A/N: Thank you to everyone who's made this story a favorite or placed the story on alerts, and of course, those who have reviewed. It is appreciated more than you could know. Please read and review. I'd love to know your thoughts!
….
I realized when we were about halfway to the hotel, that in my excitement of seeing my friends again, I hadn't grabbed any clothes, make-up, etc. from my house. God, I was glad that Eric wasn't in the car with us to make fun of me for being… such a blonde. I was embarrassed to ask Jess and Owen to turn around so I could get my stuff, but we were all having such a good time reminiscing and talking about the engagement, that they didn't really seem to mind. It was nice to have a reprieve from worrying about being attacked, getting killed or the like.
So after grabbing my things we headed over to the Holiday Inn. Unfortunately they had lost Owen's internet reservation and were overbooked. Evidently, the Mudbug Madness festival was going on in downtown Shreveport. It was a great event that had grown over the years to become one of the most popular and profitable Cajun festivals in the South, with music, food and contests galore. I hadn't been in years, but seeing it now, made me regret that I'd be locked up in a hotel room.
After some searching around, we ended up finding two rooms at the Hilton instead. They were undergoing some renovations, one of which included their indoor pool being shut down (which sucked because I really wanted to go swimming), and because of that, they still had some availability.
Once we reached our rooms, I opened the curtain and looked down at the festival below. It looked like a great time out there. I wondered if Fangtasia saw an increase of patrons during the festival. 'I bet they'd love an influx of new blood.' I thought, laughing at my own lame joke. This made me remember that I needed to let Eric know about the hotel change. I tried to call him, but ended up having to leave a message on his voicemail.
Eric, It's Arabella. We've had a change of plans. We're going to be at the Hilton now. Oh, and by the way, we're planning on hitting up room service and the minibar. Should've never said your treat, but if you're real good, maybe I'll make it up to you, in some way I think you would appreciate."
When I was leaving the voicemail message, I thought I was being fun and flirtatious, but after I was done, I wondered if I came across as sounding a little desperate to get in his pants. 'Oh well, can't take it back now.' I thought to myself and decided to just let it go. The thought then hit me, 'how did I get to the point where I felt this comfortable with a vampire, especially one as powerful as Eric?' …
While Arabella was with her friends, Eric was in his office, taking Lafayette's advice of using nail polish remover to take off the remnants of Pam's masterpiece. 'Huh,' he thought as he worked the pungent smelling substance on his manhood with a washcloth, 'the stuff is working'. Once everything was back to normal, he decided that a snack was in order and beckoned Pam to fetch one of the new waitresses, Kylee, to feed his appetites.
Kylee was more than willing to accommodate Eric when Pam told her of Eric's 'need of her assistance' (wink, wink). She was actually excited to finally get a chance to be 'up close and personal' with the sexiest vampire she'd ever seen. She had heard the talk amongst the others who had the chance to be with him already and let's just say, the reviews were beyond glowing. When she opened the door to his office and saw him sitting there looking like a male model, she couldn't believe that she was the lucky one tonight.
"Come in and shut the door." Eric commanded the new waitress. She was better than average looking, light brown hair, firm tits, nice ass, and smelled good enough, but was in no way, shape or form in the same league as Arabella or Sookie, not even the same ballpark. She would do for tonight, though.
"Do you enjoy working here?" Eric asked. Normally he started with a bit of small talk; a little schmoozing, when he was with a member of his staff for the first time. Not that it took much to get these ladies to bend to his will; he just found that they responded quicker/better when he showed them a little verbal attention. Tonight though, he really just wanted to get at it. He needed to get Arabella off of his mind. She was becoming something of a distraction. The conversation was going to be short, indeed.
"Oh yes, very much so. The money's been awesome." Kylee answered enthusiastically.
"Yes, I'm sure it's much better than the Waffle House. So tell me, if I were to ask you for a small donation of your blood, would you mind?" Eric asked so he could get the show on the road.
"Mind? Of course not. I'd be honored to give you some." Kylee replied as if she'd just been asked to save her country.
Eric then commanded, "Good. Come here and sit on my lap like a good girl."
As Kylee made her way over to him, Eric noticed that she was trying to come across as sexy as she could, but she only succeeded in making herself look like a fool, as she was trying way too hard. Sticking her chest out like a common street walker, strutting over to him with her hand on her excessively swaying hips, licking her lips… these movements just made her look like an amateur. With a quick roll of his eyes and a sigh, he thought, 'Subtle seduction and innate sexiness obviously did not come naturally to her.' So, once she finally reached him after that short spectacle and sat down in his lap, he immediately began to feed from her. Having seen the bite marks on her neck, he knew that she had done this before.
