A/N: Holidays are crazy. I may or may not get out a chapter next week because I am trying to finish up the one shot I have been working on. If everything goes to plan, I will be posting it on January 14th! I really hope that you all are going to like it. It is very much in the spirit of Harris's own short stories where you learn interesting things about characters, but it is not necessarily pertinent to the over all story line.
Disclaimer: Harris owns all rights to SVM and Alan Ball owns Trublood. I simply borrow their ideas for your amusement in the off season. One scene in particular this chapter is pretty much all Harris's, but I am lazy and no changes made sense to me.
Sookie had thought that the first time she got to use all the new space in her trunk, it would be taking some bags on a weekend trip to Eric's or maybe even a big grocery shopping trip. Never had she thought she would be slowly driving around the back roads of Bon Temps trying to avoid any police with a man bound and gagged in the back. But then, it had been a rough twenty-four hours, and the day wasn't done yet! They had passed by her attacker's abandoned car further down the road from Jason's, and Sookie had made a mental note to call someone about that. Though she wasn't sure who.
She probably could have let Sam or Luna drive, but she had climbed in the driver's side as a matter of course. The two shifters were once again in fully-clothed human bodies, but they seemed to realize that she needed a moment to process because neither had spoken since they managed to get Mr. Witchy in her trunk.. Things were moving very quickly, but Sookie still had more questions than answers. Like how had he ended up at Jason's house? Jason…
She slammed on her brakes, the car skidding to a halt in a cloud of dust that was destined to cover her car.
"What did you all find out in the woods?" She asked hopefully. Torture had a way of de-railing the mind from its current course.
"Oh yeah. Well, Cher, I am pretty sure I know where he is."
"And?" Her prompt was insistent.
"We found a panther print out behind his house." Sam sounded like he was breaking some bad news to her.
"A panther…" Sookie leaned forward against her steering wheel. There had always been rumors that the large creatures inhabited their woods, but she had never really believed it. Only Jason would find one in his backyard… poor Jason.
"No, Chica. That girl, the one Jason met on New Year's?" Luna was smoothing Sookie's hair, encouraging her to stay with the story. "Her people are Were-Panthers."
"Were-panthers?" Two words seemed about her limit at the moment.
"Out in Hot Shot. They keep to themselves, but I know the guy who is in charge over there. I'll go see if they've got him."
"He's not dead?" She managed three words that time.
"Nah, not enough blood for that."
"Enough? There was blood?" Sam cringed as Luna turned around to hit him. It had been a terrible choice of words.
"Only a drop; it might not even be his." Luna quickly tried to smooth over her boyfriend's slip of the tongue.
Sookie's grip on the steering wheel loosened as she caught her breath. Jason probably wasn't dead. It didn't sound great, but it definitely sounded better than he was attacked by a wild panther. "Probably" meant hope, and hope was very important to her at that moment.
"Alright, I am coming with you." She told the two as she started driving once more.
"Cher, I don't know that that is the best idea right now."
"Look here, Sam Merlotte, some other shit may be going on right now, but my brother is missing. Now, you say you know where he might be, so if you think for one minute that I am not going to be there for him, you got another thing coming. Understand?"
"Yes ma'am." She nodded at him in the rearview mirror.
"What are we going to do about him?" Luna jerked a thumb towards the trunk to indicate their uninvited guest.
"I have a good idea where to put him." She said with an evil glint in her eye. After all, what better place to stash someone than a vampire hidey-hole. "We'll drop him off then head over to Hot Shot, if you can manage the time away, Sam." She didn't want his business to suffer. Now that she knew where Jason might be, she could go alone, even if she would prefer to have Sam with her.
"Of course we'll go, Sook. If witches are after you, you shouldn't be alone anyway."
She hadn't really thought about that. Were more out there waiting for her right now? It was wonderful to have friends who would stick with her through things like this. A regular old human probably would have run away screaming by now. "Thanks guys, you don't know how much I appreciate this."
"Well, we like having you around." Luna told her with a little squeeze to Sookie's arm.
