Thirty-five

The Morning After

Everything slowly returned to him. James saw the light; it was blurring at first, but then it was getting clearer. The smell of the sweet vanilla calmed him down. Victoria was around him, somewhere.

"My goodness!"

He heard her sweet voice. Slowly he opened his eyes. He was back in his room, lying on his bed. Prescott was there too, standing behind Victoria, who was sitting on the bed, beside him, holding his hand.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You bled," said Prescott. "Blood came out of your nose and ears. What have you been thinking?"

"I was talking to the wolves," he said.

"Did I not tell you that you should think something nice when you were doing it? You can't and shouldn't talk to them in anger. You will consume your own power and body. You are not ready yet. You could die because of it!"

"It's Papa, Prescott. I can't let them do something bad to Papa, can I?" He pulled himself up. "I must tell Papa about it!" Ouch, his head….it was pondering like crazy.

"Godric's son was not born yesterday, James. He knows how to take care of himself!"

He knew that Papa had not been born yesterday and he knew that Papa was a clever man, but still, Papa did not know that they had planned something for him, somewhere, somehow. "Was I really bleeding?" he asked to Victoria.

Victoria nodded. "I thought I might have lost you," her lips were trembling. "Please, don't do this to me again..." Her eyes were glistening from tears, which were slowly flowing down on her cheek.

James touched her face and wiped off those tears. "I won't," he said, smiling. But his smile was gone when he saw his hand. It was covered with long grey reddish hair. "What happened to me?" he shrieked. "What happened to me?"

Prescott held his shoulder and asked him to lie down.

"Prescott...am...I...am I turning into a werewolf?" James tried to break free, but Prescott was too strong for him. "I am not a werewolf..."

"Prescott..." Victoria touched his hip and gave him a sign to let him go. Prescott move aside and James got up and wanted to leave the bed when Victoria took him into her arms. "I am not a werewolf......"

"Sssttt," Victoria whispered.

"I am not a werewolf..." he was trembling. They had not bitten him...they would not change him into a werewolf....

Victoria held him tighter and stroked his hair.

"You are not a werewolf, James," said Prescott. "Your blood is a wolf-blood. You can choose to be one of them or return to be a human. His Highness asked me to tell you this, whatever you will decide, you are welcome in our world, because you carry our blood as well. It is a fact that nobody will deny you,"

"What do you mean I can choose?" Slowly James let Victoria go. His hands were still shaking, but he was not panicking any more.

"You won't be able to take shape of a wolf, but you can communicate with them without saying the words. Just like the dogs, they will listen to you and answer to your questions. But if you choose to be a human, you will lose your power and live as a human,"

"What? How?"

"Your ancestors were the Dire Wolf, the race of wolf, which roamed the place long before the Grey Wolf – the ancestor of the Grey Hound. The wolf that had sacrificed his life for your father was one of the last of his kind. Think wisely before you decide. To live as a wolf is not easy. You have to follow the rules of the pack, even when it is against your will. The pack will be your family; its need and its survival become your concern. You have to be ready to give up your life for them, and it sometimes means you have to do something against the wish of your parents,"

"And if I chose not to?"

"Then you'd live like many other human, do what they do. You won't be able to communicate with the wolves or dogs,"

"Would they – the werewolves, be after me even if I chose to be a human?"

"I cannot say," said the faery. His fair face was troubled. "His Highness did not tell me anything about it,"

James felt his head pondering again as if somebody had hit him a hammer. It came and go just like the beating of his heart. What should he do?

Victoria touched his cheek. "Try to get some sleeps," she said. "You need to gain your strength. Tomorrow night they will invite you to the Clan's Council and possibly this Keane person will come too. You have to pretend that you don't know anything about it. Nobody may know what happened tonight," she whispered in his ears. "It's our secret,"

James took her hand. "Don't leave me alone; sleep me with tonight...please..."

Victoria hesitated, but then she nodded.

"I stay here," said Prescott.

What? James looked at him in awe. Oh, come on Prescott...let me be alone with my girl, he said in his head.