Kylee began to get extremely aroused as Eric's hands roamed all over her while he sucked at her neck. Even though he knew that humans were there for his sustenance, there was no reason why they couldn't find some enjoyment in the endeavor as well. As soon as Eric was satiated, he released his fangs from her neck and sealed her wounds. Kylee's increased level of arousal had, in turn, also increased her bravado as well. So, quickly she decided to unzip his pants to turn the tables and suck on him a bit. Eric didn't stop her. 'Less work for him', he thought. After all, she wasn't who he really wanted tonight anyway.
"Oh my God, what's that smell? Kylee exclaimed as she bounded upwards and backwards away from Eric's manhood and directly into his desk with such force that half of the items on his desk went crashing onto the floor. "It smells like… like someone's been embalmed. I would know too, because my cousin's husband's sister's niece used to work for a funeral home. Now I can get into some freaky stuff, but even this is too much for me." Kylee screamed as she flapped her hands wildly and was now hyperventilating.
Eric rolled his eyes and called out "PAM!" Pam appeared in a second, laughing, as with her vampire hearing, she heard every word of what was said in his office.
"Get her out of here, and make sure that she remembers nothing but a good time." Eric ordered Pam as he zipped up his pants.
Pam said with a smirk. "Of course. But here's a word of advice, most humans do not find nail polish remover an aphrodisiac." She then took Kylee out of the office and glamoured her into thinking she had mind blowing sex with Eric.
"Shit." Eric said under his breath while he placed his elbows on his desk and ran his hands through his hair, finally intertwining his fingers on the back of his head. Upon sitting upright again, he looked at the mess that Kylee had created. Papers were strewn all over the place; his computer monitor screen had been smashed by a paper weight, etc. When he went to pick up his overturned lamp, he noticed his now destroyed cell phone underneath it. "Odin's vengeance, what else can go wrong?" This happened to be the moment that the Queen's guards appeared at his door.
"Eric Northman, Queen Sophie-Ann is requesting your presence at her estate to discuss business." Spoke Andre Paul, the Queen's second in command and favorite child. Eric knew this was not a request, but rather a command.
"When does the Queen wish to see me?" Eric asked.
"Now. And be sure to bring your child with you as well. Sophie-Ann is quite fond of her, as you know." Andre replied annoyed he had to come to his hell hole of a bar. While Fangtasia was popular and a good moneymaker for his cherished Queen, it was no match for some of the finer establishments he liked to peruse in his beloved New Orleans.
"My cell phone is broken and I have a few calls to make, can this wait an hour so I can get a new one?" Eric asked, not wanting to leave without getting in contact with Arabella, as he didn't want to leave her without protection. However, he couldn't let Andre that. The Queen liked to collect unique creatures, just as any other normal blood-thirsty vampire would. And, even though Eric had claimed Arabella, he knew that if the Queen really wanted her, she could take her from him, being royalty and such. Thinking along those lines, Eric knew that Bill was doing some sort of work for the Queen and had often wondered if the Queen knew about Sookie. He'd have to ask Bill about that later. 'What a mess' he thought, literally and figuratively. Maybe it was for the best that Arabella wasn't here tonight…
"Are you trying to disrespect her majesty by saying your pathetic needs are more important than the Queen's?" Andre responded maliciously.
"No. No disrespect meant at all. We will leave with you immediately. Pamela!" Eric said, internally cursing the damned vampire politics he had to navigate, and called out for Pam to come. As soon as she arrived in the room, he said to her, "Pam, we need to go visit Sophie-Ann, now."
As the entourage walked out of the bar, Eric called out to Chow, who had returned already from taking Lafayette home. He informed Chow that he was in charge in their absence and that if anyone were to try to reach him, tell them to call Pam's cell because his was broken. Chow just nodded and went back to business as usual as if nothing unusual had just occurred. Those two often took off on some errand or another, so he didn't think anything of it.
….
Once Eric and Pam arrived at the Queen's palace, they were ushered to the indoor pool room and asked to take a seat on her Louis XIII chair and settee while waiting for the Queen to grace them with her presence. The room was decorated in such opulence that it rivaled many five star hotels. There were Monet's and Degas' on the walls, gold wall sconces, antique crystal chandeliers… you name it, it was there. The Queen spared no expense on her castle. 'This is the reason I'm being forced to sell V.' Eric thought with spite.