"After all, I'd have never met Luna if it weren't for you." If she hadn't had a sweetie of her own, Luna and Sam's eyes meeting with that gooey look in them might have made her sick. As it was, it just made her miss Eric all the more. Not that they often made gooey-eyes… Eric's were usually much too steamy for that, but she was just fine with it, given the results.
The drive was not a long one to her house, comparatively. When she finally turned off Hummingbird Road onto her own driveway, she noticed something very important. Her front door was still open. Of course, the vampires had been unable to close it; the thing opened inward, and they couldn't so much as stick an arm in to grab the door knob without an invitation. Her heating bill was going to be astronomical.
"Maybe I should go in first." Sam offered from the backseat.
"It's fine. I left it open last night…" Her two passengers looked at her skeptically. "I didn't mean to, but like I said, things were a little crazy." She had neither the time nor the energy to explain.
"All the same, I think it would be best. I'll bark the all clear."
"Fine." Sookie pulled up front to give him easy access and waited while he changed behind her car. The bloodhound trotted up her front porch and into the wide open house. After only a few minutes of waiting, they heard the low woof that signaled it was safe to enter. Or at least, there was no one left because her house looked anything but safe. In fact, it had looked ransacked.
"They must have come here first." Luna walked with her through the disaster area.
Her furniture was in disarray, the contents of her closet and cupboards were everywhere. Even Godric's hidey-hole was laid bare.
"I guess we know what they were looking for." Sam spoke from behind them. He must have put back on his pants at some point while Sookie was looking around because she half-expected to see a dog talking to her when she turned around, rather than the shirtless man.
"But how did they find me?"
"We could always ask him nicely again." Luna had that wicked gleam in her eye, but Sookie wasn't sure she could do that again. If the lack of pounding on her trunk was any indication, he still had not woken from his slumber, and if he was as tired as she was after her bumble through his thoughts, she couldn't blame him.
"No, I don't think I can do that again. I know he brought whatever happens on himself, but honestly, I don't think I'm going to be of much use in the mind reading department."
"You can't really leave him here, they might come back." Sam was trying to sound logical among the ruins of her home.
"Yeah," she saw her phone and inspiration struck, "but I think I know who can hold him for us."
Within moments, she was on the phone with Alcide.
"Hey Alcide, how's everything on your end?"
"Well, Adabelle is officially through the woods now, so the pack is resting a lot easier. Now we can focus on tracking."
"I actually might be able to help you there."
"Really?" She was glad he only sounded surprised and not skeptical. "Whatcha know?"
"The street name… and I have someone I need the pack to look after for a while. Any chance you could down to my house? I don't really feel safe driving into Shreveport with a witch in my trunk."
"You caught yourself a witch?" Now, he sounded impressed, and Sookie couldn't help the small amount of pride that welled up in her. "You alright?"
"Hurting a little, but all in one piece. Besides, Sam and Luna did most of the catching really." She didn't want to take credit where it wasn't due. "But I managed to get some information out of him. My house isn't safe right now, it looks like they know where I live, so I can't leave him here. But I need to go find Jason, so I need someone to babysit him in the mean time. I know the vampires will want to talk to him, but I thought while they were out for the day, you all might have some questions of your own."
"Yeah, I'd love to take a crack at him." Sookie was fairly certain that Alcide meant that literally, but the guy really had brought it upon himself.
"If there's someone you can bring with you, I'd feel safer. I have no idea who else knows he was here or if there are more out looking for me."
"Everything alright with your brother?"
"Not really, but hopefully, it will be." It was the truth in simplest terms.
"I'll be down as fast as I can."
She hated to wait around for Alcide when she still didn't know anything about her brother, but it didn't seem safe to leave the witch at her house alone either. Instead, Sam and Luna helped her to start picking up the place. It was going to take some serious doing, but they at least had up most of the broken glass by the time Alcide arrived.
The worst part was not feeling safe in her own home. It was the third time in the last year that her home had been invaded. The first time her Gran had been killed, then she had been almost kidnapped by a Were, and now she was just glad that she had not been home this morning. Really, if Godric had not attacked her the night before, there was no telling where she might be or what state she would be in. Odd, that something so terrible at the time might have actually saved her life, or at least a good bit of pain.
