I entered the back door of Merlotte's, shaking rain droplets from my lined slicker. They soaked into the rug and I wiped my black Reeboks and headed for the lockers I'd had installed several months ago. I hung said slicker onto a coat rack and spun the combination lock to open my locker. I stowed my purse inside and hustled to the store room. I picked up a fresh apron, tying it around my waist. I then slipped a new order pad and pen into my pocket and poked my head into my boss's office, glancing at my reflection in the floor length mirror. My ponytail, though damp, was neat and my lipstick still even. I tugged at the hem of my shorts and smoothed the white boatneck t-shirt embroidered on my left breast with 'Merlotte's Bar & Grill over my waspy frame.

I stepped into the bar proper and looked around. Holly Cleary was working the west end, Danielle, east and I was to replace India Unger, Kenya Jones's sister in the middle section. She was busy clearing a table, pocketing her tip and stacking food baskets. As I went to announce my arrival, I noticed my boyfriend and co-owner, Sam Merlotte, seated at a table. Across from him say a young woman, in her mid-twenties. I could feel confusion color my features, then I noticed a small packet in front of Sam. He was interviewing the young lady. I took a moment to look her over: fair skin, brown hair, green eyes… In the brown hair was a white-blonde streak toward the front. Interesting. She wore a deep green blouse with sheer, long sleeves and black close-fitting jeans. As she replied to Sam, she swept some of her hair back; her hand was clad in a thin, black glove. I narrowed my eyes- it was still warm as dickens out despite the rain. Who could stand to be so covered in the northern Louisiana heat?

With a small shrug, I turned back to India who had greeted me with a relieved smile.
"The bar was slow today," she noted, extending her hand full of food baskets. I took the stack and accompanied her to the kitchen. I nodded in acknowledgement- the bar crowd was noticeably thinner than usual.
"Who's the gal?" I asked, jerking my chin back toward her and Sam.
"Name's Anna," India replied. "She says she's from New York, but that's a Southern accent if I ever heard one."
I set my baskets in the window. The cook, Antoine, greeted me and pulled the stack in to give to D'Eriq. We turned to the barroom and India gathered up her belongings.
"Well, I'm off, Sookie. Have a good night."
I waved a hand in farewell and began collecting the shakers and napkin dispensers, taking them to the bar for refills. As I set about my task, I watched as Sam and the mysterious Anna rise and shake hands. She exited the bar and Sam started for the back. He smiled when he saw me and he pushed the strawberry-blonde hair back from his eyes.
"Hey, Sook," he said, leaning across the wood of the bar to kiss my cheek.

I smiled in response and turned back to filling the dispensers. Both Holly and Danielle had six people in their sections and mine was empty. It was a slow patch right now, but neither of us were worried. The bar was financially comfortable.
"Who was the gal?" I asked, making conversation.
Sam had strolled around behind the bar to start a load of bar glasses. The jukebox played Jace Everett's 'Bad Things' in the background.
"Her name's Anna. Anna Raven. She comes from New York but was born and raised in Mississippi. She says she left her… group… in New York to be on her own. I guess some kind of incident happened when she was living on her own and forced her to pack up and move back South. She arrived here in Bon Temps two weeks ago."
I blinked at the sudden onslaught of information.
"I wonder where she's living?" I ventured.
"One of my duplexes," Sam answered. "She found out about the bar and asked for an application."
"Any experience?"
"Yes. A dive called Stogie Joe's. She was a cocktail waitress there for two and a half years."
I nodded and set aside the full napkin dispenser. I could hear Antoine singing along to the jukebox; the man had a fine voice.

Sam finished loading the small washer in the bar and pressed the Start button. As the washer kicked on, he pulled fresh fruit from the fridge. He studied its contents for a moment. He moved a few bottles of TrueBlood, Life Support and Red Stuff around, taking a quick inventory. Satisfied with the stock, he shut the door and began to slice fresh fruit. I couldn't help myself.
"How on Earth could she stand to be covered up like that? It may be raining, but it's still warm out."
Sam scooped up some sliced lemons and tossed them into the fruit tray. He pulled a new lemon to him and proceeded to slice it.
"I asked her the same thing. She says she has some kind of skin condition. It's not contagious but she is embarrassed by it, it seems."
I nodded and finished filling the napkin dispensers. I pulled the shakers to me and filled them with salt and pepper, respectively. Antoine called out an order for Danielle and D'Eriq came around to do his afternoon mop of the restrooms. Sam leaned over to kiss the top of my head. Though all of Bon Temps knew we were together, we still kept our PDA polite for public consumption.

I returned the dispensers and shakers to their proper table and moved around my section, pushing in the chairs and collecting large pieces of trash. I would sweep at close and Terry Bellefleur would come in and mop. His wife, Jimmie, sometimes would come in his stead if he was having one of his bad days. Terry was war vet and had a heavy past. His wife was very loving and understanding.
As the night wore on, we picked up a little business- not enough to be busy but were definitely steady. I smiled, I served, I had a kind word for everyone and made decent tips. I took Kennedy Keyes's good-natured ribbing about Sam and I with a smile, and had a brief but warm conversation with Tara and JB du Rone. The twins were doing great. We arranged for a night for me to care for them so the couple could go to see a movie in Clarice.

