*disclaimer: I do not own the Southern Vampires series or any of the characters featured. All rights belong to Charlaine Harris.
"Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love."
Charlie Brown
I had notes on the last chapter but I deleted them because I didn't want them to distract from the chapter. But I wanted to show my appreciation for all of you who are following my story and reading it now. Your feedback inspires me and I could not be happier that your enjoying it. Thank you for that. :)
Citizen
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It happened too fast for me to get a cohesive word out, but I managed a blood-curdling scream the instant I realized what was happening. The only thought that popped in my head was that they were going to kill each other.
I leapt from my place on the stairs, boobs exposed and all, down to the chaos in front of me that looked more like a mini-twister than a fight. I wanted Bubba to help me break them apart, because I would surely get killed jumping in the middle of this alone, but he stood by and watched with trepidation and curiosity. I didn't blame him—it was like watching a helicopter crash into a daycare.
Only seconds passed, although it felt like a lifetime, when there was a fierce snarling noise and suddenly something big was flung from the melee and slammed into the far wall of my living room, cracking the drywall. It slid to the floor in a lumpy mass, and I saw the crumpled pile was actually Bill.
I ran past Bubba, who was now looking very excited, and over to Bill, before he'd fully regained himself. I leaned over him to assess the damage. His clothed were shredded and his chest was heaving in rage. He had several bite marks and slashes on his arms, and a pretty gruesome bite on his neck. When his eyes refocused, he looked up at me with a look of frustration and leapt to his feet with renewed determination.
"Don't even think about it!" I snapped, as I pushed my hand into his chest.
"Sookie, get out of the way," he said coldly as he smoothed his hair back.
"Over my dead body," I said, as he pressed forward and began to move my hands from his chest. I was shaking like a leaf on the inside. "I won't move. This is my house. You two aren't going to kill each other in my living room," I said in my firmest voice. I couldn't afford to waffle in this situation.
"Let him come," Eric's deep voice boomed, but sounded strangely calm.
I looked back at Eric in astonishment. He was in full Viking battle mode and looked absolutely lethal. His brows were lowered and his teeth where clenched, exposing a full set of teeth and a pair of very scary fangs that had red stains on the tips. He stood with his arms by his sides, his bare chest exposed—every muscle in his body tight and defined with readiness. He had a nasty bite on his forearm that was already healing and a few minor scratches on his chest. But other than that, not a hair was out of place. I gotta say, my inner cave woman was impressed. But this was feeling more like an intermission than an ending. I knew I couldn't physically stop them, so I needed to diffuse this before someone got killed.
"Bill, there was no reason to attack Eric. He didn't do anything untoward to me." I paused as he looked skeptically down at my breasts. "And actually, I'm the one who made an uninvited move on him, and he turned me down flat," I said, still in disbelief.
Bill looked at me like I'd turned into a clucking chicken.
"She speaks the truth. But if you wish to continue, that is fine with me," Eric said as an eager smile spread across his face.
"No!" I snapped quickly, "No, there'll be no round two. Now, Bill, I think you need to apologize to Eric for jumping him for no good reason," I said, feeling ridiculous about it. "And you both owe me an apology for damaging my house," I said sternly.
Bill gave me that clucking chicken look again, followed by a long silence.
"Sorry for disrupting your household, Sookie," Bill said in a low voice.
He edited out the apology to Eric, but I rolled with it. I looked to Eric, indicating it was his turn.
"I apologize that Bill lost his temper in your home unnecessarily," Eric said.
"I accept," I said to both of them, knowing that was the best I was going get out of these two, but mostly relieved by the progress we'd made.
So, there we were. I was stuck standing in an awkward silence, half naked, with two vampires I've slept with in my living room. Gosh, this night was going swell.
"I'll take my leave," Eric said, still sounding angry. "Just do your job," he snapped at Bill as headed out the door.
"You don't tell me what to do anymore, or did you forget?" Bill said coolly with a pleased look. "And if you ever do touch Sookie without her permission, I'll kill you," and his face went very dark.
Eric stopped in his tracks and gave Bill an equally dark look. He opened his mouth to say something, but didn't. Instead he turned his blue eyes to me, and I thought I'd melt right there. And then his face turned to stone.
"She is all yours, farmer," he said and walked out the door.
I wanted to call him a jerk and punch him in the jaw, but I knew we needed to talk. This was a bad place to leave off, and I'd had enough of bad places. I'd made a vow to myself never to leave things on a bad note since what happened with Jason. I'd learned the hard way that life was too short. I hurried to the door and called his name. He didn't turn around. I watched him as he strode right past his car, out into the grassy clearing of my woods, and then suddenly he jetted into the sky in a blur. It startled me because I always forget that he can fly. I watched him as he disappeared into the skyline.