"After the thing that happened tonight, Master James, I won't leave you alone any more,"

Great, that's just great!

"Do you have t-shirt or boxer I can borrow?" asked Victoria. "I don't want to go to bed with dirty clothes,"

Her sentence made him realize that he had not noticed at all that Victoria was covered with soil. Her t-shirt and jeans were dirty, there were stains on her face, they looked like a mixture between soil and blood, and her black hair was untidy and dirty.

"In my bag," he said, feeling guilty. He should have paid more attention to her and not only thought about himself.

Victoria stood up, took a t-shirt and a boxer from his bag and went to the bathroom.

"Prescott!" he hissed. "You could stand outside, couldn't you? I want to be alone with her,"

"It's better that they thought that you had been with me than with her. Cooper told me that you are not allowed to be alone with her. It was Colin's order. I don't want you or her get into problems,"

Mom...James sighed, again he felt guilty. He had given her a promise too, that he would stay away from Victoria...but he could not. He wanted to, but he could not; and he was glad that Victoria felt the same way. He could tell from her kisses back there in the foxhole. Slowly his heart beat faster, he felt like thousand ants crawling on his legs and his dick was getting harder. He cursed himself in his head. Why did he get a boner so easily every time he thought about her? Was he obsessed about her or something? Or was it a normal reaction of a person, who was in love?

Victoria went out of the bathroom. Her figure looked smaller in his t-shirt and boxer. The shape that she had was disappeared, covered by the loose garment. She crawled on his bed and laid down beside him. "Good night," she said and she closed her eyes.

James lay down and he was going to hug her when Victoria turned around. "I said good night, James," she said. Her voice sounded harsh. James sighed. Not even a goodnight kiss! She must have heard what Prescott said. He turned around. "Good night. Good night, Prescott,"

The faery did not answer. His figure looked tall and solemn under the deeming lights.

James switched off the light. This was absolutely not what he imagine of having Victoria on his bed! He closed his eyes and soon, the tiredness took over him.

James woke up with a heavy head. A familiar voice spoke inside his room loudly. His intonation was up and down as if he was singing. Only one man did that, and it was Uncle Jason; and he did it only when he was angry.

"What is he doing in your room?" Uncle Jason asked when their eyes met.

"What is going on? What time is it? And where is Victoria?"

"It's around seven and who is Victoria? Did you have a girl last night?"

James turned around. Victoria. She slept in his room...not any more. She must have flown from his window again. James forced himself to sit. Jesus, his head was heavy.

"You had a girl...I hope you didn't something stupid...and him..." Uncle Jason pointed at Prescott. "What is he doing here?"

Uncle Jason talked about something stupid? Laffy had told him many stories about Uncle Jason, stories about Uncle Jason, his women and their angry husbands or boyfriends, but James decided not to say anything about it. He did not want Laffy to have a row with Uncle Jason. "Guarding me," answered James.

"Guarding you? Against what?"

"Didn't you hear anything last night?"

"Nope," Uncle Jason stood uncomfortably in front of him. "The Ranchers didn't let me out of my room,"

James pulled his hair. God, this headache!

"Your dog left the room and I couldn't stop him,"

"Duke...is he okay?"

"Sort of,"

"What do you mean by 'sort of'?"

"I don't know what's going on, but that dog left the ranch's ground and he isn't letting anyone getting near to him. I am afraid your dog is getting mad, James,"

"No, he isn't," he tried to stand up, but his knees were weak and before he knew it, he fell. Uncle Jason caught him just right in time before he touched the floor.

"James, are you okay? I got a very bad feeling about this place," Uncle Jason said. "If I were you, I would leave this place immediately,"

"I am fine, thanks," he tried to get up. Uncle Jason held his hand and helped him sit on the bed, "Thanks, Uncle. Oh, I have a terrible headache,"

"You forced yourself too hard last night, James," said the faery. "Headache is the least that you should worry about,"

"What is he talking about?"

