The following evening, Persephone arrived at Merlotte's minutes after sunset, just as Lafayette was finishing up his shift. He had asked Terry to cover his shift and was taking off his apron as Persephone entered. She was wearing a simple black dress with a black and silver lace shawl around her shoulders; simple, yet elegant. They didn't want to stand out too much when they approached the senator.

"We're gonna have to stop at my place on the way, hon. I need to look my best. Not that I don't already," he added with girlish charm and a sly smile.


As she waited for Lafayette to 'get suited up', as he had described it, Persephone sat in his living room, which lay just beyond the front door. On the glass table before her sat a number of little plastic bags containing an assortment of drugs. She picked up one of them and looked carefully at the different pills.

"You interested in buying?" Lafayette joked from the doorway that led to his room, adjusting his tie.

"Not particularly," she told him, smiling, "You look good."

He had changed out of his usual feminine clothes into a light grey suit, a more appropriate outfit for such an occasion.

"Always," he replied, "Now let's go and mess with this motherfucker."


The drive to the location of the senator's public gathering was initially a quiet one, Lafayette at the wheel, glancing over at his passenger every now and then, who was staring out the window, the night air whipping through her hair.

"I could smell the vampire blood at your house," she suddenly said, now facing him, though he hadn't even seen her turn around.

He knew better than to lie to a vampire. They always seemed to know when you were.

"I sell what I can to get by," he told her.

"I can understand why humans would find it an attractive party drug because of the side effects, but I am concerned about those of my kind who would find this...offensive."

"Like who?"

"The sheriff of this area. It's his job to keep track of these kinds of things and make sure they cease to continue. I know him well and he does not often show mercy or forgiveness; especially not towards humans."

"Is this your way of telling me not to peddle V anymore?" Lafayette raised an eyebrow.

"In concern for your wellbeing, yes it is," she replied, once more facing the night air through the window.

"I already knew I had to watch my back. Dealing with vampires ain't my idea of a party...in most cases," he added, so as not to offend her, "but I gotta know; how is it you can ask me to stop giving people vamp blood, when just the other day I saw you spiking Sam's drink?"

Persephone paused and seemed to dwell on this for a moment.

"I do not give my blood to humans for recreational purposes," she finally answered.

"So you gave your blood, stuff which happens to have very erotic side effects, to Sam, a guy I know you happen to be fucking, for reasons beyond sex?"

"For one thing, we slept together on one occasion. Also, yes, I do have other reasons behind my actions. I also happen to know you drank my blood."

Lafayette looked at her like she was insane, and then looked back to the road.

"Have you had any sexual dreams about me? Felt a certain 'pull' towards me?"

"How the fuck would you know that?"

"I spiked a shot of tequila, hoping that Sam would drink it, but it was very clumsy of me to do so. It wasn't definite that he would be the one to drink it. Instead, it was you that consumed it."

"But why would you do that in the first place? You like messin' with people?"

"No," she paused and gave him a thoughtful look, "Alright, I'll let you in on my logic."

"Please do," he said in a way that suggested a certain suspicion towards her.

"I did not start doing this until recently. It's taken me a long time to redevelop my human qualities, ones which most mortals think of our kind as incapable of feeling. You may already know, but when a human ingests the blood of a vampire, they take a piece of that vampire with them, from that time onwards, wherever they go. The blood acts as a sort of bond between the vampire and the drinker. The vampire will always know what the human is feeling, as well as their location. The human will always feel a certain attraction to the vampire from whom the blood came. I only give my blood to the people I want to keep track of. Whenever I feel drawn towards a particular human, I give them a drop of my blood so that I can watch over them."

"I don't whether to think that's messed up or...well, I don't know. Why the fuck is you so concerned about humans anyhow?"

"You want to know the truth?" she sighed, "I happen to like your kind far better than I like my own."

He frowned at her as he continued driving. The vampires he knew were either pushovers or vicious animals. She was different. If he wasn't mistaken, Persephone actually had some humanity left in her.

"Now that's messed up," he commented.

"You don't agree?"

"Yeeaah, I do... I can see where you coming from." then he thought for a moment, "So, because I drank that shot of tequila, you'll know where I am all the time and what I'm feeling."

"Yes."

"Shit. That's called invasion of privacy. You gotta stop that shit."

"It's a habit."

"It don't matter."

"On the bright side, if you ever get caught dealing V, I may be able to help you out."

"Well, there is that."

He pulled into the car park of the building in which Senator David Fynch was attempting to gain supporters for his campaign for Congress.

"Why, if you don't mind me asking, did you want to come here anyway? I understand he said some offensive things on the television, but there are a lot of people who do the same thing."

"Like those assholes from the Fellowship of the Sun?" Lafayette asked her.

"Exactly," she replied, and then she recalled hearing on the news that the leader of the Fellowship's father had been killed, as well as his baby sister. Reflecting on this, she thought she knew exactly who had committed the murders. Someone she knew well.

"This guy," Lafayette started explaining, "is the biggest hypocrite I have ever had the unfortunate fuckin' luck of ever comin' across. He happens to be a regular customer of mine. He says he hates vampires, but he don't mind drinking their blood to help him get elected. He also says he hates fags, but he don't mind getting favors off of one to help him relax for his big ass speech."

They got out of the car and began walking towards the complex, linking arms so as to appear like a couple.

"You're going to reveal him to the media?"

"Nope," he replied, straightening out his suit with his free right hand, "I just wanna scare the shit outta him."