A/N: Thank you for all your insightful reviews and alert love. I really love writing this story and I'm glad that so many of you are along for the ride.
Charlaine Harris owns the rights to these characters.
The next night Gran and I stayed in together and made popcorn. Just before 9pm we sat down in front of the television and waited for history to unfold.
The vampires had managed to get simultaneous airtime on all networks and at 9pm all scheduled programmes were interrupted for an announcement by the President. Gran and I looked at each other in shock - Eric hadn't mentioned this. Had they glamoured the President? How else had they got him on board? Talk about a threat to National Security.
The President was standing behind a lectern in the White House press room. He looked tired and I wondered how long he had known. To his left was an elegantly-dressed blonde woman. I could tell straight off that she was a vampire and had probably been in her late thirties or early forties when she was turned. Next to her was a grey-haired man in his fifties; he looked Asian, I was guessing Japanese.
The President started off by saying that he had an historic announcement to make. He paused, seemingly not sure how to proceed, and then steeled himself and introduced the blonde woman as Nan Flanagan. Several members of the audience gasped as the President went on to explain that Ms Flanagan was a vampire and spokesperson for the American Vampire League. The press corps immediately erupted in a sea of microphones and flashing lights. They were clamouring for answers, questioning the President's words and, in some cases, his sanity. The President attempted to talk over the din, to assure everyone that they should remain calm, but eventually he just gave up, face grim.
After a few minutes of chaos, Nan Flanagan calmly took to the podium and an eerie hush fell over the room. She smiled at the camera and it occurred to me how shrewd the the American vampires were, choosing this petite elegant woman as their ambassador to humankind. She didn't look scary at all but, of course, I knew better.
Gran and I were transfixed as Nan Flanagan went on to confirm that this was not a hoax. She described vampirism as if it were merely a medical condition, with 'symptoms' such as an aversion to sunlight and the need to regularly replenish the blood supply. I noted, sardonically, that she made no mention of other common side-effects I'd encountered, such as super strength and speed, mind control and the apparent ability to kill without remorse.
She introduced Professor Ikuo Haramoto, a Japanese haematologist, who had been instrumental in developing synthetic blood. She assured the press that vampires were able to survive on the artificial blood and reiterated time and again that vampires were therefore not a danger to human beings. They had been people once after all and were committed to living alongside humans as regular citizens. Nan Flanagan finished her speech by giving out a web address for the AVL, which apparently had fact sheets and further information about vampires, and relaying a national helpline number for anybody who had any questions or concerns. I was willing to bet that hotline would be fairly busy over the next few hours.
Gran turned down the TV a little as the press corps exploded again. Seconds later, the phone rang and I picked it up knowing exactly who it would be.
"Hello Jason," I laughed, rolling my eyes at Gran. She smiled, knowingly.
"Hey Sook," he sounded anxious. "Have you seen the TV. I mean can you believe this? Real-ass vampires living among us this whole time."
"I know, it's all very shocking," I replied, deadpan.
"What we gonna do Sook?" Jason sounded genuinely flummoxed. The news seemed to have knocked him for six. I immediately felt a bit sorry for him, remembering how shocking it had been for me when I had found out.
"Um, I don't think there is much for us to do, Jason," I said calmly. "We just carry on living our lives as normal and they keep living their lives as normal. I think we're safe, the President sure seems to think so. I'm sure it will all be alright. It will just take some getting used to is all."
"That's true, the President did seem okay with everything... And that pretty lady sure didn't look too frightening to me..." He sounded pensive, or as pensive as someone with Jason's brain capacity ever could. "Okay, I guess you're right. I s'pose they're people too after all." And like that, my brother was suddenly accepting of the existence of the supernatural. I smiled to myself. He really was remarkable sometimes.
I finally got Jason off the phone with the suggestion that he and Hoyt go discuss the issue over a beer at Merlotte's and went back to Gran as we marvelled how the world had just changed before our very eyes.