"Long story, Uncle," he said. "I'll tell you when we're back in Bon Temps. Why are you here, by the way?"

"The Ranchers want me to tell you about the dog. They want me to ask you if you agree that your dog is sent away,"

"No!" His sleepiness was suddenly gone. "Duke, come here, boy!"

"He won't hear you, James. He's far away in the East, near the Pine forest,"

The Pine forest; that must have been where they had been. Inside the foxhole, with Victoria, listening to somebody planning something awful to Papa and the others.

"There were intruders last night," he said. "Duke must have caught their smells,"

"From where you heard that?"

"Listen, Uncle Jason. You have to return to Bon Temps. You have to tell Mom and Eric that they are in danger, especially Eric,"

Uncle Jason's jaw dropped. "You want me to tell Vampire Eric that he's in danger? You're kidding, right? Me? He will only snort me to dead,"

"You're a weretiger now, Eric will listen to you,"

"Yeah, right. As if your mother, my own little sister, took me seriously! Ever,"

"You know she does, Uncle. You're her only brother. Of course, she will listen to you. Otherwise, why do you think she asked you to be here with me?"

Uncle Jason scratched his un-itchy head. After a while, he said. "Nah, I'd better stay here with you. I don't trust that man over there,"

"Prescott is a friend, Uncle. You'd better learn to trust him,"

Uncle Jason looked at Prescott. His eyes were narrowing. "Perhaps," he said. "But don't be too comfortable, you! I am watching you!" then he looked at James. "You'd better get some more sleep. I'll tell them that you have a headache,"

"No, no." he said. "I'll go out soon. Could you get me some aspirins, please? Thanks."

After taking some aspirins, washing his face, James put on a fresh set of cloth. He had mixed feelings as he saw that the hair, which had covered his hands last night was gone. He should have been happy, right, now that he looked normal again. However, he felt like something was missing. He sighed. He had not had those hair for a short time, maybe even some minutes, why must he feel that way?

James checked his body thoroughly to make sure that there was no sign of biting or scratching. The only mark that he could find was on the side of his body. It must have been from the sliding and his lips felt dry and there were some little wounds on them. He grinned. Victoria's kisses. She had kissed him passionately, so passionately that she must have been biting them; but he had enjoyed her kisses so much that he had not even realized it. He did not mind. He loved being kissed by Victoria like last night. He touched his lips. Yes, he loved it. If he had another chance or chances, he would do it again gladly. He was going to put his boxer in the basket when he saw Victoria's clothes. He told himself not to forget to put those clothes in a plastic bag and gave it to her. As he went out of the bathroom, a set of blue eyes welcomed him. Duke. He sat in front of the door. His neck was straight and his ears were standing.

"Duke!"

The Doberman stood and shook his docked tail.

He patted its head. "My boy, you know who's the boss, don't you, Boy?"

"Of course, he does," Cooper's voice answered him.

"What is going on? Why does everybody think that my room is like a train station?" he asked. "This is my room, isn't it?"

Cooper looked uncomfortable. "Duke was uncontrollable," he said.

"Of course he is," he said. "He is my dog. I told him to listen only to me,"

"My apologies, James,"

Cooper's voice made him realized how rude he was. His voice was soft and sounded as if he tried to calm him down.

"I am sorry, Cooper," he said. "I don't mean to be rude,"

Cooper smiled. "You seemed to have a rough night," he said.

"I did," James said, but he did not have any intention to explain it.

"I see," said Cooper, his eyebrows met in the middle. He was curious, but he did not pursue his curiousity. James was glad that Cooper did it because honestly, he would not know how to answer him. "Let's go. Breakfast is about to begin,"

Like yesterday, they had breakfast in some kind of a hall. And like yesterday, their buffet was amazing. At the end of the table, different kinds of bagels were arranged like pyramids. Some of them had sesame seed on them, like little gold, its brilliant golden colour made his mouth watery. Then, there were some plain ones, side by side with the pumpkin seed decorated brown bagels. The next plates were sausages plates. He did not know what kind of sausages they had, but they all looked delicious. Then plates of cheese, bowls of jam, peanut butter, honey, yogurt, cornflakes...Jesus, what were they having? A marriage party or something?

