Sam left early every morning, and Sookie made sure never to arrive or leave at the same time as him. Of course, the other employees noticed Sam's odd behavior, but after the fiasco with Jason, Sookie figured he didn't want to drag her name through the mud anymore than it already had been.

Sookie was resolutely holding on to her anger at both Eric and Sam. Though she had not gotten another phone or seen the vampire, the constant reminder of Sam's company and the continual presence of a void in her woods at night was enough to keep her feelings fresh. The morning after her phone conversation, a note had been left on her front porch.

Whenever you are finished acting like a child, remember to reconnect your phone. I have something to finish up, and then I will have business to discuss with you. I expect to be able to reach you.

-E

He signed only his first initial as if they were on such close terms he need not be bothered with anything more. Sookie had actually torn up the note; she figured if they were going to treat her like a child who needed to be coddled and told what to do, then she would just act the part. It was a short lived sentiment, and she felt incredibly silly for the private display afterward. She plugged back in the phone to show that she could be the more mature one.

However, after five days of not so much as a stray rabbit wandering onto her property, she was very seriously contemplating testing the power of an exterminator against a shifter. The whole bodyguard thing was beginning to look very ridiculous, and she wondered how long it could last. She had heard Andy's thoughts and knew they were now at a complete loss as to who it could be. He was even beginning to think about bringing Jason back in for Maudette and Dawn's murders.

It was the next morning that she got a very unexpected visitor.

"Hey sis…" Jason stood on the front porch with two coffees, shuffling his feet uncomfortably.

"Jason?" Sookie was not quite sure if she should run lest he throw hot coffee at her or hug him, so she settled for standing there dumbfounded.

"Look, can, uh, can I come in so we can talk? I brought you coffee." He held the drink as if it were some great peace offering, and for Jason, it was.

"Yeah, sure come on in, I was just making some eggs if you want some." She took the coffee and headed back towards the kitchen knowing he would follow after the promise of food.

"That'd be great!" He didn't manage to sound quite as excited as normal, but he was following her.

Jason nursed his coffee while she scrambled up a few more eggs to go with her leftover biscuits and sausage. Once it was all ready, she fixed them both plates and sat down at the kitchen table across from him. Jason quickly built a sandwich and tucked in like a man who had been starved for weeks. Her own pace was more sedated as she waited for Jason to share the reason behind his obvious change of heart.

"Sam told me about the vampire." It was so abrupt Sookie choked on her coffee. Jason looked like he was about to come hit her on the back, but she recovered after some coughing.

"Did he?" Her voice sounded a little angry. After all, it had not been his story to tell.

"Yeah, you shoulda told me Sook."

"Funny, I distinctly remember trying to do just that before you called me a 'fangbanger' in front of half of Bon Temps."

Jason cringed at the anger in Sookie's voice. She seemed to be making people do that a lot more often these days. She did not particularly like it and sighed.

"I know, and I should have let you talk. I was just so angry."

"I understand that Jason, really, I do. I just could have really used you right then, and you turned your back on me." Maybe some cringing would be good for him because she couldn't seem to speak the truth without getting that reaction.

"Yeah…" Jason looked so sad, Sookie couldn't leave him like that.

"I am really glad you know now, and that you came over. I have really missed you." She was very glad he knew, but she wished she could have been the one to tell him.

Jason's face brightened. He was never one to stay down long. "I missed you too, Sook. But that isn't the real reason I came over. Sam told me that stuff a few days ago…"

"A few days?" She was trying not to get angry again, but what kept him? While he was processing, she was suffering.

"Yeah, sorry, I just, well, I knew I had messed up, and I couldn't face you yet." She sat still, getting a handle on her anger over her brother's cowardice. They had both suffered enough at this point, and she just wanted things back to normal.

"So what brought you over now?" Sookie was proud of how calm that sounded.

"Oh…" Jason actually reached out and put his hand on Sookie's. It was bad. "They found out who killed Gran and the other girls."

Sookie's breath left her in one giant whoosh, and she was struggling to get it back. Jason looked on worriedly, but she motioned for him to continue as she tried to remember how to breathe.

"He just walked into the Shreveport police station yesterday morning. No one even knows why he went up there. Then just started confessing. Told the police so many details, they have no doubt it had to be him. There were others, not from around here, that we didn't even know about." Jason was rambling.

"Who?" It was the only word Sookie could squeak out.

Jason removed his hand and just stared at them on the table for an excruciating minute. "Rene." It was a whisper, and Sookie could not even be sure she heard him right.

She pictured Rene standing up for her at Merlotte's, kissing Alrene, holding Coby and Lisa. Surely they were mistaken, how could that man have killed her Gran? Unbidden, his face from the library came to her mind, overshadowing the other images. The overpowering anger she had felt, someone else's anger seemed palpable once again. No, perhaps it was as surprising as it had seemed at first. In fact, she probably should have seen it. He talked about his dislike of vampires when it came up, but his thoughts had never lingered on those feelings long. Had he been hiding them from her?

