AN: Have you ever read the directions on a bottle of shampoo? It tells you to lather, rinse, and repeat. I feel the same principle can be applied to the statement indicating I do not own the characters or content created by Ms. Harris and Mr. Ball. Do I seriously need to keep repeating this every chapter?
In case you haven't noticed by now, I like to take actual quotes from True Blood and insert them into my story. However, I do not always use them in the scene where you would expect them. It's my version of a "hidden Mickey", which for those of you that don't know is when Disney incorporates the head silhouette of Mickey Mouse into an ordinary object. For example, I have a framed picture of a winter scene involving Disney characters building a snowman. There is a sled in the background that has carvings on it; the carvings are a hidden Mickey.
It had been three days since Sookie had warned Eric about the raid on Fangtasia. Eric had fled the scene with Pamela, his progeny. The police had ransacked the club searching for evidence of illicit activity, but there was none to be found. The vampire who had been feeding on the human in the bathroom had been silvered by Long Shadow, the bartender, and taken to a secure location for punishment. The human the vampire fed from was glamoured by Thalia and dumped far away from the bar.
Eric was especially harsh in doling out his punishment due to the offense being two-fold; destruction of his bar and disobeying his rules as sheriff. In addition to financial recompense, Taryn, the guilty vampire, was being held in the basement of Fangtasia. She had been chained to the wall for three days; she was naked and was bound to the wall with silver chains at her wrists and ankles. She had been whipped with a silver flogger. Her wounds were slow to heal while she was being silvered, and she was only being fed a bottle of True Blood per day. Eric had also removed Taryn's fangs. Eric usually enjoyed dishing out punishments; he felt no satisfaction this time. He was still frustrated with the entire situation and it was because he lacked answers to the one unsolved puzzle.
And that puzzle was named Sookie Stackhouse.
How had she known about the raid and the illegal feeding? He had his investigator, Mustapha, search for information about Sookie Stackhouse. Mustapha had left his findings on Eric's desk earlier in the day, knowing Eric would want to read it first thing in the evening. After reading the report, Eric was more frustrated than ever. Mustapha had included complete dossiers on the entire Stackhouse, including Sookie's deceased parents. The information pertaining to Sookie Stackhouse filled a single sheet of paper; date of birth, social security number, family members, schools attended, and credit score. There were no known associates, known affiliates, and no employment history. The only attached documents were her birth certificate from the hospital in Monroe, a criminal background check, and her college transcripts from the University of Mississippi. Skimming through the transcripts, Eric learned Sookie had graduated Magna Cum Laude, and held Bachelor of Arts degrees in public policy, international studies, and journalism with a focus on public relations. After attending Ole Miss, it was as if Sookie had vanished. There was no record of her until she had turned up in Louisiana less than a week ago.
The door to his office flung open, and Pam stalked in. "We have a goddamn problem," she states in irritation and slaps a file down on his desk.
Eric picks up the file and reads the contents. He growls, "Are you sure of this?"
Pam nods her head. "How do you want to handle it?" her fangs snapping down at the thought of being able to torture someone.
"No, I have a better idea. I think we shall need a mediator to help us resolve this issue," Eric says as he gazes at the picture of Sookie included in Mustapha's report.
Sookie was sitting at the dining room table of the farmhouse with files spread around her; the files contained police reports for murders throughout the state of Louisiana. All of these murders were cold cases that had one thing in common; all of the victims were women that had been known to associate with vampires. There were five known cases in all, spread out over the time since the Great Revelation.
Sookie had not lied to Eric when she said she was a mediator; she typically handled business transactions that involved humans and Supes since the Great Revelation. She predominantly worked in the kingdoms of Texas and Mississippi, but would occasionally work in another area provided that certain criteria were met. This was the first time she had worked in Louisiana, and it was only because she had specifically asked her superiors for this case. This case hit too close to home for Sookie.