Either it was because of all the food or from last night, James was hungry; so hungry that he swore he could eat a horse. Uncle Jason's eyes were wide open when he saw the amount of food he had on his plate. He took five bagels, some cheese, bacon, sausages, half-eggs with mustard; salmon paste, black little things which looked like eggs or seed on them and a glass of orange juice. "I am hungry," he said, sitting down.

"I don't say anything," he said. He drank his coffee.

"Uudon'aeftu," James said with half a bagel inside his mouth.

Uncle Jason cringed when he heard that. "Lucky for you, your momma is not here. Because it sounded very dirty to me,"

James coughed as the bagel entered the wrong channel. He drank the juice. "I said, you don't have to," he said.

"I knew that," Uncle Jason's eyes were twinkling. "I know that you have a big mouth just like your momma, but your mouth isn't big enough to be an oven. So eat slowly!"

But he was so hungry! He had never felt so hungry like this before! And this food was delicious! It was just like at Laffy's, only better; but he would not say that to Laffy, otherwise he would go bananas!

After the breakfast, which if it had been up to James could go on forever, the men and women of the Grey Hound Clan left the hall to do their works. James was left alone. Doc had taken Uncle Jason out. He wanted to show him the area, he said. He was welcomed to stay, Doc said. The ranch could use an additional muscle. Duke, which had been staying outside during breakfast, entered the hall. His blue fur moved like waves when the soft morning breeze touched it. He licked his master's hand as if he wanted to tell him that he was there. Behind him were Cooper and Colin. Walking slowly, like two wolves approached their prey.

"Come," said Colin. "I'll take for a ride. Duke can come if he wants,"

The Running Creek area was huge! With a Jeep, they hovered around the area. First, they went to the south and showed them where they took their cattle to graze, miles and miles of green grass and hundreds of cows in different shapes and colours. The cowboys were on the back of their horses, shouting words, which were carried by the wind until far. The small river that ran through the valley was like a snake, crawled over the land. Then they crossed over a meadow to the west, where some little hills laid, as if they had guarded their area from any intruders. The bottom part of the hills was covered by small pine forest, which formed a line to the East. They took a small path to the East. The Jeep shook heavily as the road was getting rougher. Duke snarled and bared his teeth. He was afraid. James stroked his neck to calm him down. Duke whimpered a little and then put his head on James' lap. His eyes blinked like a little puppy.

The Pine forest looked scary, now that James could see it. The trees were small, but high reaching up to the sky. They stood close to each other, shielded the bushes and grasses from the sunlight. As far as James could see, he saw light breaking through the leaves and creating pillars, standing slanted among the trees. The morning breeze, which touched the leaves and shook the bushes softly, broke the pillars of light occasionally, but not strong enough to make them go away.

"There was a heavy fight last night," said Colin. "Some intruders had broken the barricade of our ranch."

"Really?" asked James. The three men must have been a part of them. Although he wondered, how that man with a growling voice knew about Duke?

"Yes, we are standing not so far from the place,"

James looked around. So, this was the place and inside the forest, Victoria and he had been inside a foxhole and had some good time, before those men appeared. Hmh...would he be able to find that foxhole again...now...?

"Some men found Duke not so far from this place early this morning." Colin continued. "I thought I had asked you to keep him on the ground,"

"You did," James felt weird in his stomach. Colin looked angry. His jaw was moving.

"He listens only to you, James. He had been here, you must have been here, too. Am I wrong?"

"Yes, you are,"

It was not James who answered, but Prescott. The faery looked at James. His eyes did not blink, but James knew what to do. Duke, obey Prescott.

Colin and Cooper looked at the faery.

The faery reached out his hand. James ordered Duke to come to faery and licked his hand, which was done by the faithful Doberman.