"Pam, give me your phone." Eric said as he wanted to try to call Arabella.
Pam took her phone out of her purse and was handing it to Eric, when the Queen flew by at vampire speed, grabbed it and threw it into the pool.
"Uh, Uh, Uh." She said wagging her finger at them. "I want your undivided attention while you're here. I'll buy you a new one Pam." Sophie Ann said with a wink and a sickeningly sweet smile. If she was not his queen, Eric would've killed her.
"Before we begin talking business though, let's play Yahtzee! I simply adore that game." Sophie Ann said with the enthusiasm of a school girl as two of her human servants brought in a card table and chairs to set up a game area.
'This is going to be a long and painful visit.' Eric thought to himself as he plastered a fake smile on his face and said, "Whatever your Majesty wishes."
"You bet your ass whatever I want." Sophie Ann said with a laugh. "Let's get this game started."
Eric looked at her with a blank expression wondering just what game she was really talking about.
….
It was now in the afternoon the next day and Sookie had been lounging around Bill's house, reading a book when she got the call on her cell from Arlene.
"Oh, honey, I hate to ask you this, but with Rene getting ready to move in after our wedding, I need to clean out my garage and make some space for his stuff. He doesn't know I'm doing it though; I'm trying to keep it a surprise. But, anyway, I'm definitely gonna need your help. Do ya think ya can come by and lend a hand? I left a message with Sam as well to see if he could help me out too, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet and I really wanted to get this done soon and…" Arlene started to ramble.
Cutting Arlene off, Sookie replied, "Arlene, of course I'll help. I can be there in fifteen minutes."
"Oh bless your heart Sookie. Thank you! With your help it'll be done in no time." Arlene said, knowing Sookies gift for cleaning.
"I'll see you soon. Bye." Sookie said as she hung up, wrote Bill a note to let him know where she was, grabbed her purse and headed for Arlene's. She knew that she probably shouldn't leave, not with the danger of the madman on the loose and all, but she wasn't going to be alone, she was going to be with Arlene and her kids. The attacker never seemed to attack when other people were around. Even when Arabella was attacked at Merlotte's, it was in the empty restaurant. Sookie felt she'd be safe enough, and besides, she was getting bored sitting around Bill's house with nothing to do.
….
"Wow Arlene, you have a lot of stuff in here." Sookie said as she and Arlene stood in front of the garage looking at the multitude of boxes the redhead had accumulated over the years.
"I know. It just kinda creeped up on me and now, I don't even know what half of this stuff is." Arlene said with a sigh. She regretted letting the situation get to this point, but she was going to take care of it; make a fresh start with Rene.
"Well, let's get started." Sookie said as she rolled up her sleeves and started with the first box.
….
Arabella, Jessalyn and Owen all woke up around 5:00pm. Their night of debauchery, well it wasn't that depraved really, just a lot of drinking, eating, laughing and reminiscing, had exhausted them.
"I'm starving." Jessalyn said to the other two and added, "Hey Arabella, is Crawdaddy's Kitchen still around? I miss me some crawfish."
"Yeah, but I don't think Eric would like it much if I started gallivanting around town right now. But, if you guys want to go, that'd be fine." I responded wistfully. I loved me some crawfish too.
"Oh Arabella, I don't want to leave you here by yourself. We'll just stay in." Jessalyn said. She wasn't used to having any friends on what amounted to be house arrest.
"No. No. I'll be fine. No one knows you're here or that I'm here. I'll be fine, really. Just be sure to bring me back some crawfish when you're done."
"Oh course we will, and thanks. I really missed the food around here. Everything in Los Angeles is so darn healthy. Owen and I are just going to freshen up and then we'll be on our way." Jessalyn said as she gave her friend a big hug and then grabbed a hold of Owen's hand leading him through the door joining their adjacent rooms.
After they left her room, Arabella figured she'd text Sookie a message of where she was so her sister wouldn't worry and to see if she wanted to stop by and hang out while Jess and Owen were out. Having nothing else to do, she decided to take a shower to get cleaned up herself.
…
Sookie and Arlene had gotten through half the boxes in the garage when Sookie came across a box that needed a key.