"Cher, he's here." Sam touched her arm slowly, obviously trying not to scare her.
"Good, then we can get going." She set the broom aside and went around back to let him in. "Hey Alcide!" She called as he made his way inside.
"Whoa, what happened here?" It was the logical question to ask when stepping into the hurricane that was her usually pristine kitchen.
"Witches."
"Shit, sorry Sook." He tried to look sympathetic, but he already had that look she had seen the day before… bloodthirst? She was not really used to seeing it on living faces.
"It's just stuff." She tried to be non-chalant, but her voice caught a little as she stumbled over the final word. This was her Gran's stuff; stuff that the Stackhouses had passed down for generations, and someone had treated it like garbage. It made her angry and sad all at the same time. But she would cry later; for now, Jason.
It was a gathering of Two-Natured in her kitchen, and she planned on meeting some Were-Panthers here soon. Gran would have been proud of her open-mindedness. "Alcide, you know Luna."
"Hey." Her roommate's smile was less than gracious, but then, they had not had the best first meeting. Alcide had hit on Luna, and she had not fallen for his charm. It was weird. If Sookie hadn't had Eric… and had not known about Debbie, she would have definitely seen Alcide as a contender for the boyfriend category. Luna disagreed. Maybe she had already had eyes for Sam at that point. Either way, Luna had sidled closer to her boyfriend to make a point.
"And I don't know if you remember Sam Merlotte, my boss."
"I do, Sam." Alcide offered his hand, which the Shifter took. It was hard to tell if it was one of those strength-tester handshakes men seem to love so much, but neither of them looked to be straining. Sookie would take her small victories.
"Alcide, thanks for coming so quickly." Sam said politely, as Luna snaked her hand around his arm.
"My pleasure." Now that, he sounded like he meant with the same fire in his eyes.
"Look, I need to go, you have other people coming? I don't like you being here alone."
"Yeah, a couple of the pack are going to meet me here. Probably just got lost."
She tried to laugh at his joke, but it was halfhearted at best. "This probably isn't the best place to keep him, so take him wherever you think is best. If it won't give you the heebie-jeebies, you can always take him over to Bill's old house. It has been abandoned since he passed away. But come sundown, he better still be alive." She could not believe she was speaking these words. Actually, she totally could believe it, but it made her a little sad. "Or you can tell Eric why he didn't get a chance to question the guy that attacked me."
Affection for Eric was in short supply with Alcide, but an understanding of his power and anger was not. "Scout's honor."
The car ride to Hot Shot was an anxious one. It was a tight knit community that was considered a little backwoods even by Bon Temps standards. She had never been out there, but some of the guys came in to Merlotte's every once in a while after work. The fact that they were Two-Natured explained a lot, though the citizens of her fair town would probably not think much better of them if they knew the reason behind their secrecy.
"You know where Crystal lives?" Sookie asked when they turned onto the little street that held the houses of Hot Shot.
"No, but we need to find Calvin Norris. Panthers don't exactly run in packs, but if they did, he would be the Packmaster." It was nice of him to put things in terms she could understand.
"You think he'll help us?" She didn't enjoy the thought of trying to wrangle information out of someone again, but she would for Jason.
"I think so. They aren't a big fan of outsiders, but if he can keep something like this private instead of involving the police, he will."
With Supes everywhere, it was amazing the police had anything to do. Maybe keeping them around just made the humans feel better.
"Alright." She felt like they were being watched as they drove down the dirt road.
"I think it's this one." The house Sam pointed out was nicer than the rest. A shed had been built, it had been painted recently, and everything was in good repair. The man who lived there obviously took pride in his little piece of land. "Luna, why don't you wait in the car?"
"Excuse me? You wait in the freaking car!"
"I don't want him to feel like we are accusing his people of anything. He knows me already, but showing up to his house uninvited with two shifters seems a little aggressive."
"I'll leave the heat running for you." Sookie attempted to pacify her friend.