"So you were here,"

"Yes. I heard noises and I followed. I am a guardian of a forest; forgive me, Werewolf, but the wind brought evil scents to my nose. I must defend the forest from those who create destruction."

"He's telling the truth, Colin," said Cooper. "He wasn't in his room last night,"

Colin looked at Cooper. His lips form a straight line. "We found traces of blood over there," he pointed at five o'clock direction. "Tell me, Faery, what did you see or hear?"

"I saw two werewolves and a human," said Prescott. "They talked about a person named Keane. They said Keane wanted to see the boy,"

Colin and Cooper looked at each other.

"The White Fangs leader," said Colin. His voice was low; his eyes turned yellowish. "What else did you hear?"

"Your cousin's death,"

Colin snarled. His canine teeth were bared to see. For a moment, just for a moment, James saw a face of an angry wolf instead of Colin. Cooper moved a step backward and bowed his head, Duke ran behind James and whimpered.

"You saw the killer?" Colin's eyes were now yellow; the black iris looked very small, made them look somehow sinister. James felt his skin crawl.

"I did," said Prescott. "But I did not chase him. I have a duty here, which is to protect Sookie's son,"

Cooper raised his head. Clearly, he was surprised to hear that.

"Will you be able to recognize him if you see him again?" asked Colin.

"Yes, I will. If he stays as human,"

"What do you mean?"

"He was attacked by the werewolves,"

Colin's eyes slowly returned to their normal colour. "I don't think that I understand you, Prescott,"

"I saw him being attacked by the werewolves. They dragged him to the forest. The rest, I did not know. I left to return to James' room. I wanted to make sure that those mad werewolves would not touch him,"

Colin and Cooper looked at each other.

"They work together, obviously," said Cooper. "Why did they suddenly attack the human?"

"You tell me, The Keeper of Niish' secrets. Your kind has too many riddles that are not easy for me to solve, since I am not yet graced to walk among the Elders,"

James forced himself not to move, or to blink. They may not know that he had been the one who ordered them to attack the human.

"Do you know the werewolves?" asked Colin.

"No," the faery said. "One of them was wearing his cloak the whole time. His voice growled, his face was covered by fur and his eyes were yellowish; the other one stood with his back facing me me. I could only hear his voice. But voices are very hard to be remembered,"

"We have to return," said Cooper. He looked nervous. "We have to tell them that we can't make it tonight,"

"No," said Colin. "Let's continue with the planning. Let's pretend that we didn't know anything about this. Use this situation for our advantages,"

Cooper looked at James. "What about Little Brother?"

Colin looked at James and smiled. "He's our brother. He knows what to do, don't you James?"

Why did everybody think that he knew what to do? James sighed.

Slowly they went back to the Jeep. The sun was at the middle of the sky. The day came as fast as it went. James looked up at the sky. As if the sun wanted to mock him, it gave him its brightest light and blinded his eyes. For the first day in his life, James felt so lonely. His mother was not there to look at him straight into the eyes and told him the truth or to take him into her arms and say nothing. She did not have to say anything, her presence was always able to give him the strength that he desperately needed to cease his fear. He was not sure of becoming an adult sooner any more because he realized that he needed Mom now more than before.

Sam Merlotte sat on the chair at the corner of a small room. The smell of half-burning incense sticks filled the room, made the air heavy of roses, chocolate, ginger, vanilla and god knows what else. As a shifter, he had the same ability of his main form's ability of senses. The Collie, which was his main form, had a very good sense of smelling; therefore, he also had it. But with this thousand and one scents, the fine sense of smelling now gave him nothing but a headache. How could somebody live in such a poisonous air like this?

He looked at the woman, who was lying on the bed, sleeping. The candle's soft light made a shade of snake on her smooth black skin. Amelia Broadway was her name. He had waited for her to leave the Leclreq Wellness center, bumped on her, and spilled his coffee on her soft blue uniform intentionally. After half an hour of having empty conversation, he offered her a ride home.

