In the next few weeks there was nothing but reports all over the television and newspapers about the True Blood scare. A few more tainted bottles were found here and there but no-one had died since the first night. The next day after the news broke of tainted blood, it took me ages to get through on the True Blood hotline to let them know we had a bottle with silver in it too. They instructed me to touch it as little as possible, and put it in a zip lock back for them to collect with the rest of the six pack. A courier came for it the next day to pick up and a week later I got a check as a reimbursement for the blood too. How nice.

There was in influx in the silver detection tools onto the marketplace. Ads for silver detection pens and little wads of test papers used like litmus paper were all over the Internet. Some vampires just carried a magnet with them and dipped it into the bottle before they drank from it to make sure there were no silver in it, but most just gave up drinking bottled blood and got it fresh from the source. If you know what I mean.

Amelia had made a full recovery. I don't know whether it was that she found out her spell had worked or if it were praises from Eric about her ability. Maybe all she needed was to hit that rock bottom. She was like a phoenix rising from the ashes and more bouncy and beautiful as ever. Little did she know I have to try doubly hard to block her thoughts out, her new verve for life had amplified her thoughts by double. Apart from taking extra effort in dodging Amelia's thoughts everything had pretty much fallen back into the swing for normality. Something I'm very grateful for.

It's Tuesday evening and still early at Merlottes. I was helping Terry wipe down some glasses while I get to watch some television. I've been back at work for two weeks now and I didn't know how much I missed this place and the people until I was back. Charlie, our current cook was cussing how come it was someone else who won the hundred million dollar lottery and not him.

"Coz you'll drink it all and die in one week!" Said Holly.

"No I won't! I'll put it to good use until that happens." I saw flash of what looked like an MTV of Charlie wearing a gold chain surrounded by strippers. Why are people so cliché?

Holly didn't need to be telepathic to see what Charlie meant. She then turned and asked Sam hoping for something a little more unadulterated.

"I'd probably do up this place, open up a new one in Baton Rouge and invest the rest."

"Don't you have any imagination!" exclaimed Holly

"What would you do if you won then?" Smiled Sam.

Holly obviously had placed a lot of thought into this. "First I'd get the heck out of this town. I'd buy a nice house in the South of France, enroll my son in one of those fancy schools where all the movie stars put their children. He can grow up speaking French and marry a duchess!" She was grinning from ear to ear. It takes one dedicated mother to centralize even her wildest fantasies around her son.

"What's going to happen to Hoyt? I don't think he'll survive long eating frog's legs and snails." Charlie asked.

"Well if he can't handle it I'll BUY myself another husband who can!" Laughed Holly.

The whole bar started laughing and jeering at that comment and Holly went along refilling salt into the salt shakers chuckling to herself.

"What would you do with a hundred million dollars Sookie?" Sam asked me.

To be honest I've never thought of it. My only thoughts on money were how to manage and get by without falling to debt. I love Bon Temps and it's all I know so I won't move anywhere. I won't stop working or else I'll go insane. All in all, apart from taking a few more vacations I don't think life will be that much different. Maybe a few shots of Botox when in a few years so I don't look that much older than Eric… I was just opening my mouth to answer Sam when Terry said "Hey isn't that vampire Bill?"

My eyes darted out onto the empty parking lot "Where?"

"There." I turned to see Terry pointing at the television set.

And there he was. My Bill was on TV being interviewed on a current affair program. The bar fell silent and Terry turned up the volume.

"I have two very special guests with me this evening. As we all know of the recent incident involving poisoned synthetic blood. This has many members of the public very concerned and brought up many points of debate. Here as a representative of the American Vampire Union is Mr. William Compton. Welcome Bill.

"Thank you Harold."

"Bill, what is the general reaction of the vampire community to the recent True Blood incident?"

"Well Harold, the reaction we have is that of any other community which have had a product scare. We are frightened, scared and have taken care and precaution to protect ourselves and the ones we care about."

"What precautions would that be?"

"As you may have noticed there has been a flood of silver detection devices in the market, there is not one vampire that go out without one these days. I myself carry this silver detection pen wherever I go."

"Correct me if I'm wrong Bill, but True Blood itself has reported a 71% drop in sales in the last month alone and there is an estimated 50% drop in sales in the consumable synthetic blood industry. Let's be honest, vampires have to get their blood from somewhere."

"Of course, we have been wary of a recently contaminated product. We are afterall, just like any other consumer."

"However, unlike any other consumer, synthetic bottled blood is the only source of nutrition for vampires. Any other consumer will just switch to another substitute."

Ah-ha! I thought to myself. Here's what we're getting at!

"Oh we have substitutes. I'd be lying to you if I tell you that not a single vampire had a drop of human blood since the Great Revelation. However, since the invention of synthetic blood vampires have been able to come out into the public as who we are. We are able to be honest about our condition-"

"You mean the virus?"

