Sookie POV
The afternoon sun pours through the window of my hotel room and I slip my sundress back on.
Outside, the French Quarter has light foot traffic as families walk around and take snapshots of historic buildings. I know that when the sun goes down, it will be a whole different story.
There were so many old buildings, the vampire headquarters could be anywhere. Brennan's Restaurant, Jackson Square, there are at least 200 historic buildings in the area. Some of the areas date back to the late 1600's, plenty of time for vampires to set up shop and disappear.
Maybe they picked something a little more obvious. I should know better after what happened with Marnie, but some sick part of me is curious. I duck into a voodoo shop. If anyone would know…but I have to be tactful.
Along the walls are glass jars filled with hair, small cloth dolls, and books so old, they're turning to dust.
"Hello, child", I hear and jump.
"Hello, ma'am, you scared me to death", I say, clutching my purse and my heart.
"I'm sorry", she says, with a smile designed to disturb tourists.
She stops suddenly and looks me up and down. "I will read your fortune", she suggests.
"No thank you, ma'am, I did that once before, and nuthin good can come of it. But I do have a couple of questions", I say.
She doesn't say anything, but I decide to keep talking.
"Do you know if there is a vampire hotel in New Orleans?" I ask. She rolls her eyes.
"And of course you think I would know this. That's no question, child, the Blood Bags and Bones is 3 blocks away", she says, like I'm an idiot.
"The Blood, what?" I ask. "That's a hotel?"
"Yes, and if that's it, be on your way", she says.
"No, not quite. I'm lookin for sumpthin else. Vampirey…like a headquarters", I say.
"God Almighty, girl", she drawls in perfect Creole, "And you presume I would know this? Well I don't, and you shouldn't even be thinking about going there."
As she shoves by me, she touches my arm and stops cold, like she touched an ice cube.
Her eyes go wide.
"Ma'am?" I ask.
"Death, child. It follow you", she says, and she looks horrified.
"Death?"
"Follows you around all the time", she says. "You need a cleansing."
"The cleansing…" I start, "Would it keep the dead away? Alllll the dead?"
"If we act quickly, yes", she says.
"I don't really want to keep allll the dead away", I say, embarrassed.
"So it's more than curiosity, then? You run around with a vampire", she says, looking scandalized.
"I think it's pretty unfair for you to judge me, standin in the middle of a voodoo shop, but….yeah", I say.
"More than one", she says, shaking her head.
"If you're just gonna stand there and judge me, I'm on my way…"
"Wait", she says, taking my arm. "There is more you want to know than where to find these vampires. There is something more in your heart…."
"There's a…man", I say, "But you wouldn't approve. I'm…." I start.
"About to worry yourself sick", she finishes. "Only one place to go. To the statue of Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. Her love died too young, and she mourned him all her life. She helps many women find their men again."
"Can you give me directions?" I ask, sheepishly.
"Yes", she says, "And this, is on the house. If you are going into danger, take it."
She gives me a tiny glass vial. "Drink it down in one gulp if you are near death. It will protect you."
I thank her and leave. At the nearest trash can, I throw out the little vial.
Eric POV
Damn Sookie. She should never have come here. I didn't want Pam here either, but she was the only one who would hear me. Sookie is going to rescue me, she said. It was no mystery why I loved her, why almost everyone loved her. I had to get to her.
"Grraaahhh!"
I struggle hard against the chains tying my hands behind my back and holding me to the chair. 50 lbs of pure silver. Godric, on his best day, couldn't have broken them.
There is a woman standing in front of me. Brunette hair in a bun, medium height, slim build, long legs encased in a pencil skirt. She wears a button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. She looks at me through small glasses perched on the tip of her nose.
"The more you struggle, Mr. Northman, the deeper the chains dig into your skin", she advises. Then she bends over my chair and puts her face close to mine. "It will hurt worse."
I growl at her through gritted teeth. "Let. Me. Go." At least she has the intelligence to jump back.
"I'm afraid I can't do that. My employer wants a word with you", she answers.