Bubba was standing just inside the doorway looking very confused, and Bill was where I'd left him in front of my broken wall. I was wondering what the estimate would be for the repair, when I saw—in addition to my newly cracked drywall—a few of my gran's porcelain collectibles had fallen off the mantle and were now broken on the floor. She'd spent years collecting those. I didn't need this drama tonight.
"Bill, help me clean up your mess."
"Sookie, you got any blood?" Bubba spoke for the first time in his Memphis twang. Bill was looking like he could use a drink, too.
"It's in the fridge. You are welcome to help yourselves." I didn't care about good hostess etiquette at the moment. Firstly, I was mentally exhausted. Secondly, they were both checking out my mammaries, which was bad manners, so I figured I didn't owe them any hospitality.
"But first, you clean," I said to Bill, giving him a cold look.
I got one of the old blankets from the linen closet and wrapped it around myself, before I went to the broom closet and got my dustpan and sweeper. Bill met me back at the mess with a trashcan.
"He really didn't make a move on you?" he asked skeptically.
"Bill, I was born at night, but it wasn't last night. You're trying to find out if I'm covering for him. But the honest truth is—I hit on him, not the other way around. If you're digging for the details, give up. I don't kiss and tell."
"So he really turned you down," he said in wonderment, like I was trying to convince him Eric wasn't a vampire.
"Oh, be quite and hold the can still," I said as I dumped broken glass into it. I guess my ego was a little bruised.
"Well, looks like I'm late for the party," Amelia announced.
I turned my head back and she was standing inside the doorway holding hands with Tray. She was wearing a Merlotte's shirt and black slacks because she'd covered for me tonight.
"Yeah, it was a real blowout," I said unenthusiastically. "Hey, Tray."
"Hey, Sookie," Tray said. "Your heater broke? I got a guy who can fix it for cheap if you like."
"What? Oh. No the heater's fine, I just really like this blanket," I lied, avoiding having to explain why I was mostly nude underneath it. "But if you know a drywall guy I'd like his number."
"I've got just the man," he said.
"Sookie, can we talk to you for a sec? Tray's got some news," Amelia cut in. That didn't sound good.
I swaddled myself tightly in my makeshift robe before standing and handed Bill the sweeper. We headed to the kitchen and sat down at the table. Bubba was staring at the microwave like it was trigonometry.
"It's the one that says 'Start'," I said to Bubba.
"Oh. Thank ya, thank ya very much," he said automatically, and all three of us looked up at him in bemusement. He looked uncomfortable under our gazes and began pushing away at more buttons.
"Where's the sheriff?" Amelia asked as she craned her neck around. She'd seen his flashy coochie-getter excuse for a car still parked outside.
"Don't ask," I said with a sigh as I watched Bubba put his TrueBlood on the popcorn setting. "What's going on, Tray?" I redirected my attention to them.
"Sorry about all this, Sookie," he said in the softest tone his gruff voice would allow.
"Thank you," I replied sincerely. They sat there a moment, not speaking until Amelia gently elbowed him to go on.
"Mel was attacked tonight," Tray said as he leaned in closer.
"When? Where? Is he okay?" I asked urgently.
"He'll be alright, he managed to run off before much damage was done, more like a bad scrape really. It was just a few hours ago in the woods," he replied.
"What happened?"
"He was out by Jason's house with Calvin and Crystals' sister, but he split from the pack. He's a big boy so they figured he'd be alright alone, but something snuck up on him out of nowhere. He said he didn't even sense the thing coming up on him. The claw mark is huge and real deep, but we still don't know what to make of it," he said with a bewildered look.
"I was just there with Claudine," I said slowly. And it dawned on me, the snarling sound outside—the huge panther flanking Calvin: Mel. They looked at each other and then back at me.
"Sookie, you shouldn't be out chasing leads right now. Not until we figure this out," Tray said.
"But doesn't this mean the attacker is targeting shifters? I mean, first Jason, now Mel?" Amelia said inquiringly.
"Could be. But it's not safe for either of you until we know for sure," he said with resolve.
"It could have followed me there," I said. That would explain why Eric was so upset about my leaving the house at night with Claudine. I didn't want to get into my great-grandfather's fairy war with Tray present, but it was a small relief to think that maybe Niall wasn't the cause of Jason's murder.
"It wasn't here," Bill said suddenly. I looked up and saw him step forward into the kitchen with the wastebasket in hand. Eavesdropper.
"No one's been here on our watch," he said, nodding towards Bubba. Amelia pursed her lips and looked curiously back and forth at the vampires.
"Well then it's possible it really is just after Weres," Amelia said conclusively. I could see in her head that this was wishful thinking on her part, but it did make sense.
"I hope you're right," I said, "Jason's room was ransacked, so maybe they were looking for something"
"What do you mean?" Bill asked.
"I mean it was trashed. Clobbered. Hit by a baby tornado," I said frankly.