"Fine." Luna was never one for missing the action. It was probably what had inspired her to work undercover at the Fellowship of the Sun, or to help Sookie out of that place. Part of Sookie wanted to believe that this was unusually action-packed for her little town, but lately, this was par for the course. If Bon Temps had a golf course…
"We'll be back in a minute." Sam leaned forward and gave Luna a kiss on the cheek when she made it clear she would not be turning her head for a real kiss.
He was grinning about something until he saw the look on Sookie's face. Luckily, she did not have to tell him to focus because he straightened his shirt and his crooked smile into something more business-like. They stepped up the concrete stairs, and Sam knocked for them.
Sookie did not recognize the older gentleman who answered the door, but having met two Packmasters before, she did recognize he had the same aura of authority and responsibility they had. He might have been dressed like any other blue collar worker, but this man was not. She could not imagine being in charge of keeping such a large secret. Actually, she could. It was lucky for the government she had never had an interest in working for them. She already had more than her fair share of top secret information.
"Calvin, this is Sookie Stackhouse. Sookie, Calvin Norris." His gaze suddenly turned a bit more appreciative, as if he had heard her name before.
"Pleased to meet you." She offered her hand as was polite. His were large, strong, calloused and warm, just as she had expected them to be, and his smile was genuine albeit guarded.
"Sam, didn't expect you down here. One of my boys causing trouble at the bar?" His voice had a pleasant rumble to it, and his concern had already put him on Sookie's good side.
"This isn't about my place. It's about Sookie's brother, Jason." Calvin was studying her, but she saw absolutely no recognition of her brother's name.
"Why don't y'all come in so we can talk? And you can invite your other friend in to."
Sookie signaled Luna, who wasted no time shutting down the car and catching up. Sookie did not miss the subtle sniff that Calvin gave the air she joined them. Maybe he could smell that she was Two-Natured. Did she smell like a cheetah? "Calvin, this is my girlfriend, Luna Garza."
"Miss Garza." He nodded towards her rather than reach through the throng of people on the tiny stoop, then led the way inside.
"Thanks, Calvin. Didn't mean to barge in on ya like this, but things are a little desperate right now." Calvin led them into a well used, but nice living room and sat down in the Lazy Boy, indicating the couch for them. It was a little bit of a squeeze, but Luna was so small they made it without looking too awkward.
"No offense, but what have I got to do with Miss Stackhouse's brother?"
"Sookie, please." She chimed in before Sam could answer for her. "And my brother has gone missing."
"I don't know nothing about that, sorry Sookie." He was telling the truth, but he wasn't happy about the implied suspicion. She had already figured he probably wouldn't, but it would have been so much easier if he had just said. 'Oh, you mean the young man sleeping it off at Crystal's…'
"Now, we're not accusing your people of anything here." Sam held up his hands in a placating manner. "But the fact is, he's been seeing Crystal and when we went over to the apartments, we found some blood near a panther print. Not an animal you see too often out here."
"I guess she knows?" Sooke knew Calven was asking Sam about how much she knew.
"Yeah, don't worry about her, she's good at keeping secrets."
"And you think Crystal's done him some harm?" Calvin's eyes were an unnatural gold which only got wider as he got angrier.
"Not particularly, sir." It would do no good to have this man against her. "I mean, my brother seemed to really like her, so I can't see why she would do something to him. I'm still hoping he'll come waltzing out here any minute and ask me why I was raising such a fuss. But he's my only brother, and I got to find out what happened to him." The strain in her voice and the tear that rolled down her cheek caused Calvin's face to soften just a bit, and he even reached out to pat her hand to their mutual surprise.
"Why don't we just go over and talk to Crystal? Mayhap he'll be there, or she might know where he ran off to."
"You have no idea how much I would appreciate that."
"I understand the importance of family. We'll walk over; she should be home." Their little caravan made its way across the street and a couple houses down to one of the more ramshackle houses with an odd assortment of furniture on its porch. Calvin knocked, but it took a moment before any answered. When a young woman in some jeans and a cream t-shirt answered the door, she immediately let everyone in. Apparently, you didn't keep Calvin waiting outside.
