A/N: Over 2,000 reviews! I never, ever, ever expected that when I started this. I mean, I was blown away when I hit 1K, but now … now I'm over the moon. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And if I'm being too enthusiastic, it's because this means so much to me. I know I haven't been the greatest at responding to those day-improving reviews, but I want you to believe me when I say I am thankful for each one.

I'm also thankful to chiisai-kitty for beta-ing this and helping my lazy brain differentiate between True Blood and SVM. She's my secret weapon :P

All characters belong to CH. On a related note, the sky is blue.

…

Eric's arms came around and me and pulled me to my chest, and I buried my face there, mumbling jumbled phrases like "Tina … she can't … disinfectant … tuna … never … who?" He didn't respond to them, as I could feel him digging around in his pants for something—his cell phone, I saw, after a couple seconds. He pressed a couple buttons with one hand as the other stroked my hair comfortingly. He backed up and led me over to where the porch steps were; I sat down next to him, not feeling safe enough to get out of his embrace.

Tina had been more than my cat; she was like my roommate. I had enjoyed her company and taking care of her; I could only hope that she had felt the same way about me and she liked living with me, in the couple of weeks we were together. I felt closer to my cat than anyone, excluding Eric and Pam and Sam. And now, I couldn't be. Because she was dead. Because someone wanted her to be dead. Because someone wanted me to be dead.

"I just sent out a mass-text to Pam and all of the vampires who live closest to Fangtasia," he said once I quieted down. "They're to meet at Fangtasia, and Pam's going to lead them over to your house so we can track whoever did this. And when we do … it won't be pretty."

"Eric … I think whoever did this meant to kill me. I think whoever did this killed Dawn and Maudette," I whimpered.

Eric's eyes were hard and grim as he replied, "Me too."

Next he pressed some more buttons on the phone, only this time he brought it to his ear and spoke into it. "This is Eric Northman. I need you to come to Sookie's, right now ... She's fine, but her cat isn't, and I need you to watch her for me ... I already said that. Yes, right now ... Fine."

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Merlotte. He's coming over now, to watch you," Eric replied after he put the phone back in his pocket.

"How'd you get his number?" I asked, slightly pulling out of my niche.

"You've called me from Merlotte's in the past; I thought it'd be a good idea to save the number."

"Oh. Wait. Why are you calling Sam and telling him he needs to watch me? Watch me, like you're going away on vacation for a week and need someone to dog-sit." I pulled away from Eric, but only a little.

Eric tilted his head. "Perhaps 'watch' wasn't the best phrase. More like ... 'protect,' I suppose."

"Protect? I'm not a diamond necklace either, Eric," I said stubbornly.

"Sookie, your cat was just murdered in your house."

Well, there was that. I had just managed to forget about poor Tina, too. "Where are you going to go, then, when Sam's protecting me?"

"If there's any chance to find whoever did this, it'll be because of me. I am the oldest and strongest vampire in this area, and because of that I'll be able to pick up who did this. Something tells me the Bon Temps Sheriff Department won't be equipped to properly search for fingerprints, or else they already would have caught the killer. I'm sorry, Sookie, but it's the only solution I can think of."

I tried to best him, but I couldn't. Eric always knew what to do and when to do it, so I trusted him. I knew he wouldn't do this now unless it really was the only solution he could think of. "Fine. Shouldn't you call the police?"

He sighed wearily as he replied, "I guess. I don't have much faith in them, after meeting 'the physical embodiment of the law' earlier this evening."

I felt drugged up, that how out-of-body this whole experience seemed. It wasn't real. These kinds of things didn't happen to small-town barmaids. Giggling loopily, I said, "That Andy sure is a piece of work, huh?"