"Hmm, interesting," Amelia said, as the wheels turned in her mind, "If I can get some other witches together, would you be interested in doing a reconstruction?"
"Oh, Amelia, that would be great!" I said grasping onto this tiny ray of hope, "We'll have to do it right away, before the police get a hold of it, like tomorrow. Can you find people on this short notice?" I asked optimistically.
"I'll work on it," she said proudly. She was already sorting through her mental Rolodex.
"Well, it's late and it looks like you've got bodyguards for the evening, so Tray and I are going to go back to his place." She looked up at him and gave him a sultry smile, "Unless you want me to stay here tonight?" she asked me with concern.
"I'll be fine," I said giving her a watery smile.
We all said our goodbyes, and Amelia and Tray headed out. But I still had the issue of my other guests, who were looking quite at home in my kitchen with their bottles of blood.
"Listen up," I said, as I rubbed the back of my hand against my forehead, "After you finish your drinks, you both need to leave. Now, I'm not rescinding your invites, but I would like you to get out when you're done. And don't forget to rinse out the bottles. I'm going to bed." I figured it was a bad idea to ban them from the house with a murderer on the loose.
"Good night to you both," I said as I went up the stairs.
"G'night Sookie," said Bubba.
Bill said nothing.
I went straight to my bed. I was too worn out to think, so I dropped my blanket and took off whatever clothes I had left on—tossing them on the floor—and got into bed without putting on pajamas. I was restless and lay in bed without any success of falling asleep. It goes without saying I had a lot on my mind, but I really needed to recharge.
An hour or two of tossing and turning had surely passed, when I heard a tap on my bedroom door. An attacker wouldn't knock, so I had a guess of who it might be. Eric had come to his senses and decided to talk to me. I quickly sat up—making sure to cover myself with the blanket—and took a deep breath.
"Come in," I said.
Even in the pitch black I could see it was Bill. Sigh. My life was turning into a bad joke. He walked in and made himself at home again on the edge of my bed.
"What do you want, Bill?" I was only a little irritated.
"Are you Eric's now?" Well I had to give him points for cutting to the chase.
"The day my love life becomes your business again, I'll give you a call. Sound good?" Just a teeny, tiny, bit of sarcasm there. I didn't like being so touchy around him, but that was just the effect he had on me.
"Do you want to be his?" He pressed on.
"No, you snoop. I don't want to be anyone's. I am my own person, not a possession. I should probably tell you that most women feel the same way. The sooner you figure that out, the better off you'll be."
He nodded and it looked like it was sinking in for once, but I really didn't care how he took my advice. I was just about to kick him out when I thought of a way he could make himself useful.
"Hey, why did you tell Eric he can't tell you what to do anymore?"
"Because he can't," he said in a voice so cool it would make an ice cube jealous.
"I think he can, actually. Sheriff trumps investigator. You told me yourself."
"He didn't tell you," he said, with a smile creeping across his lips. Bill never smiles.
"Tell me what?" I was thinking I should get a T-shirt made with that printed on it. I asked that question more than I said my own name.
"Eric's not sheriff anymore." And I swear Bill almost laughed.
"What? What happened?" Too many weird things happening, this must be opposite day.
"Can't say for sure," he said with the smile all gone. "Eric and Felipe are very much alike. I think they rubbed each other the wrong way. And from what I've heard, Victor was not a big fan of Eric anyways."
"When did this happen?"
"This past week," Bill said smoothly. I was too stunned to speak. I had that sinking feeling that so rarely happens; I was worried about Eric. But it was no good. He was mad at me. And I was mad at him, too. I think.
"I smell him in here," Bill said in disgust.
"Well, if he was in here, it's not your business. And since you started a deathmatch in my living room and abused your privilege to enter my house by sneaking up to my room in the middle of the night, I rescind your invitation." I just couldn't deal with his BS anymore.
"Sookie," he said pleadingly.
Maybe not the best idea in the middle of a war, but I'd gotten to the point where I'd almost rather be tortured by assailants than interrogated by Bill about my love life, or lack thereof. I watched him move swiftly backwards towards the door and down the stairs. I didn't lie back down until I heard the front door slam closed.
I closed my eyes and prayed that I would fall asleep. When you're alone in bed is when all the big bad things come out to play in your mind and I had lots of material. Sleep was usually my last refuge from a bad day, but no such luck tonight. I tried to think productively, but everything was a dead end. Jason was dead and I couldn't even bring him justice because at this point it was looking like there was more than one suspect. Sam was out of town, and I was letting him down by not running the bar, and going broke in the meantime. My great grandfather had a fifty-fifty chance of coming out of this war alive. Claude and Claudine will surely be upset if Jon faced any retaliation from my blurting gossip. And I still wasn't sure what all that gossip was about. But worst of all, I couldn't stop myself from listening intently for Eric's car to start in my driveway. Everything was in disarray, and I broke down again. I ended up silently crying myself to sleep.