"Hey Arlene, all these other boxes in here are cardboard, but this one here is made of steel and needs a key. I can't get it open." Sookie said to Arlene who was adjusting a pile of clothes she was planning on selling at Second-Hand Sally's in Monroe.
"Oh, let me see that." Arlene replied walking over and taking a look at the box. "I don't remember ever putting that in here. Let's see if we can jimmy it open."
Arlene walked over to her toolbox and took out a lockpicking kit. (Who knew?) After retrieving the kit, she went back to the box with the lock, positioned the two metal picks into the slot, finagled them a bit, and got the lock open.
"Well aren't you full of surprises Arlene?" Sookie said with a sly smile.
"Well Sookie, when you have as bad of taste in men as I have, you learn a trick or two." Arlene said with a wink. "I wonder which asshole from my past left this here. Hopefully they left mama some money."
"Let's see." Sookie said as they opened the box and looked inside. Both their eyes popped open when they saw the contents of the box.
"Cajun for actors? What the hell?" Arlene said as she pulled out the CD. She then pulled out a video tape that had the words, 'Maudette – May thru July' on it. "Should we see what's on this?"
"I think we should." Sookie said, worry in her voice.
The two women ran into the house and quickly put the tape in the player, telling the kids to go play in the backyard before they pressed play.
"Oh my God, Sookie, is that Maudette getting her freak on with a vampire?" Arlene asked as the video started.
"Yes, it is, but what was this doing in your garage? Turn that off, I've seen enough. Arlene, we need to see what else is in that box." Sookie replied.
The two then ran back to the garage to see the rest of the contents in the box. There were a couple of women's panties (that weren't Arlene's), a shirt with blood splatter on it, and a license for one Drew Marshall, only it had a picture of Rene on it. Both women looked at each other wide eyed as the realization struck both of them… Rene was the Bon Temps killer.
"Oh sweet Jesus, what have I gotten myself into?" Arlene said shaking and practically crying now.
Hearing a car approaching from down the street, Sookie said, "Arlene, I don't know who's coming, but I think we should put this stuff back the way it was."
"Yeah, yeah, okay." Arlene said as they got everything back in box and in the garage just before the car approached.
The car ended up driving down the street, and the girls did a collective sigh of relief as they then placed cardboard boxes in front of Rene's box, just as they had been positioned before.
Sookie then turned to Arlene and said, "We need to get in touch with Arabella and Eric and the police." However, before Sookie could retrieve her cell phone from her front seat of her car, she saw Rene's car approaching the house.
"Arlene, stay calm and make like we don't know what he's done, okay…" Sookie whispered to Arlene.
Arlene whispered back, "Yeah, that's easy for you to say. You haven't been sleeping with a crazed killer for the past eight months."
Rene pulled quickly into the driveway and noticed the garage was half unpacked. 'Shit. They better not have found my box.' He thought as he got out of his truck and pulled himself together.
"Woman, what ya'll doing here in this here garage?" Rene said, trying to joke around, but really wanting to know what the hell she was doing.
Arlene froze. Sookie saw Arlene's deer in headlights look and knew she had to take over the situation before they got themselves killed.
"Oh Rene, this was supposed to be a surprise. Arlene wanted to make space for you to move your stuff in. Well, surprise!" Sookie explained, hoping Rene wouldn't catch on that they knew about his box.
"You know I would've helped you wit dis,Arlene. But thank you baby." Rene said to Arlene while giving her a hug and kiss on the lips. Arlene threw up in her mouth a little bit.
"You okay woman?" Rene asked noticing that Arlene was not looking too good. Did they find his box after all?
Sookie was now starting to panic on the inside thinking that Arlene was going to lose it. Swallowing hard, Arlene said, "You know Rene, I had some of Terry's chili earlier today, and I think it didn't agree with me. I need to get a glass of water." She said as she ran into the house.
Sookie then turned to Rene and said, "Rene, I'm going to go check on her, "and then ran in after her.
Rene decided to take this opportunity to retrieve his box and see if they had found it. After moving the cardboard boxes in front of the steel box, he saw that it appeared unopened and in the same place it was before. He tried to lift the lid and found it to still be locked. Convinced that the girls didn't find out what was in there, he figured he should probably find a different place for this stuff, so he took the box and placed it in his truck. Walking past Sookie's car to get back into Arlene's house, he heard Sookie's phone beep. Curious and still slightly paranoid about if the girls had found out anything, he picked up the phone. Seeing that she got a text, he decided to check it…
Sookie, I'm at the Hilton, Room 716. Stop by if you want. I'm bored. Arabella.