"… even his own sister. In fact, she was the first one he killed." Jason had been talking the whole time, and Sookie had missed it.

"I need to talk to him Jason! I need to understand."

"Sookie…" The story was not done.

"They are allowed visitors right Jason… I just need to hear his mind Jason."

"Sookie." Jason looked at her with pity. It did not look right from her brother. "You can't."

"You could come with me Jason. He is in jail; I will be safe."

"He is dead, Sook." Again, that abruptness that shocked her into momentary silence. He gave her the minute to turn it over.

"I thought you said he was in jail!" She found her voice faster this time.

"He was. They don't really know what happened. As best as they can figure the other men in the cell found out what he did to those girls. When they went in this morning, his neck had been snapped. Only, no one is talking. None of them say they did or even saw who did. They just all woke up and he was dead."

Sookie nodded as if this made perfect sense.

"The good news is I am completely off the hook! And you are safe!" Sookie ignored the fact that the second part sounded like an afterthought. Seeing his sister's expression, Jason added. "It is really hard to believe, I know. I can't believe I was friends with that guy."

"We were all wrong about him Jason… Arlene must be devastated." There were several thoughts that wanted reign in her mind, but she knew that she needed to save them until she could break down in private. She had just gotten Jason back and like most men he didn't do well with emotional stuff. He was obviously happy to be off the hook; she did not want to ruin that for him.

"I doubt she knows. The police were keeping it hushed up because they don't know what happened. They talked to Andy since he was from here, and they needed the case information. He only told me cause I guess he figured he owed me that."

"Well, she can't just find out from the news. You were his friend." Even as she said it, she knew it was not only a bad idea, but there was no way he would do it.

"She wouldn't want to hear it from me." Jason held up his hands to stop Sookie. "Sides, she probably cry and stuff, and I wouldn't know how to comfort her."

True, Jason's normal way of "comforting" women would be very bad in this situation. Still, Sookie could not bear the thought of Arlene finding out from the gossip mill. Even if things had been strained between them because of the bite, Sookie knew she had to be the one to break the news.

"You're right Jason. I'll do it."

"Sookie, you are the best." He stood up and gave his sister a kiss on the cheek, grabbing a piece of bacon from Sookie's plate. The rest of Sookie's food lay cold and forgotten. "I gotta get to work; I just thought you'd wanna know."

"Thanks Jason. I'm glad to have you back bro."

"Glad to be back!"


Arlene had not taken it well. Sookie did not think that she would. She stayed as long as she could, hugging the woman, grabbing her Kleenex and reassuring her there was no way she could have known. The hardest part was accepting her apologies. Sookie was attempting not to contemplate the fact that Arlene's boyfriend had killed her Gran, but it became increasingly hard.

Luckily, she had told Arlene she would cover her lunch shift, even though that meant a double for her. No matter what Jason had said, the whole town would know soon enough, and they would congregate at Merlotte's to discuss how they had all always known there was something fishy about Rene. Arlene was in no state to be good for anything, and she should not be subjected to that.

The phone rang as Sookie was getting ready to leave.

"I wouldn't answer that if you don't have to."

Arlene didn't seem to understand. "It could be Coby or Lisa."

Sookie nodded; she understood, but she thought it was much more likely to be someone wanting to discuss the news. Either way, she did not stick around to find out.

Sam was surprised to see her, but he had already heard from the man who brought supplies from Shreveport about Rene. It had made the morning news there.

"That is real good of you Sookie, but you know you don't have to be here either. I was thinking about closing down for the day." Sam was obviously worried about her.

"Sam Merlotte, you know good and well you can't turn down the money you will make today off the buzzards."

He seemed to think that over and smiled at her reference to his patrons. "I suppose you are right."

"Plus, it ain't that different from what I been hearing in their heads these pasts weeks, only now it will be Rene instead of Jason. It'll be a relief really." Even Sookie knew she sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

"Well, I guess this means the sleepovers are done. Never did get to paint your nails or have a pillow fight…" Sookie just laughed at him. He had managed to get her to laugh on a day when she didn't think that was possible.

"Maybe if we make it through today I'll braid your hair."

"Oh, would ya?" He clapped his hands together and batted his eyelashes.

They paused the playful banter at the sound of crunching gravel. "So it begins…" Sam's eyes looked ominous.

The good people of Bon Temps had forgiven Sookie for the indiscretion with the vampire in light of the news about Rene. Which meant, of course, that they all wanted to discuss what happened with Sookie.