Finally, the night drew to a close. I finished out my closing duties and slipped my cash tips in my pocket. I waved goodnight to my fellow servers and exited the bar with Sam. He bent to kiss me goodnight and headed for his trailer. Though we had been dating for several months, we weren't quite ready to move in.

I started my Malibu (a gift from Tara when my old car had burned) and exited the employee parking lot, turning my car onto Hummingbird Road. As I drove through the dark, my thoughts turned to the new waitress. I wondered why she had made her way to Bon Temps of all places. Especially if she had resided for a time in a city like New York. We weren't much in the way of a large and fabulous town. In fact, my witch friend, Amelia Broadway, had referred to it as "Hole-In-The-Road". I hadn't picked up a 'read' from her, but then again, I was trying to do the right thing.
(The 'right thing' being not eavesdropping in her mind. I'm a telepath, a gift from my sponsor, Mr. Cataliades, a mostly demon lawyer. He said I possessed the 'essential spark' and therefore myself and any descendants from my fairy grandfather, Fintan, would have the gift of telepathy. Growing up with telepathy is rough, I can assure you.)

I wasn't sure why Sam was wanting to hire another waitress when business was already slow. What purpose would it serve? Unless… were one of the girls leaving? Holly was working three nights a week in addition to her new secretary job to save money for her and Hoyt's wedding. Danielle? Maybe. She hadn't been too reliable lately, hoping to quit working and shack up with her current beau to be a stay-at-home mom to Ashley and Mark Robert. Oooh, what about India? No, definitely not. She was as attached to the position as I was.
Finally bumping up to my graveled driveway, I turned right and stopped at the end. I leaned out my window (the rain had turned to a mist some hours earlier) and retrieved the sheaf of mail tucked into its box. Tossing it on to the seat beside me, I continued up the driveway to the old farmhouse. In my front yard, reclined in one of my chaise lounges, sat Bill Compton, my first lover. My first heartbreak. My first betrayal.

I continued around back and parked in the graveled carport (a gift from another former flame) and stepped out of my car. I stepped up into the enclosed porch, unlocked the back door and dropped the mail and my purse on to the counter. I stood in my kitchen, staring at the linoleum. Should I ignore him and just go to bed? He would sit out there all night anyway. I sighed.
I zipped my slicker and raised the hood to cover my blonde hair. I unlocked the front door, flicked on the security light and stepped back out. I crossed the lawn, bright green and full of plant life, and sat in a chaise at a perpendicular angle to Bill's. He continued to stare at the sky. I stared at him.

Bill had dark hair and eyes with a proud nose as if it were chiseled by a Greek sculptor. He was also pale as a sheet with a deadly edge. Bill was a vampire.
"Sookie," he rumbled, finally turning to look at me.
I simply looked back in response.
"You're with the dog now?"
I felt the corner of my mouth twitch. I knew with his incredible eyesight, Bill had seen it, too.
"I'm with Sam now," I answered, putting emphasis my shapeshifting boyfriend's name.
Bill just nodded.
"What do you want, Bill?"
"I only came to see how you were doing. I was curious about the girl and whether you have met her."
I drew my eyebrows together. "What girl?"
"The Unknown. She calls herself Anna. She appears human."
I stared at Bill, waiting for him to continue. After a moment, it seemed he was wanting me to ask the questions. I sighed inwardly.
"What do you mean 'appears human'? Have you met her?"

Bill sat forward in his lounge chair and looked at me fully. My heart flip-flopped. I missed him. But I was totally over him. He had hurt me in an unforgivable way.
"I was made aware of her three nights ago. She had come to Fangtasia to apply to work at the bar. I was visiting Pam, to see how she was coming into her role as Sheriff. The girl did not appear to be enthralled by us, but she was not afraid of us. She seemed to be turned into herself. I wonder if she had a hard life? Anyway. I managed to get a whiff of her as she left. Vanilla. The sun. The closed-off skin. Otherness. She does have a rather human scent, Sookie, but something else is mixed in there."

I sat back in my lounge now and stared at the sky. A human-appearing being arriving in Bon Temps. Who knew what kind of supernatural bullshit she would be bringing with her…

"Do you think she's a supe? She's not fae?"
Bill shook his head.
"No, definitely not. She would have died on the spot."
I always forgot how real and in your face vamps could be. "Is she a threat?"
Bill shrugged this time.
"I don't know, Sookie. But you should find out. You have championed the safety of Bon Temps for the last few years. The last thing you need is some new supernatural bullshit." He smiled.
I laughed and rose from my seat. I bade Bill goodnight and headed back into the house. As I turned out the light, I could hear him gliding into the woods. A soft murmur of voices drifted back to me on the wind; Bill was greeting my bodyguard, Karin, a 'gift' from my former flame-and husband- Eric Northman. She was his first child and ordered to guard me every night for a year when he left to be Freyda's consort in Oklahoma.

I locked my door behind me, hung up my slicker and drifted to my room. Making sure the curtains were closed, I removed my uniform and pulled on a nightshirt that skimmed my knees. I wandered into the bathroom to brush my teeth, wash my face and take care of business. Flipping off the light, I pulled back my grandmother's duvet and climbed into the bed. Instead of my usual prayers, I mulled over Bill's notes. Something new. Something unknow. A friend or an enemy.
I sighed and turned onto my side. Just what I needed. Another mystery to solve in my home of Bon Temps.