0--0--0--0--0
The weeks passed and the world adjusted to the news about vampires. One newspaper had heralded it as "The Great Revelation" and the term had kind of stuck. Reactions were mixed at home and abroad. The Catholic Church immediately excommunicated all vampires declaring them 'vessels of the devil'. Vampires in Catholic countries tended to have a fairly bad time of it in general, with many of those governments passing legislation outlawing their very existence. Vampires in the Middle East faired even worse; the female vampire who had made the announcement on Saudi television had been publicly hanged, and when that hadn't killed her, set on fire for all to see.
Reactions were far more accepting in Northern Europe, Canada and Japan. In the U.S., emergency legislation had been proposed to make vampires full tax-paying citizens and the AVL had mounted a huge campaign to get vampire rights on the agenda and persuade the general public that vampires were just like us, save for that pesky allergy to daylight and a reliance on bottled blood. As such, so-called 'vamp-tolerant' countries were seeing a huge influx of vampire immigrants. By all accounts many immigrant vamps were settling in Louisiana particularly, New Orleans apparently being some sort of spiritual home for the undead. I was sure Sophie-Anne would be delighted.
Elsewhere the gossip magazines were filled with celebrities hanging out with new vampire friends; sources said that Angelina had had a vampire lover in her past and, according to the National Enquirer, Lindsay Lohan had declared her intention to be turned. Bill notwithstanding, we'd yet to see a vampire in Bon Temps and people's initial consternation had slowly transformed into curiosity or, more commonly, apathy.
Not everyone was so laid back though. There had been a number of anti-vamp demonstrations all over the country and the newspapers reported that there had been a spike in church attendance in the weeks since the Great Revelation, particularly at more right-wing evangelical churches who were now holding themselves out as 'pro-human'.
I'd seen Eric twice in the intervening weeks; once to do a final mind check on his Fangtasia staff and once he'd accompanied me to New Orleans to read the minds of various new staff and business associates of the Queen. I hadn't seen her but Andre had been there and that was terrifying enough. Eric and I had kept things friendly but strictly business and I'd resisted the urge to repeat the car park kiss. I'd called Pam once too, to thank her for the invitation to the Fangtasia Grand Opening, which was scheduled for the coming Saturday night. She hadn't offered to transfer me to Eric and I hadn't asked.
I'd also seen Alcide a couple of times. We'd had lunch in Merlotte's again and I'd invited him bowling in Monroe one night with Jason, Tara, JB and I. He'd unsurprisingly been really good at bowling, much to Jason's annoyance. Tara kept on nudging me indiscreetly every time Alcide went to bowl but I seemed to have developed a good friendship with him and I was happy with that.
I still hadn't confronted Sam. I wasn't sure how.
0--0--0--0--0
The night of the Grand Opening came around and I found myself feeling fairly excited as I got ready for a night out at Eric and Pam's new bar. The invitation had instructed that I "dress with bite" so I had bought myself a new dark red silk dress from Tara's shop. It was strapless, with an inner corset, the fabric draping Grecian style across my curves. I absolutely loved both it and the dark red peep-toe heels I had found to match. I left my hair down and loose and tried for sultry with my eyes and lips. I looked at myself in the mirror as I added some earrings and knew I looked good.
I couldn't wait for Eric's reaction when he saw me in my new outfit. Something about tonight felt like it would be a turning point with us and I realised with a smile that I was ready for it to be. I left the house just after ten with a spring in my step (and a characteristic eyebrow raise from Gran) and set off to Shreveport.
Fangtasia couldn't have been any more different from Eric's old bar. It was painted jet black on the outside, the neon sign was bright red and I could hear pumping rock music from within.
I already liked the other bar better.
Eric and Pam had chosen to milk every vampire cliché in the book and so had most of the clientèle. There was a huge line forming down the street and most of the participants looked like they had ordered their outfits direct from S&M Weekly. I'd never seen so much PVC in one place, nor so many piercings. And black. Everyone was in black.