"And who is your employer?" I growl. I'm too angry to do anything else.
"You'll meet him soon", she says.
"It is not customary to leave someone tied up like this", I grit out. Custom and tradition were important to vampires. Not only were many of us "old world", we knew we'd meet again many times over the centuries, and it was best to be nice.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Northman, you're absolutely right", she said. "You must be thirsty. Can I get you something? What's your favorite blood type?"
"I'm not thirsty", I say, still trying to struggle with the chains.
"I insist", she answers. "O Neg, or something more specific?"
"Dammit, I want you to release me! I want to know what's going on here. I don't want a TruBlood!"
"TruBlood?" she asks, all innocence. "Mr. Northman, we don't drink TruBlood here. Horrible stuff. I don't know how you swallow it. "
She rings a little bell, and a tiny, bent over old woman enters.
"Allegra, O Neg please", the girls says. The old woman leaves.
"You feed on humans, then", I say, It wasn't a question.
"Of course!" she says brightly. "That's what they're there for."
She was a little too happy about it. Something was going on here.
"That's the ONLY thing they're there for", she corrects.
"Are you…San…Sanguinistas?" I ask. Shit, this just keeps getting better.
"You're sharp, Mr. Northman, we are indeed", she says.
"And what does this have to do with me?" I ask.
"Do you know Nan Flannigan?" she asks.
I knew her well enough to stake her.
"I've heard of her. She's on TV right?" I ask.
She rolls her eyes. "We already know you and Mr. Compton know her well. Knew her well. She's dead. But you knew that, didn't you?"
I say nothing. Let her wait.
"She was last seen entering the premises of King Compton, where you also were. She and 5 bodyguards went in. No one came out", she says.
Silence. It's irking her. I can tell she's a young vampire, easily brainwashed by an older one.
"Mr. Northman", she huffs. "Did you and King Compton kill Nan Flannigan?"
"You seem to know everything already, you tell me", I say.
"We know you did." Her voice wavers. This isn't going how she expected.
"And your employer has his feelings hurt about it?" I ask.
"The Great Revelation was the worst thing that ever happened to vampire kind. She and the Authority preach a lifestyle of mainstreaming. Even drinking foul artificial liquid and calling it blood. It's a crime against vampire kind. You feed on humans, we know it, and we've had it confirmed. We wondered if you were one of us, Mr. Northman", she says.
"I'm not", I answer. "Yes, I have fed on humans in the past, whether it was against the law or not, and still feed on them occasionally. But I don't think of them as animals, and I don't purposely harm them."
"You're very kind with them then." She takes a deep breath. "At least you're not a radical mainstreamer, that counts in your favor."
"My favor?" I ask. "You've had all your questions answered, and I've had none. Why did you take me specifically? My patience is running out."
She giggles. "Your patience, Mr. Northman?" She shrugs her shoulders. "What exactly do you think you can do?" She eyeballs the impossibly heavy chain holding me down.
I growl and she backs off. "Tell your employer to get his ass in here right now. Or you're going to find out."
She steps back.
At that moment, the old woman walks through the door – leading a human child in chains. No more than 10 years old.
"Help, help me….", the little girl cries, helplessly, as if she's asked before and been denied before.
"No", I say firmly.
"Oh, yes, Mr. Northman. I've tried her, she's sweet. All the young ones are", she croons. "I know you've had them before."
A different time, a different place, a different me. But yes, I had. I never took too much though. And yes, they were delicious. I've done things, terrible things. Things I didn't want others to know about, things it would crush Sookie to know I did, and a few things I don't want to think about myself. But this is not something I can do.
"No, helllp! Help!" the little girl struggles and I close my eyes.
"You've made your point, let her go", I say. "I'll wait patiently."
"This wasn't a demonstration, Mr. Northman. My employer will be along very shortly. This is…lunch", she says and leads the girl to me.
"I can't trust you enough to untie you", she croons.
"The only intelligent thing you've said today", I mumble.
"But", she holds the little girl inches from me. I try to turn my head away. "You can bite her from here."
