These characters do not belong to me, they belong to Charlaine Harris.
This chapter was a fun one to write. Once again poor Sookie is gathering trouble like a bee gathers pollen. There are a few things that I will explain better later, I left them unanswered on purpose for the suspence. I promise I'll address it in the next few chapters and clear up the things that might have you confussed about certain characters. Thanks again for all of the reviews and alerts. You guys keep me going! I hope you enjoy!
I was only asleep for a few hours when my cell phone rang. I rolled away from Eric and looked at the clock on the front before answering it. It was 9am.
"Hello?"
"Sookie, it's Sam. I was wondering if you could come in for the lunch rush? Things have been picking up and the new girl can't make it in." Sam sounded friendly, but I wasn't sure if it was because he needed me or if he was just more calm.
"Sam, I'm really sorry but I can't today." He sighed into the phone.
"Sookie, I know that I was horrible the other day, I don't know what got into me, but you didn't have to quit. And you said that if I needed you that you would come in. I really need you today Sookie." I didn't have the desire to go into our little fight today.
"Sam, any other time and you know that I would be there in a heartbeat, but I really can't today."
"Why?" He sounded a bit a agitated when he said that and of course, it fed my anger at having to explain.
"For starters I'm in Shreveport without a ride back to Bon Temps. I also think it would be a good idea for me to stay out of Bon Temps for a little while. Is there no one else you could call?" There was silence on Sam's end of the phone.
"Sam?" Even with my irritation I hated upsetting him.
"What's going on Sookie? Why would you need to stay away from your home? What has that vampire gotten you into now? Even your brother came in yesterday wondering where you were. Don't make us worry about you all the time Sookie, come home and stay out of the vampire business for awhile." That really got my temper going!
"The vampire hasn't gotten me into any trouble! Actually, we are formally engaged now. As for my brother, next time you see him tell him that whatever he is up to that he can just forget it! I don't want to see him and if he thinks I'll fall for his little traps and games then he is mistaken. And for you Sam, when are you going to realize that the vampires I hang around aren't getting me into trouble anymore. They were there for me when you weren't. You just pushed me to the side after all that we had been through. I know I'm a trouble magnet, but at least you could have said goodbye a bit nicer than you did!" I hung up then feeling red with anger! How dare he? After he pushed me to the side, how dare he act like I begged for trouble or something. Trouble seemed to have no problem finding me without help from me. And for him to still blame my vampires when they have been saving me for awhile now. Sure, they got me into a lot of trouble in the beginning, but that seemed to be the past now. I felt more safe with my vampires than I did with anyone else in the world!
That thought brought me up quick! My temper dissipated and I started to think of all the things I had been through since I met Bill. Then I compared them to the last few days. Was a few days of comfort worth forgetting all of the past trouble they brought me? That was something I'd have to think about while Eric was asleep for the day. What if I wasn't safe anywhere? I was tired of second guessing my feelings towards Eric, but maybe that was just what I needed to be doing. Oh boy was I a big mess right now or what? Why couldn't I have a few days of peace? No trouble creeping around the corner would be perfect right now. So would knowing what exactly it was I was feeling. But I had to face reality, and the reality was that those things wouldn't be coming. At least not for awhile. I left Eric's room to get myself a cup of coffee and to think for awhile.
While I was drinking my coffee, my mind kept thinking about what was happening in my life. I couldn't put my finger on exactly why everything had gone so wrong. I had never felt so abandoned before. Why now after all the things that had happened? Something was tugging at my mind and I just couldn't process what it was. I had a feeling that Jason and Dermont weren't the only dangers for me right now. I don't know why I felt this way, but I suspected more danger to pop up at any minute. As if on cue, my phone rang again. I answered reluctantly.
"Hello?"
"Hi Sookie!" It was Amelia. I was surprised to hear from her so soon after she left.