Eric didn't laugh, but he did call 9-1-1 and say that if Andy Bellefleur had any hopes about finding the Bon Temps murderer, he needed to get a squad car down at Sookie Stackhouse's place. He hung up after that, and I just lost it. I'd had to talk to or about the police so many times today, and now I had to do it all over again. Suddenly, I just started sobbing. I cried out of sheer exhaustion, completely worn out by everything I had seen and done today. Eric held me, and I sobbed into his tank top. I was so frazzled I didn't even notice feeling Eric's hard, dependable chest through the thin fabric of his tank top. I was too frazzled even for that.

For the third time today, I saw a dead body. For the second time today, I was covered in blood. And for the first time today, I wasn't scared, as much as the other times.

How could I be, in Eric's arms?

While my brain seemed to be on the verge of shutting down completely, I knew his was working overtime, two steps ahead of everyone else's. That comforted me more than a hot fudge sundae or a hot shower could right now.

I looked up at him, and while doing so I saw that I had ruined his shirt, both with my tears and whatever blood had been on my face. I had just gotten rid of all of Long Shadow's blood too. "Oh, look, I've messed up your shirt," I breathed, scowling at the shirt like it was its fault. Then I looked down at the one I was wearing "Well, I messed up both of your shirts."

"I'll just put them in the dry-cleaning bag," Eric said lightly, kind of patting me on the head ... my least-bloodiest body part that was within patting distance.

I hiccupped loudly, jumping a little; my nerves were so shot I was scaring myself. I was a mess. Then I laughed, normally at first, and then a little crazily after I got going. I experienced every style of laughing from giggling to guffawing, all in the span of a minute. But I stopped, much to Eric's wordless relief, when a pair of headlights came up my driveway, and an extremely worried-looking Sam screeched to a halt and ran over to where we were sitting. Eric was instantly on his A-game, asking Sam to step inside and see if he smelled anything.

After making sure I was okay—I numbly said I was fine, not budging an inch out of Eric's reach—Sam hesitantly walked inside. I looked over my shoulder and saw him wince as he looked up at the ceiling fan that, oddly enough, neither Eric nor I had thought to turn off. He stepped inside some more and inhaled deeply, his back arching as he did so. After a few seconds he came back and stopped next to Eric.

"Same scent as this morning," Sam said darkly. "Whoever this guy is, he's the same one who killed Dawn. Or woman, I guess. Whatever, this is the killer."

"I suspected as much," Eric said. He got up and explained to Sam that he already called the cops to come over, and that vampires who owed him fealty were going to arrive soon to help track. Sam didn't sound thrilled at being told his sense of smell was equal to that of a minute-old baby vampire and therefore he was to stay with me during all this to provide support and comfort, but after he took a good look at me he agreed. I had stood up when Eric did, but I had to hold on to the handrails, because I was feeling a little faint.

While Eric and Sam were metaphorically measuring their dicks, I watched the unmistakable blue and red lights of a cop car appear on the night skyline and come closer to my house. Eric and Sam shut up as Bud Dearborn and Andy got out of the car and walked over to us, stopping shortly in their tracks when they saw who Sam and I were standing with.

"What in the name of tarnation is this?" Andy grumbled as he and Bud approached the steps like two schoolboys called to the front of the classroom.

"This is a crime scene. You should stop saying Southern-isms that only sound good coming out of Sookie's mouth, and focus on why we even needed to call you in the first place," Eric replied coolly, sliding an arm around me and pulling me closer to him. I leaned into his embrace, needing all the comfort I could get talking to the police about the murder of my cat.

I swear to God, I heard Bud whisper to Andy, "He's bigger than you said he was."

Eric looked annoyed at the buffoonery, and I was right there with him. These were the guys who were in charge of solving a murder case? Eric was a sheriff too, and he seemed more of a sheriff than poor old Bud ever would be.

Bud coughed and recovered the fastest. "You said this was a crime scene, Mr. Northman?"

"You can call me Sheriff Northman, actually," Eric replied easily, and Bud got even paler and scared-looking. "And yes, it is. Sookie and I returned to her house this evening and saw there was a break-in. Someone murdered her cat. And stole her rifle."