"Get away from me", I grit out.
"Bite her, Mr. Northman", she orders.
"No. I will not bite her, you crazy fucking bitch", I hiss.
"Suit yourself then", she says, grabs the screaming child, and bites.
I want to look away, but can't. The woman sucks and sucks, her speed increasing.
"You're going to kill her!" I yell. "You've had enough."
The girl can't struggle anymore and goes limp.
"Stop it…", I try to stand up, but know I can't.
I watch as the light goes out of the little girl's eyes.
The woman drops her on the floor, and kicks away the dead body.
"You shouldn't feel any sorrier for them than humans do for cows. So I had some veal, as they call it, today. So sue me", she smiles.
Oh my God, Sookie. Go home. These vampires are crazy.
Sookie POV
I look up at Marie Laveau as the sun sets. Did she really answer prayers? It reads on the statue that she was not only the Voodoo Queen, but nominated to be a Catholic Saint.
"Let me find him", I whisper. I'm afraid to say anything else.
The atmosphere in the Quarter is changing by the minute as the sun sinks.
People are coming out into the street, some with beads around their necks, the kind Jason had on when he got home from Spring Break in high school, some of them clearly forgot their clothes when they left the house, and some are dressed as vampires.
I walk down the block near our hotel and come to the cemetery.
"Hey, there is one!" I shout.
Half an hour after sunset, Pam is on the sidewalk near the Crescent City Cemetery, tapping her shoe.
She looks down at her Cartier watch. "You said 7:00, it's 7:15", she complains.
"I'm trying to tell you sumpthin", I say, walking up to her. "There is a vamp hotel and it's right there on Bourbon Street! The Blood Bags and Bones!"
"The whhhat? You see, this is why other vampires don't trust the New Orleans crowd. They're seriously over the top. The Hotel Carmilla in Dallas, it sounds safe, inviting, upscale, even a tourist trap, but these vamps, what do they do? Name their hotel The Blood Bags and Bones. Who the hell names a hotel that?" she grouses.
I'm enjoying her rant, she usually doesn't go off on other vampires. But Eric could be running out of time.
"It seems to be pretty popular, all kinds of humans are standin around out there waitin for a glimpse", I say.
"Because the stupid fucking humans are stupider than the stupid fucking vampires", she complains. "If some of you only knew just how close you'd come to bleeding to death in someone's mouth…."
"Ewww", I say.
"I speak only the truth, Sookie", she says.
"So what do you want to do?" I ask. "They'll know us. They probably already know we're here. If we check into the vampire hotel, it will either make them go further into hiding, or draw them out to the surface."
"You get smarter every day, Sookie", she comments.
I roll my eyes.
"I think it will make them come out", she says, "You don't kidnap a sheriff and hope to keep it quiet. They're making a statement."
"A statement like what?" I ask.
"I don't know, doll, that's what we're trying to figure out", she says rolling her eyes.
"What do you think they could want?" I wonder out loud. "Do they want ransom?"
"Most vampires have more money than they know what to do with. We've had centuries to invest it, even longer to earn it", she says, "It's definitely not about money. Maybe they want something else. Someone else."
"Pam, are you thinkin…"
She said too much and she knows it. I study her eyes, but she looks away.
"You're wishin you could glamour me right about now, aren't ya?" I ask.
"Oh shut up", she says and starts walking.
I'm not going to get anything more out of her right now, but I file it away that she's keeping things from me. Pam would sell out anyone, including me, to get Eric back safely. She'd trade the whole world and everyone in it to get him back.
The interior of the hotel seemed to be taken from a vampire décor handbook – black, white, and red. The walls were black, with white trim, with occasional art work in bright red and burgundy.
"Let me do the talking", Pam says, as we approach the check-in desk.
"May I help you?" the lady asks, as she looks up from her computer. Her skin is so starkly white, the remainder of her veins can be seen through her translucent skin.
It's frightening, but Pam doesn't flinch.