"I forgot to call you when I got here, I'm sorry. But my house isn't suitable at all anyway. It will take a few more weeks to be livable, I was thinking of coming back. Would that be okay? My dad talked to me about the Tray thing and I'm sorry if it seemed like I blamed you. I just was grieving, that's all. I hope you can forgive me?" Something wasn't right.
"Um Amelia, how are you feeling right now?" She giggled!
"A bit excited to see you. I miss you already. You are more like family then I ever realized." Hmmm, what was going on?
"Amelia, I miss you too, but I think you should stay in New Orleans. At least for now, let things settle down a bit more. Maybe you are in shock"
"No Sookie, I'm fine and I'm halfway there! Do you really not want me around?" She sounded sad and completely genuine.
"It's not that Amelia, it's just that some more trouble seems to be brewing. Don't go to the house, I'm not there anyway. Maybe you could go to a hotel for now? Just till we are sure that things are settled from the fairies leaving. If you need something to do for the day when you get there, I know Sam needs help right now. Maybe you could give him a hand until I get back to Bon Temps?"
"Okay. I miss Sam already too so it will be nice to see him. Where are you anyway?"
"I'm in Shreveport." Something in my head screamed a warning. It didn't make much sense to me, but I had learned better than to ignore my instincts so I quickly added.
"I called a cab though and I'm heading to Monroe to check on Claudine's house here in a minute so I better go. Just please don't go to my house for now okay?"
"Okay Sookie. Will you come see me tonight?"
"I'll try. Take care Amelia and be careful." We hung up and my bad feeling grew stronger. It just seemed wrong that she would be back so soon. Maybe she was in shock, or maybe she really did miss me. It just seemed odd. I couldn't shake my feeling that something else was going on. I could hardly wait till Eric woke up so that we could talk about it. He would probably have a better idea about what was going on. Maybe my nerves were just shot and I was just paranoid. I had heard that people who went through traumatic episodes often got paranoid. Thinking back, I think I had felt it more than once after one of my "adventures". That thought calmed me down a bit, but it didn't completely subside the feeling.
To get my mind on different things, I decided to check in with Remy. I knew that now was not the time to help Hunter, but I wanted to reassure Remy that I would not abandon him completely. I picked up my phone and dialled Remy's house number. I didn't think that he would be home, but I thought that I could leave a message. After five rings, Remy answered which took me by surprise.
"This is Remy." He said as a greeting.
"Hi Remy, this is Sookie." There was silence on the phone for a few seconds.
"Wonderful! I've been waiting for your call. Can I come up to talk to you?" I felt horrible.
"Umm, not right now, I just wanted to let you know that I was thinking of you and haven't forgotten. It's still not the best time, but soon I promise." He seemed upset by that.
"Well I could really use you immediately. Hold on Sookie, someone is at the door." He placed the phone down and a few seconds later I heard the receiver being picked up. I heard running little feet and then a door click shut and lock.
"Aunt Sookie?" It was Hunter! I was glad to hear his cute little voice again. It was wonderful to have a tiny piece of family still left in the world. I felt horrible that he had to go through the trials of our "gift" but I was determined to help him so that he didn't have to go through what I did.
"Hunter, I'm so glad to talk to you! How are you?" He sniffled and I knew that he was crying.
"Aunt Sookie, I'm scared. Daddy isn't right. Even his silent talk is wrong. He is thinking of you a lot, but I think Daddy wants to hurt you. But he didn't before. Daddy liked you. He thought you would help me. He even thought you were pretty like my mommy. I'm scared." I was a mix of emotions. I was scared for Hunter, scared for myself, heartbroken that Hunter was going through this, and confused that Remy would be acting strangely. To add to that mixed, I was oddly touched that Remy thought I was pretty like Hadley-what a strange time to feel smug or what?! I snapped back to attention when I heard Remy calling Hunter.
"Ok Hunter, I need to try something before your Daddy hears you."
"Okay Aunt Sookie." He whispered this as I heard Remy getting louder.
"I'm going to try and speak to you like we said goodbye when we first met, do you remember?"
"Yes."
"It will be harder than before and might not work, but I'm going to try and if you hear me answer me the same way okay?"