"Uncle Calvin, everything alright?" Sookie wasn't too surprised my the familial tie. Small communities tended to have tons of those.
"Crystal, this woman has got some questions for you about her brother. You answer her, or I'll know why."
Calvin sat on the couch next to his niece, and Sookie took the open chair caddy-cornered to them while Luna and Sam did their best to meld into the background of the small room. Another girl came out to take the small child who was playing with blocks on the floor. She looked to be Crystal's younger sister and very pregnant, but seeing the company, she swept up the child and headed towards the back of the house, leaving the others to talk.
"Did you know my brother was missing?" No need to beat around the bush.
"I didn't do nothing to him!" She blurted out. It was not a denial of his going missing, but Sookie still reluctantly believed her.
"What do you know?" Sookie tried to remain polite, but it wasn't easy. Crystal looked to Calvin for a way out, but the man's face was stern. He would be no help to her now that he knew she had some small part in all this.
"We met on New Year's, and had such a good time, I told him I wanted to see him again. He's real good in bed." She sneered at Sookie, obviously not liking the way this was going.
Calvin moved before Sookie could even cringe at the thoughts in Crystal's head. The blood on the female shifter's lip was the only indication that Calvin had slapped her, though he was glaring at her hard. "Don't you be ugly to this woman."
"Yes, sir." She managed to look sheepish.
"Did you see him last night?" Sookie decided to just gloss over the exchange.
"Yeah, and he went out to pick us up some beers when he ran out. I heard him pull up, but he didn't come in the front. I could hear him out back, which I thought was weird, but then I figured he was just gonna come through the back. Only he didn't, and I heard him outside. I didn't think to check the window cause I could tell it was him, you know? He passed right by the house, didn't even step on the porch. I heard him out near the woods, only cause I was listening real good. Then I heard a lot of noise, some shouting, like maybe there was a scuffle, but I didn't do nothing to him."
"Did you go out to look?" Calvin's hand was rubbing up and down his niece's arm in a fatherly manner. The girl must really have had some feelings for her brother; the story had obviously upset her.
"No sir. I can't change when the moon ain't full, and I didn't know what had happened. I'm not brave like that, nothing I could have done anyway. I could smell some blood, but I couldn't track or nothing. It might have been a shifter, but I can't be sure. I was pretty sure something had taken him into the woods, so I just came home. Who was I gonna tell?"
Sookie wanted to comfort the girl who was staring down at her hands after admitting her own cowardice. Or at least, she thought it was probably the right thing to do, but she couldn't drum up the initiative. She just sat there, trying to hold back her own tears. Her brother had been hauled off into the night by something or someone. It was not looking good.
Finally, a thought managed to wiggle its way through her growing despair. "Crystal, you said you can't change when it isn't a full moon?"
"Yeah, so what? Lots of people round here can't." For a coward, she still had a pride to wound, but Sookie did not feel like dancing around it.
"At Jason's house, there was a panther print. You didn't make it?"
"I just done told you I can't change. How the hell would I have made it?" She flinched when Calvin's hand descended on her shoulder. "I mean, no. It wasn't me."
"Who else knew you were seeing that boy, Crystal? Anyone that can change whenever?"
The she-panther's eyes widened in horror.
"Who's Felton?" Sookie asked Calvin, since Crystal was not being forthcoming.
"How'd you know about him?" Her brother's fling was looking at her with suddenly wary eyes.
"You were practically shouting it in your head." She had definitely picked it up clear as a bell.
"He's one of the locals, has a real flame for Crystal here." Surprisingly, it was Sam who had answered. She had almost forgotten he and Luna were still there. When all eyes looked to him for explanation, he continued. "Told me once after a few too many at the bar."
Without a word, they all exited the house, except Crystal who remained sitting on the couch. Had the girl had suspicions and kept them to herself? How could she not have recognized the scent of someone she must have known well, one of her own people? Calvin led them over a few yards to another not so well kept house. Sookie had to work to keep up with all the Two-Natured around her, but her worry for Jason kept her swift. That, and the small infusion of vampire blood she had undoubtedly received the night before.