"I need two rooms, adjacent", Pam purrs, and pulls out her gold card. "A bed in each. One must be light blockable."
The woman at the desk looks me over. "Is this yours? Just to let you know, we do take a deposit on pets, so you could save money by having one room with one bed, with a pallet on the floor for her."
"What the fuck?" I scream.
Pam turns around levels me with a glare. "She doesn't have much self control", Pam says.
"She's not mine…" she adds. "She belongs to my maker. And I'm afraid he spoils her sumpthin awful", she croons.
The woman winks. "I understand. Your name?"
We both freeze. What do we do?
"Pamela Swynton DeBeaufort", Pam says, "And Sookie Stackhouse."
Well there it was. We'd officially declared ourselves to the entire city, and certainly every vampire in it.
"Very good", the woman says, and waves over a bell boy. "Your luggage."
"It was a split second road trip", Pam says "No luggage."
"Very well, Nathaniel, take them to their rooms", she says and a young man, human, walks over to us with a key.
The elevator glides smoothly up, and we step out on the 15th floor. I suppose it was too much to ask to meet another telepath.
I'm surprised that it smells like every hotel in the world.
Pam fits the key in the lock. "This one is yours", the bell boy says, "And this is the adjacent room. There's a door between the two also."
"Thank you", Pam says with a smile, and slips him a tip.
"Now what?" I ask.
"Now we go inside and think", she says.
"Your pet!" I scream when the door closes. "They are RUDE here!"
"This is Nawlins, honey", she answers.
"At least in Texas, they called us "human companions", here I'm like your effing dog!"
She smirks. "Yes, my effing dog, and be glad they presumed we were together. If they hadn't, someone down there would have grabbed you…" She looks down the front of my sundress. "Guaranteed."
"We can't just sit here", I grouse.
"I agree. We've got to go to the vamps and find out what they know. I don't suppose I could talk you into staying outside until I've established if Eric is even in the building?" she asks.
"Nope", I say.
"I thought not", she says. "Let's go."
Outside, there is a frenzy as night has fallen over Bourbon Street. Tourists trying to snap pictures of vampires. People holding signs that say "Vamps, Go to Hell." They had courage to come here to do that. But with all the cameras, I guess they felt safe. Not a good idea.
"This way." Pam leads me down a dark alley to an office building. It's the tallest structure here, and all modern glass.
"It's so….well, not old", I say.
"Sookie, how many vampires do you know who collect antiques? Eric has the most modern taste of anyone I ever met, human or vampire."
We walk up to a door with a normal looking call box.
Pam pushes the button.
"Can I help you?" the man asks over the intercom.
"Yes, is there anyone available to meet with me tonight?" Pam asks sweetly.
"Why do you need to meet with someone?" he asks.
"A missing vampire" she says.
There is dead silence, a few moments later, a different person comes on the line.
"From what area?" he asks.
"Area 5", she says, rolling her eyes.
"That's not our jurisdiction; I suggest you speak to the sheriff…"
"It's the sheriff who has disappeared", she interrupts.
Silence.
"We can accommodate you tomorrow night, perhaps", he says.
"This also has to do with the King of Louisiana", Pam says, and I'm shocked. That was a card I hadn't anticipated her playing.
The door buzzes and opens.
"Now just keep your mouth shut", she says.
For now, I agree.
We're met in a spectacular lobby by an ancient looking vampire. He looks like he was turned when he was 100.
"Your name?" he asks.
"Pamela Swynton DeBeaufort", she answers, "It's my maker who's missing."
"I'm sorry to hear that, child", the man says soothingly.
He notices me and his eyes crinkle.
"Is this a tribute?" he asks, "I hope you understand we can't accept. The media is everywhere these days."
Pam puts her hand over my mouth.
"No, she belongs to my maker. She's very loyal, just had to come along", she says.
Old as dirt or not, he rakes me with his eyes. "Lucky man, this…."
"Sheriff Northman of Area 5", she says.
"This Sheriff Northman", he says. "Lucky indeed."
"My eyes are up here", I say, glaring at him.