"Okay Aunt Sookie." I concentrated. I thought of Hunter and pushed my thoughts out to him.
Can you hear me Hunter? I waited and a second later I heard in my head.
Yes Aunt Sookie. His gift was even stronger than mine! I sighed in relief and surprise, at least we could talk this way without being caught and with the strength of his gift I knew that he could contact me easily if he needed me.
"Good. Now Hunter, don't tell anyone else about us talking that way. We need to keep it secret. Not even your Daddy can know. Even if someone asks you, say that you don't know what they are talking about. If your Daddy tells anyone about you hearing the silent talk, act like you don't know what he is talking about. Pretend that you can't hear them. If they try to silent talk to you, say something back to them that they aren't thinking so that they won't believe him. Do you understand Hunter?" I closed my eyes praying that the poor baby could understand me. He was too young to have to be going through this.
I understand Aunt Sookie. Daddy is coming though, I have to hang up the phone now. I almost cried with pride for him. Then I heard the phone shut off.
Good Hunter. You are a brave boy. Let me know if your Daddy scares you some more. It is better if he thinks about me than if he thinks about you. Tell him that you picked up the phone and it was beeping and then you had to use the bathroom. I'll contact you this way again in about 30 minutes okay? He seemed to understand me. I could feel that he was still scared, but he was much more mature then a normal four year old. I understood that completely. When you can hear people's thoughts, you had to grow up quick.
Okay. I love you Aunt Sookie. I smiled.
I love you too Hunter. I then shut off our connection so I could think without scaring Hunter even further.
I sat there for a minute in a complete mess. My eyes were tearing up and I think that I was beyond panic. I was in survival mode once again. This time it wasn't my survival that took the forefront of my mind. Hunter had a future. He deserved to be happy and to see what life held. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew that it was big. Poor Hunter was dragged into my mess when I did everything I could to keep him out of it. I would die to keep him safe. I knew that without even thinking about it. He was important. His gift surprised even me. When I was his age I had no control over my gift, and when I met Barry from Dallas, he was like I was when I was a teenager. Hunter surpassed us both. It was like he had complete control and understanding of his gift. That made me think even harder. Why would Remy have called me about Hunter going to kindergarten? Even if he didn't realize how much control Hunter had, surely he wouldn't be worried about Hunter getting along with other children. There was no way I could help him, he could probably help me instead. A new thought came into my head. Remy tried to get a hold of me right before the fairie war was at a head. Maybe one of the stray fairies-that's the way I thought of them now- had this plan in action before and just hadn't decided to quit. Or maybe they weren't related at all? I had no idea. I decided to open my mind and ask Hunter one more question.
Hunter, can you hear me? I felt his awareness, so I continued.
Hunter, when did your Daddy start to act strangely? I could feel Hunter think about it.
Since he met Sandy. Around a week I guess. I thought about that for a moment. It was as I thought, right before the fairie war had come to a head.
Who is Sandy? Hunters thoughts turned a bit upset.
Sandy Plates or something. She is Daddy's new girlfriend. I don't like her. I can't hear her thoughts very well, but I know that she doesn't like me and that she knows you. She doesn't like you either Aunt Sookie. I tried to hide my panic.
Hunter, do you mean Sandy Pelt? I could read before he said anything that I had said the name right so I continued.
Have you ever heard of Sandy call herself Sandra? And has she ever talked about a Debbie, even with silent talk? Hunter had heard her say both of those things. He could also read from my head that I was scared of her. He started to become even more scared. I quickly thought about everything but Sandra.
No Hunter, you are okay. I will be too. I love you. This makes a bit more sense now. Sandy is dangerous though so be careful around her. I'll keep in touch but I need to think about grown up things now so I'm going to shield you out. Remember, if you need me or just want to talk because you are scared, I'm here. I knew I didn't have to talk to him like he was four anymore, but right now it just made me feel better.
Okay Aunt Sookie, I'll keep in touch. I cut our tie once again.