"Oh, really?" I asked, surprised. "I didn't even think about that."

Eric nodded at me. "I didn't either, at first. But I looked, and it wasn't where you put it on the counter earlier this evening."

He looked to Bud and explained, "She had kept the rifle in the front hall closet for protection, but with the recent murders we were trying to think of an easier-to-reach place for her to hide it. We didn't come up with a solution, and she left it on the counter when we went to Fangtasia."

Bud took a notebook out and started writing. While he was doing that, Andy said to me, "I didn't know you had a cat. Or a rifle."

"Not anymore," I said bluntly. "And you're going to help us figure out why."

"What's Merlotte doing here?" he asked, trying to recover.

"Helping me. What are you supposed to be doing here?" I asked pointedly. "If you're going to ask me questions, at least make them relevant to my cat's murder." Eric hugged me a little, or as best as he could standing next to me with an arm around my shoulder. I could tell he was proud of me for being so strong at a time like this. I was proud of myself too, for keeping myself together … for now.

"Andy," Bud said, motioning to the door, "let's just head inside." I could tell he and Andy were a little shaken because they thought they'd have to be seeing my dead body tonight, not Tina's. I couldn't fault them for that. They opened the door and started poking around my kitchen.

After he squeezed my shoulders, Eric went in after them. I could hear him speaking to the two men, but I couldn't exactly make out what he was saying. I probably could have asked Sam, but just then I heard some rustling in the trees, and I turned to see what was causing it. Pam was leading about ten vampires, some that seemed vaguely familiar, and some that I didn't recognize at all. There was an even divide between men and women. They were staring at me and Sam as much as we were staring at them.

If Bud and Andy were out here, I'm sure they would have peed their pants by now.

Eric came out of the house then. He handed me a roll of paper towels that he had thoughtfully grabbed while he was in there, and I thanked him as I started to dab at the blood on my skin. I noticed that Long Shadow's bite mark on my arm had disappeared; some of his blood must have gotten there and healed it for me. One less thing for me to worry about, which was good.

Eric walked to the top of the porch steps, and all of the vampires bowed their heads at him. Pam, as befitting her status as Eric's child, came and stood directly in front of him, while the others were a couple footsteps behind her. I looked over at Sam, and he looked as astonished as I'm sure I did.

"This is my lover, Sookie Stackhouse," Eric said in a loud, clear voice.

I incredulously looked over at Eric, who looked like he was wearing his poker face, and then I looked even further over at Pam, who looked like she was wearing her poker face if she had just lost all her money to a better hand when she clearly thought she would win. Most of the vampires looked shocked for a hot second before they wiped their faces clean and bowed their heads at me like they had bowed at Eric

Lover? My lover? Eric hadn't called me that since … since we were actual lovers. When he was amnesiac. Why did he call me that, just now?

Eric looked undisturbed as he waited for all the heads to come up and all eyes back on him. When that finally happened, he added, "Tonight, someone has killed her cat in an attempt to kill her; there have been other murders in this town where both of the victims were women with known romantic relationships with vampires. We will split into teams and track down the murderer, but we want him or her to be alive. Pam will fill you in with other pertinent details."

Pam had reigned herself in again, and she loudly said, "You need to organize yourselves into groups. Zero to a hundred, gather by the bushes. A hundred-and-one to two hundred, gather by the shed. Two hundred-and-one to three hundred, gather by the cars. The rest, stay here."

Then it was if Pam yelled, "Break!" and the vampires broke out of their halftime huddle. There were about two or three vampires per group.

I'm a little embarrassed to say that it took a couple seconds for me to realize that Pam had them organized by age, and therefore smelling abilities. I thought maybe she and Eric ran a spy agency on the side or something, and these were those vampires spy numbers; Eric was so enterprising, I wouldn't have been surprised.

