her territorial antics that were completely useless, and moved down the bar, stopping to watch a strange exchange between Sam and the girl behind the bar. At first I was still just curious about the way his thoughts felt, something familiar tugging at the corners of my mind, but I froze when I heard Jason's name come up.
"I'm telling people I spent the night with Jason." The girl said quietly.
"Jason Stackhouse?" Sam questioned, surprised.
"Yes, I was with Jason Stackhouse last night and if you say different they gonna haul both our asses in 'ta jail." The girl continued, crossing her arms.
My eyebrows rose higher up my forehead as I stared at her, unsure of why she would lie for my cousin. She looked familiar but I couldn't seem to place her or figure out why. Distant memories were pulling at my senses once more but I waved them away quickly, trying to concentrate on the task at hand.
This girl was covering for Jason, and I wanted to know why.
"You lied to the police for him?! Shit Tara!" Sam cursed.
Tara….wait, Tara?!
She was Sookie's bestfriend back when I used to come visit them sometimes, and she was basically always around. I sat up a little straighter in interest, a grin spreading across my lips brightly as I stood from the stool I'd been previously perched on. I didn't know if I should say something, if she'd remember me from so long ago, so I was caught in the awkward position of standing and sitting simultaneously.
"There's more to Jason than meets the eye, deep down he…" She murmured as she turned slowly to face me, wiping a glass. "Belle? Annabelle is that you?" Tara exclaimed, her voice rising.
I grinned devilishly, quickly abandoning my awkward posture as I rushed around the bar to give her a tight hug. She was stiff in the embrace initially and I could immediately tell she wasn't used to the contact but I did it anyway, holding on tightly as she relaxed and returned it tensely.
"Oh my God Tara, it's so good to see you!" I gushed excitedly.
"Jesus you've grown up looking good girl, damn good!"
She continued on with her higher voice as she looked me over appraisingly and smirked while I blushed, nudging her with my hip and waving my hand in a "aw stop it" motion. We instantly settled down to catch up some when she asked about the city, thankfully avoiding the topic of my mother, but soon Sam was looking at us pointedly, his eyes landing on us and then other customers at the bar as he huffed slightly. I laughed and nodded before leaving her to get back to work, promising we'd talk later on in the night.
"Off the clock!" Sam teased gruffly.
It wasn't two minutes more before Sookie flitted by, snatching up my hand and pulling me hastily to the back of the bar before depositing me in a booth as she blew out a gust of air from her lungs in frustration.
"These thoughts are absolutely disgusting!" She nearly yelled.
I nodded sympathetically even as I hushed her loud tone, here wasn't the best place to start talking about how to help control things in her mind out loud. I took a second and listened in once more, sifting through the dirt and grime that was occasionally punctuated by something nice, though it was rare.
She was completely correct in her conclusion, the thoughts were disgusting.
Downright nasty.
They were so strong in the sheer number of them that I caught myself rubbing my temples in agitation and shivering with revulsion. It was the ones that were aimed at Jason in a derogatory way that were fraying my nerves and it took all I had not to stand up and scream at the bar patrons who were a mass of two-faced hypocrites. As it was, I was pretty sure that I was making an indention in the table from grabbing it tightly so I wouldn't act on the desire.
Until something soft buzzed at the edges of my wall.
The sweet thoughts about Dawn filled my head when I let it down just enough for them to pass and I looked up, catching Sookie's eye as we both sought out the owner after latching on to the pure thoughts at the same time. It was the tall, cute brunette from earlier that day whose mother I couldn't stand. I smiled pleasantly as I gazed at him; his thoughts were the only ones that didn't make me cringe.
Or want to puke.
"That's Hoyt Fortonberry."
I heard the name supplied in my head, wrapped in Sookie's tone, and I smiled over at her in thanks. I waved her off to work her shift quickly after while I breathed in a deep sigh, opening my mind back up and letting the thoughts wash through me despite the fact that I felt I'd need a thousand showers to feel clean again. I was drifting in and out of them, concentrating on listening to the trash while playing it off by looking at my phone, checking Facebook and what not.
Until a familiar hum of thoughts rolled through me, drawing me out of my trance.
My eyes widened when I looked up to find Sookie confronting Jason.
He…he was out! He was here!
I rushed out of the booth I was folded in, squealing his name accidently in excitement and gaining everyone's attention once more as I tackled him in a tight hug, wrapping my arms around his waist as he stumbled a bit from the impact. He grabbed onto me and laughed deeply, hugging me back just as tightly before we turned back to a slightly impatient Sookie.
"You swear?" Sookie asked gravely and I looked back and forth between the two, confused.
"The way your acting seems like you want it to be me!" Jason hissed, his arm tightening around me.
"Wha-what?!" I screeched and looked to Sookie incredulously.
"I'm sorry Gran asked us to listen in, see if we could clear your name and-"
She trailed off as Jason cut her off saying he needed to see Lafayette, a name I had heard but had yet to match a face with, and walked off; leaving Sookie and I staring after him with shocked expressions at his quick departure. It was like he didn't even consider how worried we would have been after seeing him carted off in the back of a police vehicle.
Jerk. I was going to beat his ass later.