'Bored huh? That means she's probably alone. So it looks like I can take care of that one now.' Rene thought to himself as he turned off Sookie's phone and slipped it into his pocket.
While Rene was outside, Sookie silently mouthed to Arlene to get her cell phone. Arlene gave Sookie the phone with a dead look in her eyes. Sookie felt bad for her friend but knew what she had to do. She quickly texted Arabella…
Rene's the killer. Be careful.
Before Sookie could send anymore messages, she heard Rene opening the front door to the house. So, she quickly placed Arlene's phone on the kitchen counter, grabbed a kitchen towel, got it wet under the sink and started to dab Arlene's head. Arlene, still in a state of shock, was just going through the motions of breathing at this point.
Coby and Lisa then ran into the house. Each of them gave Rene a big bear hug. Arlene then turned and threw up in the sink.
"Momma, are you okay?" Lisa asked as she saw her momma get sick.
"Oh sweetie, she's fine, just a bit of food poisoning, I think. You know Terry's not as good of a cook as Lafayette. I just hope no one else got sick from the food today too. Terry's not supposed to be cooking by himself, but Lafayette hasn't come in for a few days." Sookie started rambling off, now realizing, oh my God, Lafayette hasn't been heard from in a few days… 'Oh sweet Jesus, what if Rene killed him too.' She thought scared to the bone now.
"You look like you in good hands there woman. Listen, I hate to leave, but I need to drop some stuff off at Jason's. Sookie, you can stay here with Arlene until I get back, right?" Rene said, thinking that he needed to get out of there to take care of Arabella.
"Yeah, I can stay here, no problem Rene." Sookie said, doing some of the best acting of her life.
"Okay. You take good care of my baby." Rene said looking at Sookie as he gave Arlene a kiss on the cheek, causing her to turn and retch again into the sink.
Rene then walked out of the house. Upon reaching Sookie's car, he thought that he should do something to prevent her from leaving, so he pulled the connections to her battery out. He then got into his truck and drove off to the Hilton. Disabling her car would give him a reason to drive her home later and then he could take care of her fangbanger ass too. 'I'm getting a two for one deal tonight. This was going to be a good night indeed.' Rene thought to himself as a huge, devilish, psychotic grin slowly emerged on his face.
On the way to the hotel, Rene had made up his mind that he didn't care if his face was caught on any cameras there or if anyone could id him. He, for all intents and purposes, was Rene Lenier, who didn't really exist. No one knew his true identity. No, that information was in the locked box in his truck. After taking care of Arabella at the hotel, and then Sookie later tonight, he decided that he was going to leave and start up somewhere else. While he did truly care for Arlene; she was a good woman, he couldn't deny the fact that Bon Temps just had too many fang-banging whores. He couldn't kill them all; it would bring too much attention to the area, and possibly to him in the end. No, he needed to leave; the sooner the better.
….
Bill had felt Sookie's fear while resting and burst out from his hidey hole under his house to find she was not there. 'Where the hell is she?' He thought. Luckily nightfall was just minutes away. As he was about to leave his house to find her, he saw the note taped to his front door…
Bill, Going to Arlene's to help clean. Miss you already. Love, Sookie
'Uhhh, why must she be so reckless?' He thought, worrying about his love. Once the sun was fully down, he shot out of his house lightening quick and headed towards Arlene's.
….
Bill quickly arrived at Arlene's house, having raced there at vampire speed. He had never been to Arlene's house before, so he needed to be invited in. Impatiently, he called out, "Sookie! Sookie are you alright?"
"Bill, I'm coming." Sookie replied as she ran for the front door. She then quickly invited him in, gave him a huge hug and kiss, and caught him up to speed on the situation with Rene.
"Have you contacted Eric and Arabella?" Bill asked, wanting to make sure that they knew the danger.
"I texted Arabella, but because Rene was around, I couldn't risk talking to her on the phone or sending any other messages. I haven't had the chance to try again." Sookie replied. Rene had just left a minute before Bill showed up.
"Okay, I'll call Eric now and you try to call Arabella again." Bill said as he got his phone out.
"It's going straight to voicemail." Bill said. So, after the beep he left the following message,
"Eric, it's Bill. The Bon Temp killer is Rene Lenier. Where are you two? Call either me or Sookie."
"I don't like that we can't reach Eric." Sookie said forebodingly.