Once everyone was all set, Pam said, "Can everyone pick up on the unknown scent? Yes?" There were a few verbal replies, but most of the vampires just nodded. "Okay. That's who we're looking for. The youngest group, take the left perimeter. Second-youngest group, take the right. Third-youngest, take the cemetery and the woods surrounding it. Ignore the vampire scent of the old haunted mansion, as that is of no concern at the moment. The rest of you will be with Eric and I as we take the roads and legitimately track the scent. Any questions?"

There were none.

"Very well then. Whoever finds the murderer doesn't have to put hours in at Fangtasia for six months. Go." And with that, Pam walked over to the oldest group, even though I thought that technically she should be in another, but I guessed being Eric's child had special privileges, because no one questioned it.

The vampires spread out, except for Eric. He turned to me and cupped my face in his hands. "I must go now, dear one. But I will return, and when I do it will be with the one who has brought so much misery to you. I promise you that."

I wanted to ask him about the "lover" business, but I figured this was neither the time nor the place. Nor the thing I should be obsessing about now. I gazed up at him as I finally said, "I fully acknowledge the absurdity of telling a thousand-year-old vampire to be safe, but you will be, right?"

He nodded, smiling a little. "I'll be back before those two idiots in there even find the source of the blood," he tried to joke. I smiled meekly, not having enough oomph in me to even try faking it. Eric's eyes scanned my face before his lips came crashing down to mine to give me the mother of all kisses. There was a little part of me that whined that it was for Sam's benefit, since he was standing right there and obviously heard and saw everything we were doing ... but that part quickly got drowned out by the one that was jumping up and down screaming, "So what? Eric's kissing you! Stop listening to me and kiss him back!"

When I felt like I was going to pass out from the loss of oxygen and the tongue-Olympics I had just played with Eric, I pulled away and gasped, "You should go now." Though he didn't look too excited about that, he gave me another kiss, one that was much gentler, and turned to Sam.

"Shifter, if anything happens to her, you don't even want to know what I'll threaten you with." And then he was gone.

I didn't realize that when I told Eric he should go, it'd mean that I'd be left here panting from his kisses while a very awkward Sam stared down at his shoelaces. "Sorry," I said apologetically, but he just waved his hand at me and said, "It's fine."

I sat down on the steps, and Sam joined me. He was talking about what happened after I left, but I didn't really care about who said what and how he left Arlene behind to watch the bar and he wasn't too confident about that. But I nodded and "uhh-huhhed" at all the right moments so he didn't catch how I was more concerned with scouring the skyline to have the first glimpse of Eric coming back.

After a while Bud and Andy came out of the house, and Sam and I stood up and turned around to hear what they had to say.

"Sookie, where were you—hey, where'd the vamp go?" Andy asked, looking around. He and Bud shared a not-so-secret smile of relief.

"He went to follow the scent of the killer," I explained. I read their minds and found they were incredibly glad he wasn't around, because they hadn't found more than a dead cat in that kitchen.

"Oh. Well then, where were you tonight?" he asked, and I told him. Then he asked me some more questions, and I answered those too. Yes, I did remember to lock the door before I left for Fangtasia with Eric. No, no one else had a key except for Jason. No, I had no idea where he was, even though Bud and Andy had seen him since this morning and I hadn't. That kind of thing.

"Well, Sam, guess there's no need to ask you where you were tonight," Bud said jokingly. He saw my confused expression and clarified, "Me and Andy were having a beer at Merlotte's when we saw him dash outta that place not ten minutes ago."

"A-huh-huh-huh," I fake-laughed. Dawn had been found dead this morning, so what were Andy and Bud doing "having a beer" later that night? God, they weren't celebrating, were they?

As I listened to Andy compliment Sam on the burger he'd had at Merlotte's the other day, I couldn't help but wish Eric would just come back to me, with or without the murderer.

I tuned out to the conversation the guys were having, but that stopped when Andy's cell phone started to ring and he looked at it and read off the number. "Huh, don't recognize this number."

