Sam was preparing a particularly complicated drink order for one of Anne Marie's tables when the fire alarm went off.
"Dey say no lemons dis time," Anne Marie sighed as she came over to give Sam the order.
"Everyone gets lemons," Sam said seriously, though he didn't blame them. He was starting to get sick to death of slicing them.
"It's okay. Dey had some already. No one have any reaction. Help me out, Sam – my tips is sufferin'."
Sam smiled at his wife. He couldn't help it. "All right, all right. Sookie hear anything yet?"
"Not that she told me, but she been spendin' a lot of time over by Bill." Anne Marie sounded disapproving.
"You've been spending a lot of time over by me," Sam pointed out. Anne Marie gave him a pointed look.
"You the bartender."
Sam chuckled and started mixing the drinks. The young vampire party from New Orleans was back, and sitting opposite them were some ladies who obviously thought a table of available young men might have some interest in them. Based on the fact that Christopher Santiago had strolled in and over to them made Sam tend to think otherwise, but the ladies were ordering cocktails like they were going out of style.
Sam wasn't sure what to make of the fact that Santiago and Bill Compton had arrived together with no sign of Peggy and Eric. Bill had given him a nod from across the room and taken the booth he'd sat in with Peggy previously. Christopher had gone over to talk to the others and stayed to drink a True Blood with them.
Sookie went straight over to Bill when he came in, though to her credit she didn't ignore any of their other customers. She spent plenty of time talking to her husband, but none of Fangtasia's clientele suffered for it. Sam knew she was a complete professional, so he didn't worry about it.
What did Sookie know about Bill's flirtation with Peggy? Sam wondered. It occurred to him that he didn't know how far it had gone. For all he knew, Peggy and Bill could have made love hundreds of times. Not his business, even though all of them were all his friends. He didn't want to know.
To Sam's irritation, for the first time in months he thought about the erotic dreams he had had about Bill after he had to drink Bill's blood. He couldn't stop himself from remembering how intense those dreams had been. It was so real, the feeling of being in Bill's embrace, his touch and… enjoying it.
Sam shook his head, trying to think of anything else. Alas, into his head came the memory of the kisses he had once shared with Peggy. Oh, it was too easy to imagine what she and Bill were like together. He could easily understand their attraction to each other, and though he didn't care very much how Eric might feel, he did not want Sookie to be hurt.
Nothing he could do about it, he reminded himself.
"M'worried about Belle," Anne Marie said while Sam made the drinks. "Gran-mawmaw is wid her, but I still got all dis on my mind."
"I know, honey," Sam said. "I won't rest easy until this fairy is taken care of, either."
He tilted the drink shaker back and forth, looking around the club as he did. He thought he recognized the song playing as a hit by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Christopher Santiago looked amused and was tapping his foot. He reached up and adjusted his top hat just slightly. The vampires from New Orleans all seemed to be in his thrall. The lights in Fangtasia were low and red. The ambience was gothic and vampiric and just likely what Eric intended. His throne, though empty, glowed under a low spotlight.
Sookie and Ginger were both helping tables of humans. Everyone in the club seemed to be having a good time. Sam looked at his wife and smiled, and she winked at him. If only they both could relax. The music slowly morphed into an old tune Sam had once been very fond of, Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz."
Sam finished pouring the drink he was mixing when the alarm began to sound. He didn't spill it. It took him a long moment to figure out exactly what the sound was and why it was ringing.
"Fire alarm," he said.
"Ain't no fire," said Anne Marie, taking a deep breath. Sam knew she was sniffing for smoke. He didn't smell any either.
"Good thing," said Sam, who remembered again Elise's comment about the sprinklers and the fact that they had not been professionally examined.
The sprinkler system turned on. The smell was overwhelming, at least to Sam and Anne Marie. Blood began to rain down on them… rotten fairy blood. Sam stared at his wife in horror and her expression mirrored his.
It took less than ten seconds for all of Fangtasia to be drenched in blood. One second after that, all the vampires present were showing their fangs. One second after that, Sam knew that every human in the bar was in grave danger. They all smelled like rotten fairies. Though it made the shifters gag, it attracted the vampires.
"Sookie, Ginger! Run! Now!" Sam hollered. He looked at Anne Marie. "Sweetheart – get out of here."
"We got to get the humans out," she said.
"I'll do my best," Sam swore. "But you have to go!"
"What about you?"
Sam didn't answer. He ran out from behind the bar and urged his wife to run out the back hallway. Crimson rained down on them. It was sticky and smelly and Sam had to stop while Anne Marie threw up. As he was pushing her out the back door towards their truck, he heard screams from within the bar. He didn't have to see to realize that the vampires had begun to attack the humans. Ginger had come down the hallway after them, and Sam seized her by the arm and flung her out the back door after his wife.
He had to get to Sookie.
Sam ran back down the hallway, but before he got back into the main body of Fangtasia the door to Eric's office burst open. Eric came flying own, followed by Peggy. The two of them looked frightening, with flashing eyes and bared fangs.
They sped into the club, but to Sam's relief he realized that they were not attacking humans. They were tearing vampires off of them. Sam was impressed with Peggy's self-control. Surely the allure of the fairy blood was as strong for her as it was for the other young vampires. He decided immediately that the best he could do was try to save Sookie. Sam looked around for her wildly.
Sookie was trapped in the booth Bill had been sitting in by two young vampires from the New Orleans group. One was on either side of her, and she shrieked at them, kicking out with her sneaker. She got the one on her right directly in the forehead and he flew back a few inches. She was doing a fairly good job of defending herself, but the vampires were far stronger than the blonde waitress from Bon Temps. Sookie was going to need help.
Before Sam could get to her, Bill flung himself into the melee. The two attacking vamps were flung in either direction. Bill scooped up Sookie and zoomed out the back. When the two attackers recovered they looked around blindly and to his horror, focused on Sam.
Sam backed up against a wall, trying to inch his way towards the exit. He had no weapon, nothing he could use to defend himself. Any second now instead of creeping slowly towards him those vampires were going to launch themselves at him and Anne Marie would be left a widow.
"I'm a shifter!" Sam hollered at them. "I—I taste like a dog."
"You…what?" the vampire stopped, a confused look stamped on the fanged face. He was dressed in jeans and a dress shirt, but it was impossible to tell what color since everyone was fully drenched in red.
"Ugh, I hate the taste of shifter," said the other vampire, wiping his face with the back of his hand.
"But he smells so good…" the other one whined.
"It's not me. It's that blood raining down from the ceiling – which is rancid, by the way," said Sam.
"I don't care. I'm going to eat you anyway," the vampire decided, but before he could execute his decision Eric grabbed him by the back of the neck and flung him aside. He turned to the second vampire and glared, and the other threw his hands up in surrender and stepped back.
"Thank you," Sam said, and he meant it.
"Get out, go home, and wash off that smell," Eric growled.
"Sounds good to me." Sam turned to hurry away. He didn't have to be told twice.
"And now, Sam Merlotte, we are even!" he heard Eric call after him.
Sam sighed inwardly, but that was just fine with him. It was probably better not to have Eric feeling like he owed Sam a favor. He headed outside and was relieved to see that Bill was guarding Sookie, Anne Marie, and Ginger. They were all still drenched in blood and Ginger was shaking in her heels and sobbing.
"What—happened!" she howled.
Bill sighed and caught her gaze. "Ginger," he said firmly, "I need you to calm down."
"How we gone drive home without getting blood all up in our car?" Anne Marie demanded.
"Honey, I don't know," Sam said. He ran a hand through his hair. It was sticky. Sam shuddered with revulsion.