"You've seen how they look at each other Sookie. For all we know, we could be trying to interrupt an intimate moment. In the meantime, let's get that box and go to the police." Bill replied.
Leaving Arlene and her kids in the kitchen, Sookie and Bill went into the garage where they saw the box had been removed. "Oh no, Bill. Do you think he knows we know? We have no proof now. Oh my God, what if he hides the box somewhere and no one can find it again? We need that proof." Sookie said panic-stricken.
"This is definitely not good. We need to go to Fangtasia and see if we can find Eric and Arabella there." Bill said.
"We need to get Arlene and the kids to safety though, Bill." Sookie said looking at the house.
"Yes, of course, you're right." Bill said. His first thought had been to get Sookie to safety, and then her sister, whom he was quite fond of. These humans were a distant third, but they didn't need to have harm happen to them. He would do what he could to get them to safety as well, especially the children.
After getting Arlene and the kids out of the house, Bill walked them to a neighbor's house down the street and glamoured the neighbor to let them stay there. 'Rene shouldn't be able to figure out that they are here.' Bill thought, but just in case, he glamoured all of them to sleep for the night. Rene wouldn't know they were there, and they wouldn't get antsy to leave. Problem solved.
Bill and Sookie then went to her car to drive to Fangtasia, but it wouldn't start. Bill wasn't a mechanic, but he knew enough to know what to check for. After he opened the hood, just as he suspected, he found Sookie's car had been tampered with.
"Sookie, he didn't want you to leave here tonight, at least not on your own volition." Bill said.
It was at this point that Sookie realized that her phone was missing. "Bill, my phone was in the car, but now it's gone."
"I need to talk to Eric. I'm going to take you to Merlotte's. You should be safe there… safety in numbers, right. Then I'll head on over to Fangtasia and look for Eric." Bill said to Sookie.
"I want to go to Fangtasia too, Bill. I want to make sure that Arabella is safe and that the son-of-a-bitch pays for killing my Gran and Tina." Sookie said defiantly.
"Sookie, please, I need you to be safe. I'm sure that Eric and I will come up with something. He's my Sheriff, so I have to involve him, but you, you are my love and I would never survive if you were taken from me." Bill said holding Sookie's face lovingly in his hands and placing a small tender kiss on her forehead.
"Okay, but promise me you'll call me at Merlotte's to let me know what's going on." Sookie insisted.
"Of course. Now let's go." Bill said as he grabbed Sookie bridal style and ran with her to Merlotte's.
….
Once Bill and Sookie arrived at Merlotte's, he told her to grab a seat at the bar and stay put until he came back. Jessica arrived a minute later, having been beckoned by Bill.
"What's up ya'll?" Jessica asked happily when she arrived, but the smile quickly fell from her face once she saw the looks on Bill and Sookie's faces. "Okkaaaayyyy? What's going on?"
"Stay here with Sookie and protect her until I get back." Bill commanded his progeny before speeding out the door.
"Sookie?" Jessica said looking confused at her maker's girlfriend.
Sookie replied, "It's a long story. Here, let me buy you a true blood."
….
When Bill arrived at Fangtasia, he saw an unfamiliar vampire carding at the door.
"Is Eric here tonight?" Bill asked the new guy.
"No." The new bouncer replied briskly.
"Pam?" Bill asked with a look of annoyance on his face.
"Nope." The bouncer replied as he checked an id and allowed a human and two vampires into the club.
"Well, who's in charge then?" Bill asked wondering where the hell they were.
"Chow." Said the man of a million words.
"It's a matter of urgency that I speak with Chow then." Bill said getting aggravated with the guy.
"Go on in. He's in Eric's office." The bouncer said as he motioned to a new group of clubbers to approach him to get id'd.
Bill then walked into the club and headed to Eric's office to get some information.
…
Bill knocked on the door and was beckoned in by Chow.
"Bill, this is a surprise. Did you come here to check my golf scores on the Wii?" Chow asked smirking at Bill. Chow was a video game junkie and knew that Bill was no match for his prowess on the console.
"No." Bill replied with an eyeroll. "Do you know where Eric or Pam are?" Bill asked.
"They left here yesterday with the Queen's guards. And before you ask, no, I don't know when they're coming back. You know how the Queen is." Chow answered while filling out a purchase order for vodka.
Bill was a little surprised. He didn't know what the Queen wanted with Eric now, but was worried about Arabella if she was with him. The Queen did like her unique pets. 'I know a thing or two about trying to hide a unique human.' Bill thought to himself. "Did they have Arabella with them?"