I did! "That's Eric! Pick it up, you big oaf, pick it up!" I cried, hitting him on the arm excitedly.

Andy gave me the strangest look, but he did answer the phone. After he cleared his throat, he answered, in a much deeper voice, "Detective Bellefleur."

His facial features tightened up, and he dumbly said, "You sure? ... No, sir, I wasn't doubting you, it's just that that's where Arlene lives with Rene ... Arlene is the waitress Sookie works with. She didn't tell you about … yes, but— …. no, and— ... Yessir. We'll be there in five." He slammed the phone shut and turned to Bud. "Said he found something at Arlene and Rene's, and we needed to see it."

"Alright, let's just go on over there," Bud said. "Night, you too. Sookie, sorry 'bout your cat."

I was pleased with myself for waiting until they pulled out of my driveway to turn to Sam and excitedly exclaim, "What're ya waiting for? C'mon, Sam!" I think I even maybe punched him in the shoulder. I don't really remember.

"What? Sookie, have you lost your mind? They think they found the murderer, and you can't wait to go over there?" Sam replied incredulously.

"It's Arlene's place, remember? She probably just stopped by and left earlier today. And besides, Eric's gonna be there, with every single vampire within, like, a hundred-mile radius of here, or whatever. The only thing I'm worried about is whether or not my car will be able to get us over there fast enough," I called out over my shoulder, too busy going down the stairs to look at Sam while I was talking to him.

"Eric called Andy, didn't he?" Sam asked, coming up behind me.

"Eric knew I'd be around Andy when that happened, and that Andy would probably tell me, didn't he?" I countered fiercely. "Sam Merlotte, you can bet your butt I'm going over to Arlene's right now to see what's up. The only question is, you with me?"

I turned and saw Sam biting his lip, something he did when he had to do something he didn't want to—like having to call up Jane Bodehouse's grown-up and very embarrassed son to come pick her up at eight o'clock when she got too drunk.

"Fine. But I'm driving," he finally muttered.

I almost argued it, but I was so glad he was agreeing to let me go over there I didn't want to push him. "'Kay, let's go!"

Once we got there, I saw Bud and Andy's cop car, as well as the only other two ones Bon Temps had. Though no one was actually in the cars, the lights were flashing; I could see Arlene's neighbors turning their houselights on and wandering over to windows.

"Wonder what that's about?" I asked, nodding at Arlene's apartment.

"Nothing good, I'm sure," Sam said wearily.

I hopped out of the car and Sam followed suit. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back, saying, "Hey, we don't know what's happening in there. Let me go in first, 'kay?"

I shrugged. As long as I was going in there, I didn't care about the order.

We were about to walk in, but suddenly Eric appeared at the door. "What are you doing here?" he asked, herding me and Sam off the steps and over near the bushes. They were so tall I couldn't look through the windows to see what was happening inside.

"What do you mean, 'what are you doing here?' I wanna know why Andy and Bud had to go to Arlene's house!" I replied. "So, why are we here?"

Eric stared at me. Right when I was going to goad him into saying something, he explained, "I tracked the scent here. It was hard, since the scent was very faint … even though I was with the oldest vampires in my area, I was the only one who could track it."

"Cool, but you're not answering my question. Why are we still here?" I asked persistently.

"It's not good, Sookie," Eric said, his face clouding up. "The scent is here. The murderer lives here." He looked at Sam, and Sam nodded in agreement.

"How do you know?" I asked. The only people who lived here were Arlene, Rene, and Arlene's two kids. I didn't think any of them would want to kill me. Coby and Lisa called me "Aunt Sookie," for Chrissake! I babysat them whenever Arlene asked me!

"The scent—the scent of him, the scent of your cat's blood. Also, I found your rifle stored under the sofa cushions."

"Wait, how'd you get in the house? I thought vampires had to be invited?" Sam asked. I turned to look at him, astonished that he knew that, and he shrugged a little. "What? Been doing some research, 'sall."