"You did it on purpose, didn't you?" she asked when they arrived at her place. "Spilling your coffee on me,"

"Well," he touched his hat and smiled. "I guess I was busted. I've been watching you for some days, and didn't have the guts to approach you," It was a lie, but women liked to hear such nonsense like that. If the men were shy or acting shy, their guards were mostly down. It worked every time and Sam was sure, it would work this time too.

Amelia laughed. "You're such a liar," she said. She opened her door. "If you're so curious about me, why don't you come in and find out,"

Her place had only two rooms; a room, which Amelia used as the sleeping room and also living room and the other room was the kitchen. She turned on her CD player and played a dancing song. "Duran Duran," she said.

"I beg your pardon?"

"The group, it's Duran Duran. I love Duran Duran, they made such beautiful dancing music," she started dancing, moving her body, inviting him to dance with her.

Sam took off his hat and they danced, but they dance only half the song. The movement of their bodies against each other; the scents that filled the room; her eyes, which were burning like fire and his own needs all together made them move fast. They helped each other take off their clothes, threw them somewhere, and Sam cursed himself for wearing boots. He should have worn sneakers, which were easier to be taken off.

Soon they ignored the music, the scent and anything else on the background. They could only see and feel how their body moved in the fast tact of lust. Sam had been with women in shape and colours; but this woman, whose hands were carefully following the shape of his body, seemed to know what he wanted and every touch that she was giving him drove him faster and faster. And the movement of her body was like the movement of a dancer, either soft, fast or strong, yet it was beautiful. As she rolled him down and she sat on him, started moving her body at the same rhythm with the music, he could not think any more. His breaths were getting shorter and heavy, his head spun and his heart was racing. Finally, as the rush of lust broke down his entire being, he grabbed her hips and screamed.

Amelia let herself fall on him and stayed there.

"Jesus!" he said to himself. That was a good fuck!

"No, it's just Amelia," she grinned. "Jesus lives some blocks away from here,"

Sam rolled her down and laughed.

Then, they made love again and again, until they couldn't do it any more.

The reflection of light from the condom package drew Sam's thoughts back to the present time. He checked his watch. It was almost ten o'clock now. Sookie must have woken up already. Alcide said that she would sleep at the haven last night. However, he could not call them. He did not have anything to tell. Yeah, he had slept with Amelia; Alcide would be thrilled to hear that.

"Oh, shit!" a loud shriek made Sam turn around. "I am late again!" Amelia got up without bothering to cover her Roman statue like body. "What time is it?"

"Around ten,"

"Shit, shit, shit!" she opened her drawers, put on her underwear, much to Sam's dismay. "They would kill me!"

"I'll take you there," Sam got up. "It's my mistake; I should have woken you up,"

Amelia put on her uniform. She laughed. "You can make that same mistake again tonight, I don't mind,"

Sam walked toward her and kissed her. "We're good, eh?"

Amelia touched his face. "You bet we are, Sam Merlotte!" When Sam wanted to kiss her again, she said. "Bad idea, Baby. I have to be at my work an hour ago. Don't start with that Bon Temps charm of yours, you will only get me into more problems,"

Sam stepped back. How did she know that he was from Bon Temps? He did not say anything about it.

"I did it again, didn't I?" she said. "I can tell people's origin by hearing their accents. You have that typical Bon Temps accent...your 'n' sounds like ng..."

Did it? He spoke Cajun; he supposed it was only normal if his Cajun accent influenced his English. He never paid attention to things like that.

"Will you take me to work or not?"