"No. She wasn't with Eric last night." Chow said, not looking up from his paperwork.
"Do you know where she is? Bill asked, getting a little impatient.
After finishing the purchase order finally, Chow looked up at Bill, sighed and said, "No. Eric didn't say anything about Arabella to me last night. All he said was to call them on Pam's cell if someone needed to get in touch with him because his was broken."
"Okay. Thank you Chow for your assistance." Bill said as he left the office. Chow rolled his eyes and went back to his paperwork.
Knowing that Eric and Pam would not be able to come back to Shreveport until the Queen released their company, he decided to go back to Merlotte's to be by Sookie's side. He had no idea where Arabella could be and he didn't have any blood bond with her to seek her out. Before running over to Merlotte's he placed a phone call to Pam's cell to let her and Eric know what was going on. That call, of course, went to voice mail. Unfortunately, there was really nothing else he could do now other than silently hope that Eric had placed Arabella somewhere safe.
….
Once Bill arrived at Merlotte's, he saw Sookie and Jessica sitting just where he left them not too long before. 'At least they listened to him this time.' He thought, knowing both of them had a stubborn streak.
"Bill! Do you find them? Is Arabella okay?" Sookie asked when Bill came up to her at the bar.
"No. Eric and Pam were called away last night to see the Queen. No one at Fangtasia knew where Arabella was. She wasn't with him last night." Bill said, hating to break that news to Sookie.
Sookie said as her voice started breaking because of the tears that wanted to come out, "That doesn't make sense Bill. Eric said he was going to take care of her at Fangtasia. Where is she?"
"I don't know Sookie. I don't know. You've texted her, right?" Bill said.
"Yes, and I just used Jessica's phone to try to call her too, but it went to voicemail. I left a message telling her to call me as soon as she got the messages." Sookie replied, worry in every word.
"Well, I think that's really all we can do now." Bill said defeatedly. He had no other options to give at the moment.
"That's not good enough! I cannot lose my sister, Bill. I just can't. I've lost so many people in my life. I can't lose her too." Sookie said crying as Bill enveloped her in a hug.
Since people were starting to look over at the two vampires and Sookie, Bill decided it would be best to wait it out at his house. "Let's go back to my house for now, people are looking at us." Bill said to Sookie and Jessica, who both nodded in agreement. The three then got up and left the restaurant.
….
'I had just taken the longest, most wonderful shower in the whole wide world.' I thought as I stepped out of the misty shower stall into the colder bathroom. After quickly drying myself with an oversized towel, I grabbed my purple bra and underwear set and put them on. I was about to look for my sleeping shirt when I heard the knock at the door and someone say, "Maid Service".
I walked out of the bathroom and was about to reply, 'I'm coming', but then thought better of it. It was kinda late for maid service, wasn't it? I decided to look through the peephole first to make sure it really was a maid. Imagine my shock when I looked through the hole and saw Rene Lenier standing there.
'Oh shit! What's he doing here?' I thought as I opened my mind to his and immediately was overcome with Rene's remembrances of killing Cindy Marshall. In the first set of images, she was making fun of him and his inadequacies. He was visibly upset with her taunting him; saying that he was a pitifully weak man; that he made her sick and that she wished that they weren't related. Then in another scene, he had turned the tables on her; calling her a fang-banging slut and whore. In the last set of images, he took her by surprise, knocking her around a bathroom, before finally snuffing the life out of her with his belt. 'Oh my God! He's the killer!' I thought while placing my hand over my mouth to cover the involuntary gasp that came out. As I had the instant replay going through my mind of that brutal attack, my mind raced to figure out how to get out of there. I rushed to get my phone and saw that there were a few texts. The first one was from Sookie saying Rene's the killer. 'Well, no shit Sherlock.' I thought. That would've been more useful an hour ago. 'Damned shower! If I hadn't taken it I would've seen the text and been out of here.' So, I quickly texted Eric…
Rene is Drew Hes here Im scared please come
I knew that Eric was supposed to be at Fangtasia and would hopefully come to help me quick. But, until he came, I needed to get out of this room. I opened the door that connected my and Jess's rooms as quietly as I could, closed it just as quietly and then locked it. It crossed my mind that I needed to keep them away from here, so I texted them to pick me up some ice cream on their way back from an ice cream shop that wasn't close by. I didn't want to say the killer was here, because knowing Jessalyn, she'd come back quicker and Rene might hurt her. I couldn't have that. I thought about calling the police, but what would I say, 'I know that guy's the killer because I saw it in his brain?' I'd be the one hauled off, not to jail, but to the loony bin instead. No, my best bet was to have Eric come. 'Shouldn't he be here by now? Fangtasia is only five minutes from here.' I thought and began to worry.