He smiles coldly.
"I'm afraid I haven't heard of him", the vampire says. "We know of no missing vampires in the area. Why do you think he's here?"
"He was kidnapped!" I yelled. Pam squeezes my hand until it hurts.
"Kidnapped?" the vampire asks.
"Yes," Pam says, "And brought to New Orleans. Naturally, I assumed you were the highest authority to come to. And I wanted to pay my respects."
"Come along", he says, pulled in by her compliments, "I'll see if Joseph can meet with you."
I couldn't stop looking around. Once inside, the place was magnificent.
Joseph waits for us at the top of the stairs.
His smile was like honey. Warmth radiated off him, and being near him nearly knocked me senseless.
"I believe Joseph is quite old", Pam says, looking between us.
"Yes, quite old indeed", he says with a brilliant smile. Being around Godric had been like being around the divine. He was all forgiving, and he made you feel safe. Joseph was like that, but much stronger.
"I'll be 5,000 next month", he says sheepishly.
"5,000! Wow!" I exclaim and he laughs.
"I didn't do anything to deserve it, I just stuck around", he says, "But please, come into my office."
Is this what Eric would be like in a couple thousand years? I could not imagine it by any stretch of my imagination. And my stomach churned painfully. I would never know what Eric would become.
His office is starkly white with a simple wooden desk. He points to chairs.
"Please…"
We sit. "Now tell me what happened, child."
Pam explains what happened with Eric, his disappearance, the trip to New Orleans.
"If you know where he is…please", she says.
"So you think we may have taken him", he says with a smile.
"Joseph, you're not the usual Nawlins vampire", Pam says, and it seems she's completely fallen under his spell too. "Someone here might have."
"I will keep my ear to the ground, and I assure you that if anyone took him, they will be punished", he says. "But I believe Stanley also mentioned that this has something to do with the King of Louisiana?"
"Bill Compton" Pam clarifies. "He also disappeared, weeks ago. We were under orders to look for him…but we never found him. It's possible he's been taken by the same people."
"This is serious indeed", Joseph says. "It can't get out that Louisiana has no acting monarch, the state would be in chaos. We need to find King Compton quickly. Or be forced to appoint someone else."
"I can assure you, I'm doing everything I can to find him", Pam says. "If you hear anything about Eric…we're staying at the Blood Bags and Bones."
He cringes.
"I don't know what's to become of us if these young vampires don't learn to control themselves. And stop terrifying humans", he says.
It seemed to me that the older a vampire was, the kinder he became, but I bet Joseph was just as cruel when he was the same age as the vampires he was talking about. Godric told me on the roof that night that he could take some credit for how Eric turned out.
I guess I'm becoming cynical.
Ten minutes later, we're back on Bourbon Street, with a screaming crowd of humans and vampires, smashing empty bottles of TruBlood, with fake blood dripping down them…
"I called out to him the entire time we were in there", Pam says. "Maybe he just couldn't communicate, but I don't think he's there."
I squeeze my eyes closed, but they're wet anyway. "This was the only real lead we had", I whisper. "He could be anywhere."
"Remember how I said the reason they took him is more important than where he is?" she asked.
"Yeah, so?" I asked, wiping my eyes.
"Why does someone kidnap a sheriff? As far as I know, he doesn't owe them anything, they're not enemies. They want him for some other reason. A reason they don't mind advertising to take someone as prominent as he is", she says.
"You're bein mysterious again, Pam, I'm tired, my feet hurt, and I'm angry, tell me what you're talkin about."
"They have a cause they're advertising for, Sookie", she said, like I was the stupidest person on earth.
"And?" I ask.
"We should talk back at the room", she says. Why does she sound nervous? And almost sad?
I hesitate to go with her, but remember no matter what happens, I've done this before. I've been down some very scary paths, and Pam would do nothing to harm Eric, and she knew her relationship with him would be toast if she did anything to harm me. I didn't know if that would stop her from doing what she needed to do to save his life. Just give him back to me! Marie, help me find him.