Chapter 21

More Than One Stackhouse In A Room Means Trouble

The night air was stuffy and humid as we exited Pam's Mercedes in the Fangtasia parking lot. The muggy atmosphere made Eric's hand seem that much colder as he placed it on my shoulder. He guided me into the employees entrance the way I remember seeing those handsome men in the old MGM movies guide their glamorous women through a crowded room. I didn't think I could ever be glamorous enough to been comfortable by Eric's side. The worst part was that I would know exactly what every envious woman nearby thought of me. Jealousy seemed to amplify one's inner monologue.

"Sookie, would you mind going into the bar area with Pam? I have a few matters to attend to with Chow, things that I am sure would only serve to bore you." I knew a dismissal when I heard one. The lovely, breathtaking kiss he planted on me took the sting out of it.

"Sure, Eric. Hey, since we're going steady now, do I get the employee discount?"

Apparently my sarcasm was lost on him, he looked at me with one brow raised.

"Never mind, I was just being silly."

Eric leaned in close and whispered in my ear. "Silly never looked so delicious before." I could feel his smile as he kissed my neck.

"Pam, Hålla min älskaren glad , inom skäl."

Keep my lover happy, within reason.

The not so subtle warning he had added made me smile and left Pam sneering. Oh, the sweetness of his jealousy! My Gran had always said that a jealous man was a faithful man. What did that say about me since I had felt nothing to find out that Pam had been intimate with Eric? I guess I always figured that they had been together like that. Maybe I should worry about it more since I was with Eric now. I just couldn't, I couldn't even think about it because I was getting turned on from the mental images. That didn't make me a lesbian did it? I really wasn't sure what the qualifications for lesbianism were. For all I knew you had to pass some kind of written exam.

Actually Sookie, it's an oral exam and I would gladly tutor you.

It was amazing how Pam projected her dry, droll sense of humor and vocal inflection with her thoughts. She sounded exactly the same as when she spoke out loud.

"Didn't Eric just warn you about that kind of talk, Pam?" I couldn't help but smile. There would be no fooling her, she was almost as in tune with my emotions as Eric was now. I'm sure she felt my traitorous arousal. Damn, irritating blood bond!

"Does it really count since I was thinking it instead of saying it?"

We both laughed as we made our way out to the main bar area. The sound system was blaring Nine Inch Nails' Head Like A Hole and the dance floor was full of fangbangers and vampires alike. A man who looked to be between 35 and 40 came crawling up to us on all fours. His t-shirt was emblazoned with the words SpiritBait and his jeans looked three sizes too small. As I looked down at the top of his balding head, I learned from his thoughts that he was married, cheating on his wife, Laura with some nasty, sloppy ho named Lexie and was unaware that his darling concubine had just given him not only syphilis but a bad case of genital warts as well. What an asshole!

"Mistress Pam, I've been waiting for you. Please.... please....." His voice shook with emotion and he bowed to her, never raising his gaze from the floor.

"Get out of my way you miserable little maggot!" Pam took the heel of her stiletto and placed it on his face, shoving with such force that he flew backwards, airborne.

"Thank you mistress!" He called after us as we passed.

"That was Shawn. He's a waste of skin and blood. I generally ignore him because he receives some sort of perverse pleasure from my abuse and that ruins it for me."

I read his thoughts as he scrambled away and was disgusted to discover that he was on his way to the restroom to jerk off. Ewwwww! I hoped it burned when he pissed.

I had just ordered a Southern Comfort and orange juice when I heard a commotion coming from the front door. Pam was gone from my side in a flash. It wasn't unusual for this sort of thing to happen here, or so I'd been told once upon a time. What was unusual was the loud voice that I heard in my mind. A voice I knew better than any other.

Sookie, are you in there? I know you can hear me! It's me, Jason! I want to talk to you NOW! Get your ass up here and get these fucking vampires offa me!

Jason and I had never really spoken about my disability, as I call it, but he knew. The fact that he was utilizing it now to get my attention was worrisome. What the hell was he doing here and how did he know where to find me?

I sighed the sigh of one who knows that the shit is inevitably about to hit the proverbial fan and started towards the front.

Pam, kindly let my idiot brother in.

She appeared by my side with Jason in tow. He was fawning at her with a far away look. She'd put her whammy on him that quick.

"Så du befalla , min husmor." As you command, my mistress.

And stop with the nasty images, Pam. He's my brother for god's sake!

"Sookie, in some parts of the world, incest is still..."

"I command you to stop this instant and never, NEVER think or speak of it again!"

"Of course, my queen. Shall I get your drink for you?"

I nodded yes and she was gone and back in an instant without spilling a drop. I dismissed her, mentally, and did my best to sweep the hideous image of my brother naked out of my mind. Telepathically, I heard Eric growl in disapproval then call for Pam. It was like a party line inside my head.

"Whats this about Jason? Jason?" I snapped my fingers in front of his face to get his attention. He was still glamored and looking for Pam.

Pam, take your hoodoo off of my brother please?

The reversal was instant. His face was angry, his eyes bloodshot and bugging out of his head.

"Sookie, what the hell are you thinking? I got a call from Bill last night and he tells me that you plan on letting some vampire turn you? Who is this Eric, I need to see about layin' an ass whoopin' on him!"

"Okay, first of all, calm down. I can't talk to you when you're screaming at me inside and outside of my mind. Second, I'm not letting anybody turn me. Lastly, even if I was, what business would it be of yours?"

"Well, seeing as how I'm your brother and only surviving relative and I'm supposed to make sure you're safe, I think it's all my business. Get your shit cause we're getting the fuck outta here!"

...dressed like a fuckin fangbanger tramp. Why don't she just go ahead and prove all them mother fuckers in Bon Temps right? Maybe she's trash but I ain't....

Hearing these thoughts come from my brother as he was pulling me roughly by the arm was too much.

"Eric!"

I hadn't time to blink before he was in front of Jason, fangs fully extended and vengeance written on his face. Oh. My. Heck. What had I just done?

Jason's head looked all the way up at Eric's 6'4" height slowly, like you would look up at the top of a skyscraper from the street. He muttered two words that sounded more defeated than scared.

"Well, shit."