Furrowing his brows, Eric nodded. "Correct. There were two miniature humans, and one adult human inside. The man invited me in."

Sam asked Eric a question and I was aware they were talking, but I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and started reading the minds of the people in the house.

I made myself start with the hardest … Rene. His thoughts were so messy and so feelings-based—fury, annoyed, confused, scared—that his brain resembled the haziness that was like a Were. He was thinking about me, but in a small compartment of his brain, one that I had never felt before, whenever I accidentally read his mind in the past. This part was complex and held his deepest thoughts, the ones he kept away from the others, like how he met Arlene or how his favorite childhood memory was fishing with his grandfather.

He was thinking about me except … it wasn't really me, but rather, how Rene saw me. And I didn't like how he saw me. I had huge holes in my neck, and I was lewd; I had a knowing leer on my face, and I patted the inside of my thigh suggestively, all while wearing the Merlotte's uniform from earlier today, my hair even in the same pony-tail it had been in.

Then his train of thought switched, and I witnessed him slitting Tina's throat and placing her body on my fan. He had been livid when he went to my house and saw my car in the driveway, but there wasn't anyone in the house but Tina. He took his anger out on her, because she was there; he was so sure tonight would be the night he'd kill me, since he saw how I left Merlotte's earlier. He was pissed when he found the rifle on my counter and the True Bloods in my fridge; the combination of the two made him as angry as the knowledge that I probably had bite marks on my body.

He thought I'd be an easy kill tonight, much harder than last night, with Dawn.

Dawn had put up a fight—sure, she'd been naked, and that showed how much of a filthy slut she was, but he had to hand it to her, she knew her way around a punch. They'd fought for a couple minutes before he finally managed to pin her against the bed and strangle her. Maudette had been the easiest—she didn't mind that he was seeing Arlene when he propositioned her, and she didn't put up much of a struggle when he put his hands around her throat and squeezed—the same way apparently Jason had, but obviously much harder, in the sex tape Maudette had shown him earlier. Well, actually, the fucking cat was the easiest, but it was a fucking cat, after all. Funny how he was always more of a dog-person.

I was done. After seeing my own murder in Rene's mind, and seeing three actual murders there too, I switched channels. I was glad Andy was thinking about how Rene was a sick little fuck, and how relieved he was that Rene was cooperating, sitting down on the couch like he didn't have handcuffs on him and police officers hovering around him.

Coby was confused, because he didn't know why some tall blonde guy had come in the house and pinned Rene against the wall. He also didn't know why immediately after that he felt the need to take the other miniature human in the house and go to their bedroom and stay there no matter what they heard.

Lisa was admiring Kenya's braids and wishing her snarly red hair could be tamed like that. She also didn't know why, when that tall, fairy-tale handsome man was at the door and Rene asked him to come in, she felt the need to take the other miniature human in the house and go to their bedroom and stay there no matter what they heard.

Kenya was in their bedroom, talking to Coby and Lisa and explaining that they needed to talk to Rene in private right now. She was also hoping that he hadn't done anything to these kids. She could hear his rambling now, about how Maudette had been an easy kill, and even though she was a police officer, it made her sick to her stomach. She hoped the kids weren't able to hear him, and she raised her voice to try and cover his up as she answered Coby's question of how she got to be a cop.

"Rene," I said flatly, all of a sudden, and Eric and Sam stopped talking to look at me—Eric knowingly, and Sam confusedly.

"Yes, Sookie. He's handcuffed and being interrogated as we speak," Eric explained.

"What? You're kidding!" Sam cried out. "Rene?"

Eric and I nodded solemnly, even though we didn't plan it. Eric didn't ask why I already knew this, but I assumed that was because he had an idea of what I had been doing.

Sam shook his head. "This is Rene we're talking about! He hugged you earlier today when people were saying bad things about Jason. Jesus, he said you reminded him of his little sister, right? Rene's not the killer! He can't be!"