The fifth victim had been Maudette Pickens, a woman from Bon Temps. She had worked at the local convenience store. She had been a loner; no friends or family were listed in the police report. The autopsy report showed that she had been strangled like the previous four victims, and there were several bite marks on various places on her body. She had not been exsanguinated; this indicated that the killer was not a vampire. A vampire would have drained a victim before staging the scene to make it seem there was another cause of death. However, because all of the victims associated with vampires, the human law enforcement was inclined to believe that all of the murders had been committed by vampires.
Sookie was reading the evidence report for Maudette Pickens which listed an inventory of homemade pornographic movies. Sookie was glancing through the names of the identified male (and female surprisingly) participants in the movies when her eyes stopped at a name she recognized.
"MOTHER FUCKER!" she screamed in exasperation. The final name on the list was Jason Stackhouse.
Bill Compton was playing Wii gold in the living room of his home. The ancestral home of the Compton house was in horrendous disrepair; wallpaper and paint were peeling, carpets were threadbare, furniture was sparse, the railings on the stairs were rickety, and evidence of vermin was present. Bill was not allowed to renovate the house to make it more livable; it was part of his punishment by the Queen of Louisiana, Sophie-Anne Leclerq.
Bill was being punished by Sophie-Anne because he had inadvertently drained one of the donors in her donor pool during an episode of bloodlust. Sophie-Anne did not mind sharing her donors with the other members of her court, but it was with the understanding that none of the donors be drained unless it was at her behest. Bill had also attacked André, the Queen's child and second-in-command, while in the throes of bloodlust. The injuries to André had been severe; he had lost several fingers on his left hand.
Bill did not know what had caused the bloodlust to rise up in him. He had merely been looking for a meal that evening, and decided to choose one from the donor pool. Sophie-Anne did not care to hear any excuses. She sentenced him a three-part punishment; first, he was forced to make Jessica into a vampire. Sophie-Anne reasoned that because Bill did not have a child of his own, he could not fully understand the pain Sophie-Anne also felt while André was injured. The first night Jessica had risen as a vampire, Bill had been placed in silver, and forced to watch as Jessica was beaten by the "Berts", Wybert and Sigebert, Sophie-Anne's fiercest bodyguards and children. After Jessica had healed, Sophie-Anne had banished Bill from her court; he was forced to take Jessica back to Bon Temps.
Bill had been back in Bon Temps for almost a month. He had been halfheartedly training Jessica on how to survive as a vampire, but he had not wished to be a maker. His own maker had made his existence a living hell. He had not wished to be a vampire, and he did not wish to pass this curse on to another person. As soon as he could, he would release Jessica so that he would no longer be burdened with her.
Bill's cellphone interrupted the game he was playing. Bill checked the caller id and sighed. He did not wish to answer the phone, but he knew he could not avoid this conversation.
"Have you completed your task yet?"
Bill grimaced, "No, I have not had the opportunity. You see…"
The called cut Bill off. "We do not care to hear your excuses. You were given a specific task by your Queen. If you fail in this task, I would hate to see what the consequences will be." The line went dead.
Bill needed to formulate a plan to complete the final part of his punishment from the Queen. Bill was to provide recompense to Sophie-Anne for the loss of her donor. In this instance, Sophie-Anne did not want financial restitution; she wanted another female donor….another part Fae female donor.
Sookie was sitting on the old porch swing buried underneath an old afghan her Gran had made a long time ago. She was rocking back and forth enjoying the sounds of the night. She was contemplating the conversation she had earlier in the day with Jason. She worried for her brother because the Bon Temps police department was focused on him being the primary suspect in Maudette's murder because his had been the last sex tape made. Sookie knew Jason was incapable of murdering anyone, but she needed to find evidence to clear him. She had spoken with the local police earlier; Detective Bellefleur and Sheriff Dearborn were not willing to hear anything that Sookie had to say. Kenya, however, told Sookie that she would look into the possibility of other cases with similar modus operandi.
Sookie sometimes really wished she had the ability to glamour.
While sitting on the swing, she felt a void approaching the farmhouse at a fast pace. Sookie's heart sped up, not in fear, but in anticipation of what was to come.