Fortunately for the waitress, she did not have to feign being busy. Charlsie Tooten had agreed to work a double as well to cover Arlene's other shift. Sam had trying to find another waitress with Sookie's help. She hoped it would be fast.

By the time shift ended, she was not sure if she had ever been more tired. Between her actual job and her work at keeping out of people's heads, Sookie was exhausted. Had she lived any further away, she probably would have just passed out in her car.

At first, she intended to simply take off her shoes and fall into bed, but even with as tired as she was, she was still wound pretty tight after her shift. Instead, she turned on the hot water in her bath tub and plopped herself in, the water filling around her, relaxing her muscles. Once it was full, she leaned back with a content sigh. There were few things she enjoyed more than a hot soak.

Her thoughts started to roam through everything, and she allowed the tears that had been stopped up all day fall to mingle with water around her. It felt good not to hold them in anymore. The water was beginning to cool by the time that they ceased of their own accord. Crying was always better this way because it cut down on the sniffles.

Sookie let the water drain and began the process of drying herself off. All of the sudden, a memory struck her. "I will make this right." He had said.

She practically ran to the phone before she remembered she did not know the number. The operator connected her.

"You've reached Fangtasia, where the undead live again every night, for bar hours, press one. To make a party reservation, press two. To talk to a live person or a dead vampire, press three. Or, if you were intending to leave a humorous prank message on our answering machine, know this: we will find you." Sookie thought she recognized the voice of the female vampire who had been with Eric at the bar. She went with the third option.

"Fangtasia." She sounded just as disinterested in real life as she did on the recording.

"May I speak to Eric?" Sookie tried for politeness.

"That depends, who is this?" Still bored.

"Sookie Stackhouse, ma'am."

"Oooh, Eric's human." Her voice finally held emotion, but Sookie preferred the boredom.

"I am not Eric's human!" What was it with vampire and the possessive labels?

"Oh? Well, if sweet Sookie is on the open market, sign me up. I will be over as soon as my shift ends to claim you. I would have pegged you for hetero, but I guess even the best of us can be wrong sometimes."

"Ew, no… I mean, I like men. I just don't like Eric."

"What's not to like? You think he is ugly."

"Of course not!" Sookie thought she heard laughter in the background, but it was probably just noise from the club. "I just think he is an ass hole."

The female vampire laughed at that. "Well, here he is." He must have been standing right next to her. Sookie remembered reading they had very good hearing from the website; had he heard all that?

"Well, you like men, and you think I am attractive. Both steps it the right direction." Yep, he had definitely heard it all.

"You are ignoring the part where I think you are an ass hole."

"Did you call to tell me that?"

"No, as a matter of fact, I did not."

"Well?"

"Did you… have something to do with what happened to Rene?"

"What do you mean?" Did vampires do coy? That wasn't on the website.

"You know what I mean, Eric. He just walked into a police station and confessed everything… then never walked out." Perhaps that was a little melodramatic, but having to ask a vampire if he glamoured and murdered a serial killer seemed to call for it.

"He was cutting down on our willing 'donors' with his killing, he had to be stopped."

"Eric! You can't just glamour people like that."

"Obviously, I am quite capable with everyone except you. Besides, he admitted nothing but the truth. I simply expedited the process."

Sookie did not actually have an reply to give to that. He was right about the confession as far as Sookie knew, and he may have actually saved lives, including her own.

"But he was in the jail, why did you have someone kill him?"

"Who said someone else killed him?"

"But you said a vampire could not kill without draining."

"I am not just any vampire." She understood the implication, but had to be sure.

"Are you saying you killed him?"

"Yes." He said it so matter-of-factly.

"But why?"

He paused for a moment at her question. "Why did I do it myself, or why was he killed?"

"Either, both!" Sookie was used to his bored tone, but the sense of his otherness grew as he sounded that way while discussed the death of another being.

"Well, I did it myself so his blood would not be shed. No vampire should take that into himself… and he was killed because the trial could have been bad publicity for us."

"You killed him because he might be bad for your image?"

"Mostly."

"Mostly?"

"And because…" The pause felt like forever, Sookie actually wondered if the call had dropped. "He hurt you." Eric did not sound bored anymore. He sounded pissed.

"You killed him because he hurt me?"

"Is it necessary for you to repeat me?"

Sookie just stood staring at the phone in her hand. There was no real way for her brain to deal with that information.

"Sookie?" Sookie was having a very hard time deciphering his tone.

"Yes?"

"I will be in contact with you again soon. I have a job for you, but I do not want to discuss it over the phone." He was bored again.

"Alright."

Click.


Alright, I know that the ending of this arc was a little more anti-climatic than the books, but I went over and over and just didn't see Eric standing idly by while something of his was threatened. He feels incredibly possessive of Sookie, abnormally so. Anywho, there you have it!