Eric replied, "You should know, he's already confessed to killing his younger sister, Cindy. Andy called the police department over in Monroe, and about a year ago a Cindy Marshall was found strangled in her apartment. Rene had been the one to call 9-1-1, actually; said he'd stopped by so they could go out for coffee and found her like that, all of her valuables gone. The police believed it was a robbery that led to her murder when she was still in her apartment; it was easy enough, since she lived in a bad neighborhood. They didn't ask a lot of questions, but Rene still wanted to flee. Once he could, he left town and changed his name—to Lenier. And about five minutes ago, when Andy and Bud showed up, he admitted to killing her, and he admitted to Maudette and Dawn, and, Sookie, he admitted to your cat. He also said he went to your house to try and kill you, since he knew you ducked out early. He was pissed you weren't home, and he wanted to make you pay."

"I know," I said simply, and Eric and Sam exchanged a look.

After a moment of staring pensively at me, Eric continued, "Rene even brought out a box of Maudette's homemade sex-video tapes he'd taken to try and frame Jason—I guess the only sex tape at her house was the one of him strangling her? I'm not very clear on that—and he gave keys out too—a key to your place and a key to Dawn's place—that he'd stolen from Jason's key ring at work yesterday. And, of course, there is the matter of your rifle. "

"Why on earth is he so talkative? Criminals on TV usually tell the cops they've got the wrong guy, not tell them their whole life story," I wondered out loud. Of course, I didn't exactly mind his talkativeness, since he was confessing and all, but I just didn't get it.

Sam starting nodding his head. "Yeah, Rene's always been a little quiet, always kept to himself. Never had to throw him out before neither. Why's he talking so much?"

"Well, he knows he's caught. Once I found your rifle, he knew it was all over. Plus, I'm sure I scared him, that and all of the other vampires waiting outside for him. I didn't even need to glamour him into confessing—he just started talking. He didn't even mind repeating everything when Andy and Bud, and later that Kenya person and some more officers, came." Eric shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly? He's confessing. I'm not going to question his motives."

"I am. Why is he so anti-vampire?" I asked.

He sighed. "Apparently his sister had been dating one all along, and she knew it, too. After the Great Revelation, she told her brother that her boyfriend was a vampire, and once she started being confident enough to show off her bites, Rene just snapped. Strangled her with the string of the apron she'd been wearing—apparently she was a hospital cafeteria worker—and had sex with her corpse. Thought she'd sunk so low, she would like it."

I closed my eyes and shook my head. If I thought I was shocked, because he was my brother's friend and my coworker's beau, I didn't even want to imagine what his sister had felt, before he killed her. Poor girl. "I just … this is Rene. It's so surreal. I can't even … it doesn't even feel real."

Sam nodded dazedly. "I know, right? Who'd have thought? Rene!"

We were all silent for a few seconds. Then I turned to Eric and exclaimed, "Eric! What if we stayed home tonight, and didn't go to Fangtasia? Oh my God … just, oh my God."

"I know," Eric said seriously.

I exhaled deeply, and then inhaled. I repeated that for some time, until I felt a little better. "Where'd Pam and all the other vampires go?" I asked, looking around.

"Once I discovered Rene was the killer, I told them they could go home, and since I obviously can't not go to Fangtasia for the next six months, each of them would get a three-week vacation from Fangtasia duty."

"Oh," was all I could say to that.

Then Eric turned around towards the house, and I strained my eyes in the shadowy light to see what he was looking at. After about fifteen seconds, Rene came out of the doorway, his hands cuffed behind his back. Bud was walking behind him, watching every step, and he pushed Rene forward gently when Rene stopped to gawk at me. I'd never thought him particularly handsome or attractive, but I certainly wasn't going to start now; he looked downright evil as his swarthy face crumpled and he snarled, "You! This is all your fault, you! Crazy beetch!"