"Hello, Sookie." Eric appeared on the porch steps. Tonight he was dressed in black jeans, a white fitted t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. His hair was windblown from his flight. His eyes were an icy shade of blue that were staring at her coldly.
Sookie sighed, "What do you want to know?"
He vamped in front her, bracing his arms on either side of Sookie. His fangs had snapped down in his anger. "What are you?"
Sookie looked at Eric with wide eyes. She did not want to lie to him, but there were some things she could not tell him. She decided to start with the most basic of facts. "I'm a telepath."
"A telepath….I had a psychic once," he says after pulling back from Sookie.
"Was it good for her?" Sookie sasses at him.
Eric leans back in to cage Sookie in his arms. He purrs in her ear, "I always make it good." Sookie shivers and her nipples tighten in desire. Eric skims his nose along the column of her neck, inhaling her scent. "You smell like wheat, and honey, and sunlight," he says and his eyes roll back into his head.
Sookie feels desire pooling in her lower body. Eric is gliding his hands slowly up and down her arms, causing goosebumps to break out. His nose is buried in her hair, inhaling her scent; she can feel his stubble along her cheek. She pants out, "What do you want?"
Without missing a beat he replies, "Everything." His lips ghost along the curve of Sookie's jaw, and her head rolls back, exposing the column of her throat to him. Eric's fangs snap down in approval.
Hearing his fangs snap down breaks Sookie out of her lust-induced haze. Her head rolls forward again and she looks Eric in the eye. She asks softly, "Why are you here Eric?"
The look of hunger fades slowly from Eric's eyes and his fangs slide back into his gums. He moves to lean against the porch railing. "I'm in need of a mediator," he says in a business-like tone.
She chuckles, "I told you before, you can't afford me."
He frowns in disapproval, "This is not a laughing matter; someone has stolen $60,000 from Fangtasia."
Sookie sobers, "And you want me to listen to the thoughts of your employees to find if they did it. I can read human minds, but vampire minds are a void to me."
Eric nods in understanding. "It is better for you that you cannot read vampire minds; it would put you in great danger." Sookie gives him a look that implies "duh".
"I will help you, but I need a favor from you in return." Eric nods his head for Sookie to continue. Sookie explains to Eric about the five murdered women and how they were targeted because they associated with vampires.
"How is it you know about these five cases?" Eric asks crossing his arms in front of his chest.
Sookie looks at him warily. She hesitates before replying, "It is the next assignment for my job. And before you ask, I cannot tell you who I work for."
Eric grins arrogantly, "I could glamour it out of you."
Sookie returns his cocky grin, "Bring it on, Cowboy."
Eric is in front of Sookie again, looking deeply into her eyes while pushing his glamour at her. "Sookie, you will tell me the answers to the questions I ask." Sookie's eyes have lost their focus and her expression is blank. "Who do you work for?"
Sookie opens her mouth to answer, but instead starts laughing. Eric looks indignant and she laughs even harder. She pats his hand in a comforting motion, "Don't feel bad there, Cowboy; vampires older than you have tried to glamour me and it hasn't worked. Just one of the perks of being a telepath, I guess."
Silence stretches between the two of them. Sookie resumes rocking on the swing and Eric stands looking at the house. He finally asks, "Are you going to invite me in?"
"And why would I do that?" Sookie counters.
"So that I can have passionate, primal sex with you," he leers. Sookie's lower body clenches in desire but she needs to focus on the issue that is unresolved between them.
"If I read your employees for you, you'll help me with my investigation into the murders of those five women." Eric nods his head. "Shake on it?" she asks while extending her arm. Eric wraps his hand around hers, and they seal the deal. He keeps her hand in his. "Come to Fangtasia Monday evening. We are closed. You may conduct your interviews then." Eric flips their hands so that hers is on top. He places another kiss on her hand, nipping lightly at the veins. He then vanishes into the night.
Sookie whispers into the night, "I'll see you soon Viking."
AN: I know this chapter jumps around a bit, but I needed to establish motives and get the ball rolling for the next chapter. You know I love it when you leave me a review.