I made my way to the front of the queue where Pam was standing, clipboard in hand. I had to stifle a laugh as I took in her long black leather bustier dress, complete with studded leather collar and matching cuffs. Her eye make-up was dark and dramatic and her fangs were out, gleaming against her dark red lipstick. She looked fantastic but terrifying. Presumably that was the look she was going for.
"Hey, Pam," I smiled as I approached. "You look, er, lovely tonight."
"Yes, well, we are under instructions to dress in a way which will enthral the vermin, so here I am, enthralling…" she motioned to herself with a graceful wave of the hand.
"And doing a very fine job of it too," I laughed. "You too Clancy," I added to the red-headed vampire at Pam's side who was sporting seemingly sprayed-on black PVC pants and a red silk shirt, buttons open to the waist. He nodded curtly; I didn't need to read his mind to know that Clancy was not my biggest fan.
Pam took a moment to assess my outfit, running her tongue over her fangs as she did so, and then opened the red rope barrier to let me into the bar. "He's on the stage," she said wryly and motioned me in.
The black and red theme continued inside, with blood red walls, black PVC furniture and still more neon. It was like a vampire theme park, various pictures of Bela Lugosi and Klaus Kinski on the walls and vampire dancers on little podiums contorting themselves into odd positions. There was even a gift shop selling "Bite Me" t-shirts and Fangtasia merchandise.
The bar itself was huge and took up one entire side of the room. Various types of bottled blood were on display, alongside the more regular alcohol. I giggled to myself at the thought that, technically, I owned this establishment. It was too bizarre to contemplate.
I made my way through the throng of local business dignitaries, hangers-on and 'fang-bangers', a term coined by the conservative media for those people who wanted to have sex with, and be bitten by, vampires.
And then I saw him.
Eric was, as Pam had indicated, up on stage. He was dressed all in black leather; tight trousers, boots and a long fitted coat. The coat was left unbuttoned and he wasn't wearing a shirt underneath, his gorgeous chest almost painfully white in contrast to the black leather. His hair was down, grazing his broad shoulders. He was on what looked to be a type of throne, legs askance, leaning back decadently. He looked incredible.
He was looking in my direction, heatedly, and I knew he'd been watching me since I came in. I looked straight at him as I walked towards the stage, trying to assume an air of confidence, but I couldn't keep the blush from my cheeks. He gave me a self-satisfied smirk as I approached him, clearly sensing my lust, offering me a large cool hand to help me up the stairs to the stage.
"Sookie," he murmured, voice laced with sex, "you look breathtaking."
"You don't breathe," I joked, self-deprecatingly, but he continued to stare at me, eyes intense. "Thank you," I replied, quickly, shyly, when I couldn't take any more, and lowered my eyes from his. He nodded in the direction of the bar and immediately a vampire came over with a stool for me to sit on. He took my drinks order and Eric motioned for me to sit.
"You don't look too bad yourself, you know," I said after a pause. That was an understatement, if ever I heard one. "Very Thor meets the Matrix…"
He laughed at that. "Yes, well, we all have to do our bit to enthral…"
"The vermin?" I interrupted. "Yes I know. Pam updated me."
"Pam has spent the last few hours answering mundane questions about vampires cleaning their fangs and turning down offers from fat sweaty men to bite them. She is not too enamoured with the vermin plan," he laughed. "But it is good for business," he added firmly.
"I can see that," I replied as I surveyed the crowd. The place was packed and, judging by the queue around the block, was only set to get more crowded. I was trying very hard to keep my shields up against the onslaught of human thoughts. This was the biggest crowd I'd been in since discovering my telepathy and it was harder still when the majority of the thoughts were currently about me: who I was, who I was to Eric, and some other slightly less pleasant variations.
"Your idea seems to have been a winner," I continued. "Although I saw on TV that a vampire bar opened in London last week, so you weren't quite first off the post," I teased.