Sam took her into his arms and messed her hair. "Yes, boss,"

Amelia laughed and kissed his cheek. She fixed her face as they drove away from her place. "Oh, I hate this," she said. "Good that you are here, otherwise I have to do it myself. Driving and putting make up,"

"That's stupid and dangerous," said Sam. "Many accidents occur because of that,"

"I know,"

"If you know, why do you do it? It's stupider, if you ask me,"

She made her hair into a bun. "I know! Women are multitaskers, you know. We do many things at the same time, so we are a little bit carried away and thought that we could do it on the road too,"

"That is a very silly excuse,"

She sighed. "You're right. I'll try not to do it again, next time. If you are willing to be my driver," she flashed her grin. "You're a good man, Sam. I like you,"

"How do you know? You don't even know me," said Sam, but he smiled. "Yeah, I guess I am,"

Amelia smiled. "You should smile more often, it looks good on you,"

Sam lifted his eyebrows. This woman was very generous with praises, strangely, he did not feel as if she was kissing his ass. She seemed sincere with her praises. "You think we can see each other tonight?"

"Yeah, I'd like that...oh, shit. I can't. I have to work a little bit longer tonight. We have a new patient,"

"Pity," said Sam. He had to know the name of the patient, but Amelia may not get suspicious "May be after your work is over? I'd love to,"

"I don't know how long it will take, but if you're willing to wait, we can do it..."

No, he couldn't wait for her neither inside nor around the building. The vampires would be able to sense his presence. "Maybe I'll drop by around ten at your place, if it's okay with you. You won't work that long, will you?"

"I don't know," she said. "It's a very special patient," suddenly her voice was low. "You know what kind of place it is, this LWC. It's a vampire hospital," she whispered.

"Amelia, it's a daytime now. They will not hear us. I think they are sleeping now, and yes I know what LWC is. It's a common knowledge, now."

Amelia looked around, as if she was afraid that somebody might hear or see her. "I heard, a very important vampire is coming tonight. They don't register the name, but they always call her 'Her Majesty', it sounds like a....."

The car stopped immediately and made a loud noise as Sam accidentally stepped on the break. The other cars, which were behind them stopped. The drivers cursed and shouted at Sam as they were passing by his car.

"Sam, are you all right? Jesus, you almost give me a heart attack,"

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I was shocked," And it was the truth. 'Her Majesty'. There was only one 'Her Majesty' in Louisiana. The Vampire Queen of Louisiana herself, Queen Sophie-Anne Leclreq. Sookie and Alcide had to know this as soon as possible.

Sam started his car and slowly drove the car.

"You are shaking," said Amelia. "Oh, I should have told you that. Not everybody agrees with the whole vampire thingy. You're not one of them, are you?"

"No, no," said Sam. 'The whole vampire thingy', oh, he would love to see Northman's face when he heard that. "It's just...I thought that vampires can't get sick," Or had children...that lucky bastard! That not only he had stolen his woman, but he had also managed to tie her by making her pregnant. Well, Sookie had never been his woman; he wanted her to be, but Northman had ruined everything for him.

"That's what I thought too. I just hope she won't be a threat for us, you know, the nurses. We have to take care of her. You never know when or if they will be hungry...it's scary, if I am honest,"

Sam took her hand and squeezed it softly. "Don't worry. They are not going to do something stupid, especially if your patient is an important figure in vampires' world,"

"I hope you're right, Sam," she put her make-up in her bag. "I am glad that you decided to spill your coffee on me last night. Otherwise, I wouldn't have a chance to unload this burden off my chest,"

Sam smiled. "I am glad that I did,"

The steam from the hot coffee looked like a straight white snake, stood quietly on the table. The house was cold in the morning, much colder than Sookie could remember.

Alcide sat at the table, looked through the window with an empty gaze. The lines on his face were getting clearer and stronger. The thing that happened last night seemed to age him rapidly. "You'll be alone here," he said. His voice was deep and low. "I don't like it,"

Alcide was supposed to leave to Jackson as soon as possible to contact the Norris – the weretiger family that he had mentioned last night. But it seemed he was reluctant to do so.

"I'll be all right, Alcide. Eric and Pam are here,"

"They can't do anything during the daytime,"

Alcide was right. The vampires were 'dead' during the day. She remembered how Eric had tried to keep himself awake at the Palace, but he failed. He was dosing most of the time.

"If the vampires from last night sent somebody to attack you..."

"I don't think that they would do..."