Calvin's knock was insistent, but they all heard the "What?" called from inside. "Open." A single word from Calvin elicited a quick response from the inside occupant.
Felton did not so much get out a greeting. "Where's the man?"
It was obvious to everyone looking that the question left him floundering, but he kept it together. "What man?"
Sookie had never seen someone Were only a part of their body, but suddenly Calvin's hand was a paw that raked Felton across the face, leaving the younger man on his knees.
"Do not lie to me, boy. Where is he?"
"I've got him here." He told them, trying to hold his jaw at the same time.
"He'd better be alive, or so help me God I will kill you myself." She had actually grabbed the front of his shirt. He was probably stronger than her, but she did not care. At that particular moment, she felt entirely capable of fulfilling her threat.
Everyone in the room looked as though they believed her as well. Calvin and Luna looked impressed, Sam looked a little disappointed, and Felton, well, Felton looked like he might lose his lunch. "He's alive, I swear. Out back in the shed."
"It's freezing out there!" She released him to crumble to the floor and raced after Calvin. If anyone noticed that she was particularly fast they could either chalk it up to adrenaline or shove it. It was lucky that the day was still young, or she would have been tripping all over the place in Felton's cluttered backyard. As it was, Calvin still reached the door before her, breaking the lock that held the door shut with ease. Apparently, no one was afraid the culprit would run because Sam and Luna had followed as well.
"Jason?! Jason, are you alright?" Sookie called as she fell down on her knees beside the blanket that served as the pallet Jason was laying on.
"Sookie? I knew you'd find me!" Jason looked cold, and a little dirty, but there was still some life in his eyes. That was good, she was not sure what she would find, but he had trapped in here for less than 24 hours. "He bit me, Sook. He freaking bit me!"
She could clearly see the barely scabbed over teeth marks from where Felton had pierced her brother's skin. Sookie quickly turned her face, so Jason wouldn't see that she had paled. True shifters were born, but the Hollywood idea of Wolfman was very similiar to what bitten-weres looked like. Alcide had once told her that it usually took several bites which is why there were so few running around. Her brother had only been bitten once from what she could see.
"Sam, can you help Jason to my car? I'll be along in a minute, but I don't want him in here another second." She was watching Felton, who had slunk out to join them.
"Sure, Cher." Luna and Sam got on opposite sides of Jason and helped him to his feet. Her mood brightened a little when she saw that he was able to walk on his own for the most part. He was going to be okay... but he might also be a half-panther next full moon, which wasn't too far away.
"You bit him?!" She yelled once Jason was out of ear-shot. "What were you trying to do exactly?"
"Crystal likes him more cause he's an outsider. I figured if he's one of us, she'd go back to liking me best."
"You stupid son of a bitch." Part of her wanted to slap him again, but he looked too pitiful for the effort. The already taxing day was beginning to weigh heavily on her.
"If he was only bitten once, chances are he won't turn, but if he does, we will be there to keep him safe." Calvin told her soothingly.
"I appreciate that." She tried for sincere, but it only sounded angry.
"As for Felton, if we take care of it, will Jason agree not to talk to the police?" So they would kill Felton to keep all this quiet? Better him than her or Jason. No matter how wretched he looked, Sookie could find nothing for Felton except disdain. She would not plead for his life.
"He'll agree. As far as we are concerned, Jason spent the night with Crystal here... but the relationship isn't going to work out." She stressed the last part. One way or another, she was going to separate her brother from that woman.
Calvin nodded his understanding, and Sookie walked away. Her last remaining family member was waiting for her in her car, and despite what was happening in her own life, she intended to protect him.
A/N: For those of you who don't know… I hate Jason. I very, very seriously thought about killing him off, but that seemed a little mean to Sookie. Killing her last living relative and what not. I wanted to finish up that part of the story line quickly while also cutting out further need of him in the future books. He will still be around, but not nearly as much.
Also, sorry that I have been so bad about replying to your reviews. I try and what for all of them to come in, but then I can't remember which I have done and which I haven't, and it is all a mess. I promise that I will do much better for here on out, so review to hear from me!