He frowned, "Yes I know. I actually know the owner of that bar, a vampire named Lawrence. I spoke to him a few days ago to see if he'd had any teething issues we should be aware of. He's the one who advised that we put hidden cameras in the restrooms."
"Oh?" I made a mental note to use the staff bathroom if I needed to go.
"Yes. Apparently he found himself in trouble with the authorities due to one or two vampires feeding on his human patrons, all consensual of course, but still against the law in England as it is here." It was a felony for a vampire to feed on a human without permission, or in a public place, whether consensual or not. As things stood, behind closed doors, consensually, anything was possible. I felt myself flush at the thought.
I took a sip of the gin and tonic that had magically appeared at my side and surveyed the women at the foot of the stage, all dancing provocatively in barely-there attire, vying for Eric to notice them. I knew, even without listening in, that they were all hoping for a little consensual blood-letting themselves. I doubted Eric had had to work that hard before for blood or a bedmate, but now that vampires were 'out', it would be almost painfully easy for him. My stomach clenched as I attempted to ignore them all, looking away, trying to dampen down my jealousy so that Eric wouldn't feel it.
"So how have you been?" he asked, voice low, careful, watching them too with cold eyes. And then he looked at me, tender smile ghosting across his lips, and I felt my heart flutter.
"Good, I've been good. Working hard, getting back to normal life," I smiled. "I, er, packed up Bill's things last week. Gran helped me. I feel like I've had closure on that particular part of my life. The town gossip seems to have calmed down a bit too. You vamps stole my thunder…" I joked nervously. I took a breath and forged on, though not very eloquently. "I've had a lot of time to think about things and I'm feeling positive about, um... things…"
"By things you mean me," he said, nodding, certain.
"Yes, I guess so," I replied tentatively.
"Good. I have been thinking about things too. I'm going to have to stay here until closing and do my bit for business, but I was hoping that maybe you'd stay with me," he paused, "and, perhaps, come back to my house tonight? We could talk and go from there."
"I'd like that," I replied, smiling, feeling a warm glow down to my peep-toes. I tried to be at least a little sensible: "But don't you think that we should take things slowly, at least until we see how things go…?"
"We do not have to have sex if you do not wish to. Though, just for the record, I very much do wish to, especially when I see you in that beautiful dress. I want to fuck you in it. And then I think about what is underneath…" He lifted an eyebrow and I had to smile while my insides did a mini somersault. "But I also like to snuggle, if that is what you want... I assure you that I am just as skilled in that area as I am in others." He was trying to make me laugh and it made my heart swell.
I found my resolve. What was I waiting for exactly? I knew I wanted this. Wanted him. "Yes," I said leaning closer to him. I could smell leather and the unmistakably masculine smell that was all Eric. "I'll come home with you later."
"I promise I will be a most attentive host," he whispered in my ear, ghosting a kiss on my collarbone before leaning back as if to drink me in. I felt my nipples harden as my heart rate increased. I blushed again and turned to look out across room, in a futile attempt to hide my burning face from his gaze.
I saw a man I recognised standing by the bar although I couldn't quite place him. He seemed out of place somehow and I realised with amusement that it was because he looked kind of normal. No black, no leather, just blue jeans and a t-shirt.
He also looked wrong because everyone else in the bar was trying to stand out, be noticed. Something about his body language made him look as if he was trying to blend, to hide in plain sight... I watched him. Something wasn't quite right.
All of a sudden a number of things happened at once.
I realised who the man was and instantly let down my shields, the force of all the human minds in the room barraging into me like a punch to the head. Eric looked at me questioningly, feeling my sudden distress. I began to panic noticing another man, and then another, at various points in the room. All standing out due to their attempts to look inconspicuous. I turned to Eric, knowing we were in danger, hearing it from their heads...
I screamed at him to "Get down!"
I felt it then. A searing pain, burning through my body, forcing me down.
And then everything went still. Everything went black.
A/N: Want to know what happens next? You know what to do....