Though he was small and skinny, he managed to break away from Bud and start coming for me. Eric whizzed in front of me and growled at Rene, his fangs popping out with a click that was audible even over Rene's howls.

"I didn't rip your throat out earlier because I wanted to have you confess. But now that you've done that, there is nothing stopping me from killing you if you take one more step towards her. Nothing," Eric threatened in a dangerously low voice.

He raised an eyebrow as he watched Rene stop his movement and allow himself to be taken away to the cop car by Bud, Andy, and now Kenya, the latter two having sprinted out of the house once Rene's whole rant-thing started up. I could hear that Rene was muttering under his breath, but sometimes there are things you're better off not knowing.

Eric, Sam, and I silently watched Andy and Bud throw Rene in the back of the cop car, and Kenya got in the driver's seat and pulled out of the driveway. Or, at least, I tried to watch, but Eric was still in front of me and was blocking my view, either intentionally or not.

Bud and Andy wandered over to where we were standing, stopping short a couple feet away. "Now, as much as we appreciate your help in finding Rene, um, Mr. Sheriff Eric Northman sir, we're gonna have to ask that y'all go somewhere else, 'cause state troopers are gonna be here any second," Andy said nervously.

"What about Coby and Lisa?" I asked immediately.

"They're with another officer right now. We sent a car over to pick up Arlene; we need to ask her a couple questions," Andy explained. "Rene said he hasn't told her, and that he hasn't told anyone, but we need to confirm that."

"Shit. That means I gotta go," Sam said. He turned to me and said, "Call me later, Sookie?"

"You got it."

"Great. And I am so, so, ridiculously sorry about what happened to Tina, and what you had to go through tonight," he said apologetically.

"Thanks," I said, smiling warmly at Sam. He was such a good friend, literally dropping everything he'd been doing today to come help me.

Sam smiled quickly back at me and then nodded at Eric, then Andy and Bud. "Night."

"Night," Andy and Bud replied, at almost the exact same time.

"Shif—Merlotte," Eric called out, catching himself at the last minute. Sam turned around and looked at him, seeming as curious as I was. Eric took a deep breath and continued, "I wanted to thank you for your service tonight. You have done me a favor I won't soon forget."

"Alright," Sam said after a moment. "Alright. Well, night all. Again." And then he walked over to his car and drove away, everyone watching his headlights disappear into the night.

Bud coughed obviously. Andy shuffled his feet. Eric and I glanced at each other.

"Okay then, I guess we'll be getting out of your hair then and let you guys get your sheriff and detective on," I said hastily, nodding at Eric. I felt like part of the couple overstaying their welcome at another couple's dinner party.

He got the memo. "Yes. And thank you for heeling so quickly whenever I called," Eric said.

I knew he wasn't the biggest fan of the two guys, and I wasn't either.

But still.

I elbowed Eric in the ribs and he shot me a look. I shot him one back, even going so far as to raise one eyebrow, and then the other. After a tense moment he (reluctantly) added, "I appreciate your loyalty and devotion to the citizens of Bon Temps … especially when that citizen is Sookie."

Much better. He raised an eyebrow at me, and I smiled up at him in return.

Andy and Bud shared a quick grin and thanked Eric. I think Andy might have wanted to say more, but then we heard the police siren and saw a lot of blue-and-red lights coming our way, so Eric took my hand and led me to Arlene's backyard.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't walk home tonight Eric. I just can't," I said once we were away from the commotion.

"You're forgetting I can fly, or run through the woods," Eric replied, a small smile on his face.

"Right," I said, feeling my hair color. "Fly it is."

He scooped me up in his arms, vampire-in-sweats style. And as I hugged myself to him, I thought, 'who needs knights in shining armor, anyways? Wouldn't the shining armor be harder and more uncomfortable and less snuggable?'

…

No Franklin Mott this week. *be's a sad panda AND an Eeyore*

I'll be an even sadder panda/Eeyore hybrid if no one gets the Eeyore reference. JS.