"...or to force you to go to the Palace without any protection from any of us, you can't stop them. Please, go to the haven, there you would be more protected,"

"Eric wants me to be here,"

Alcide combed his hair with his fingers. He sighed. "I'll send somebody to come over here,"

Sookie remembered what Pam had said to her. This place was their last sanctuary. This house had to remain hidden. "No, I don't think that Pam would agree," she looked at Alcide. "I'll be okay, Alcide. Really."

"Sam....yes, Sam. At least let me send him here to accompany you. You know you can trust him,"

"I'll call him, when I need him," Sookie had made up her mind. "Really, Alcide, you worry too much," she gave him a soft look. "I know you used to take care of a lot of people, but I used to take care myself. So, please. Go to Jackson and meet this Norris family. It will only take some few hours, and I'll be here when you arrive,"

"Promise me not to go to Baton Rouge before you hear anything from me!"

"I can't promise you that, but I'll try. If not, then I'll call you,"

After drinking the coffee and eating some bread, Alcide said goodbye. He wanted to go to Jackson as early as possible so that he could return before the dark. He was bowing and going to kiss her, when Sookie pulled herself away.

"I see," he said.

"I am sorry," said Sookie.

Alcide smiled; he looked bitter, but he still forced himself to smile. "I understand," he said. "Take care, Sookie," then he left.

Sookie followed him until the porch and watched his tall figure walking down the hill. She felt quite strange that she started to miss him. Alcide was a friend, whom she could rely on, a strong shoulder to lean on. Any woman would have felt lucky or blessed to be his girlfriend or wife, any woman, but her. She did not love him as a boyfriend, even after their kiss last night, or should she say especially after the kiss. She could not describe with words, but the feelings that she normally had when she was with Eric was not there. The feelings of wanting, lusting and at the same time being wanted, being lusted....ah damn Eric Northman! Why must she compare any man with that man, who was not willing to admit his feelings for her? Did she really need to hear the word "I love you," or whatever it would be in his Old Norse? Were all those things that he had done for her was not enough to show her that he loved her?

Her mobile phone rang. She opened it. "Hallo?"

"Hi, Sookie..."An unknown female voice was on the other line.

"Who is this?"

She laughed, mockingly. "Debbie Pelt, Alcide's ex fiancée,"

"How did you know my number?"

"Really, Sookie. Do you think Alcide will keep anything secret from me?"

Sookie did not answer. Yeah, she believed that Alcide kept many secrets from her. "What do you want?"

"I want to talk to Alcide. Is he around? I know that you slept with him,"

Her voice sounded sharp and short. Debbie was jealous...after all this time, she was still jealous with her. And no, she did not sleep with Alcide, but she did not want to tell that woman anything. "No," she said. "He's not around. Why didn't you try his house?"

"I did. They said that he left with you and your vampire bitch,"

The people at the haven should have been able to keep their mouths shut. "No, he is not around. He left," Sookie said and she really did not want to tell her when.

"Tell him I called," Clack. The phone was cut off.

Jesus, that woman! Sookie wondered how Alcide had ended up with her at the first place! She closed her mobile phone.

The phone rang again.

"Listen, I don't know where he is..."

"Hey, hey...good morning to you, too," a friendly voice from the other line cut her.

"Sam," Sookie sighed. "I am sorry. Debbie just called and asked for Alcide..."

"What? From where did she get your telephone number?"

"She said from Alcide,"

"No, that's a lie. Alcide would never give her your phone number. Listen, where are you?"

"At Pam's,"

"Where is that?"

"Really, Sam...I can't tell you..."

"Listen, leave the place. I don't trust that woman," said Sam. "She must have checked you out. What did you say?"

"I said that...." suddenly Sookie felt stupid. She had said that Alcide was not there.

"Leave the place Sookie and meet me somewhere. Call me when you got there. I have news you surely want to hear. Leave now." Clack. Sam closed the line.

Sookie ran inside, grabbed her bag and went out. Sam had never been wrong before, he was certainly also right this time. She closed the door and ran down hill.