"Yes. And since then, the public has been able to accept us as members of society and understand all we have is a different need for sustenance. Statistically, the average vampire only needs a quart of blood per feeding. No more than a human giving blood at a blood bank and if you consult statistics Harold, you would see that over the counter sale of blood at the blood bank has also increased."

That was real smooth answer from Bill. Portraying vampires are just as harmless as before they came out of the coffin, even if they are consuming more human blood at the moment. I myself know it depends on the self control of the individual vampire. Just because you're full from eating half a hamburger doesn't mean you don't go and finish off the rest of it. Need has very little to do with it, it's impulse especially for new vampires.

"Now Bill, the core argument behind the Great Revelation was that vampires don't need to feed off humans anymore because of the availability of synthetic blood. Do recent events change that? Do we have anything to fear from vampires?"

"Not one bit. In fact, in the few years since the Great Revelation there are already many provisions for vampire needs. There are many other synthetic blood brands other than True Blood out there and there are over the counter sales of human blood at the blood bank. These are all signs of a progression towards integration. Not to mention many other enterprises such as hotels and real estate specially geared towards vampire market. Why would we want destroy that trust and return to the days where we are lying and cheating about our existence?"

"So far, no one has claimed responsibility for contaminating the bottled blood. Terrorists are very quick in claiming their conquests, why do you think no-one had spoken up yet Bill?"

"I'd hate to speculate on the circumstances. At the end of the day, it could be someone's idea of a sick joke."

"What type of person would find something like that funny?"

Don't fall for it Bill…. I thought to myself.

"Well it would be people whose agenda are acts of malice targeted at vampires only. Yet because of their prominence it's hard for them to own up to these acts in fear of retaliation or legal actions."

"Like the Fellowship of the Sun?"

"I'm not making any accusations of any kind Harold. I'm just deducing the circumstances logically."

Damn! It's already out there… and like on queue, Harold the host went on to…

"Thanks for your time Bill. My next guest is the Reverend Philip Stanton of the Fellowship of the Sun. Reverend what do you have to say to the rumors that the FotS has had a hand in True Blood contamination?

A shiny bald man, wrinkled and covered in liver spots dressed in a black suit could hardly contain himself.

"We from the Fellowship resent, I re-iterate RESENT being falsely accused of causing harm to ANYBODY! That being said Harold, technically has there been death at all with these incidents? There's no body to verify if there's been a death at all. We can't even identify the deceased. Which takes me back to the point that that the Fellowship has been arguing all along; should we grant rights to beings which don't have life to begin with? I mean…"

A couple of people started coming into the bar and Sam switched the channel. He didn't want the patrons getting into a lather about topics like this when there's alcohol in the mix as well.

The rest of my shift was uneventful except for the usual sad Jane Bodehouse who wouldn't go home. I had already dropped a line to her son and was ready to wait with Jane, but Sam said he'll stay with her until her son gets there.

I was excited to tell Eric about seeing Bill on TV today. It looks like he's really moving up in ranks in Nevada. I guess it only makes sense to have a face to represent Vampire interests. With Bill's work on his database, who else better to represent vampires than someone who knows them best? Not only that, Bill was a war hero and not just any war, it was the civil war which defined our country. After all, Bill had always been good at mainstreaming. Even if he slipped up once in a while, he was more dedicated than any vampire I know to integrating vampires into human society.

Suddenly, my tires were heavy and it became hard to steer my car when I was halfway down Hummingbird Road. What?! I suddenly saw smoke near the front of my car and I knew it was a blown tire. I stopped and walked over with a flashlight to see the damage. I must've snagged something in the tire earlier and it eventually went flat, some of it had already started to shred and the smell of burning rubber overpowering. I knew better than to risk damaging the rims even though it was less than a minute drive home. I looked at my watch and it glowed 12:30. Eric should be here soon. I'll just trek home and wait for him to arrive and ask for his help. I know. Jason had always said someone who can't change their own tire shouldn't be allowed to drive, but it's late, I'm tired, I want my fast acting extra strength boyfriend to help me and that's that.

As I turned into the driveway leading to my house, I heard Amelia's voice. How loud is she shouting? Then again it didn't sound like she was shouting. I stopped in my tracks when I realized I was listening to her thoughts. She's such a straight forward person she's saying whatever she's thinking – wait a minute. Eric's car is out front. She's having a conversation with – Eric?

Call me petty, but my instinct was to hide in the nearest bushes. There's something going on here that I should know about and I don't want Eric to look out the window and see me. I reached out and let myself in her head. It was like seeing the whole conversation through her eyes.

"When are you going to tell Sookie about us? I don't think I can lie to her for long"

"I'll let her know in good time." Eric was sitting next to her.

"Do you think she'll understand what we're doing?"

"I'm sure she will. Eventually." Eric put an arm around her and kissed her on her forehead.

I pulled myself out of Amelia's head.

I suddenly wished Mickey could glamour me to tear my eyes out.