While caught up in my thoughts, I heard a thud outside my door. I tiptoed over to the peephole and saw Rene had killed the maid and was in the process of placing her body into the oversized garbage container on the cart, but not before taking the universal keycard off of her. He then walked over to the room I had been in before and opened it. I knew I had to get out of Jess's room just in case he figured out I might be in here. So, once the door closed to my room, I bolted quickly and quietly from Jess and Owen's room and down the hall.
….
The front desk clerk had initially refused to give Rene any information about Room 716, or its occupant. Rene however turned up his fake Cajun charm, claiming that he was trying to find his true love (showing the clerk a photo of Arabella that was on Sookie's cell phone), whom he had dumped recently because of a stupid misunderstanding and he was desperate to make it up to her. The clerk was a hopeless romantic, so after hearing the bogus story, she divulged to Rene that Arabella was indeed there in that room. The clerk was also able to let him know that she had checked in with two other people, a male and a female, who had the adjacent room, and that in fact, those two had just left the hotel an hour ago. He was glad that the front desk clerk was stupid enough to fall for his charms and give him the info. Now knowing that Arabella checked into her room alone, the other two were gone, and having the text that she was bored, he knew she was probably alone and he could get her now.
So, Rene went up to the seventh floor, headed for Arabella's room and said, "Maid Service". Caught up in his excitement of finally giving this whore what she deserved, he didn't think about the peep hole.
A few moments had passed and nobody answered the door. As he started to grow impatient, thoughts of him killing his sister flooded his mind. He began to beat his head with his hands, trying to stop the memories from affecting his ability to follow through on this killing. 'Fuck you Cindy.' He thought as he stilled for a moment because he had heard the elevator doors open. 'Well looky here, 'he thought as the actual maid had arrived with her cart, 'this is my lucky day.' The maid was actually coming to clean the room across from Arabella's. Once she stopped her cart there, Rene grabbed the iron that was on top of the cart and hit the maid exceedingly hard from behind on the top of her head, effectively killing her. The movement was so swift and without warning, that the maid didn't even have time to scream before she hit the floor dead. He then grabbed the universal keycard the maid had attached to her uniform for himself, picked up the body and threw it in the garbage container on the cart to get it out of eyesight in the hall. Now he would be able to go into the room and take care of the trash in there.
With the keycard, he opened the door and quickly looked around for Arabella. She had to have been here recently, because the shower still had water all over it and there were wet towels on the floor. He thought about the adjacent room and wondered if maybe she had gone over there. As he started to walk out of the bathroom, he thought that he faintly heard the door to the other room shut. 'Bitch thinks she's going to get away, huh? Naw, she gonna get it good.' Rene thought as he ran out of room 716 to see the door to the staircase at the end of the hall shut. He then started running in that direction to get her.
…
When we got here last night, I noted that the elevators ran really slow, so I decided to make a break for the stairs. I could only run so fast though, seeing as I was barefoot and was still slightly wet from the shower. I wanted to stop to text Sookie, but heard the door to the stairwell open and someone starting to run down the stairs. 'Shit' I thought as I tried to increase my speed and find a door I could exit.
"Come on now Arabella, where you going girl? We friends, right? Sookie sent me to come get you." Rene said loudly from four floors up.
I was in clear panic mode now and was thankful when I reached the door to the ground level, where hopefully the lobby and other public areas were.
I ran out the door seeing that I was now in the middle of a construction area. This part of the hotel was obviously being renovated first. 'Great.' I thought. 'There's not going to be anyone here.' Knowing that I needed to get where other people were, I thought about trying to run to the lobby. Unfortunately there were lots of obstacles, like sawhorses, toolboxes, construction debris spread all around the ground, which all would make it hard for me to navigate barefoot. Knowing that I probably wouldn't be able to outrun him in this mess, I tried to find a hiding place. There was a large armoire on one wall in the room. I ran over to it, opened it, and saw that I'd be able to fit inside. So, I quickly shoved my body in, and tried to close the doors as best as I could. I couldn't get them to shut all the way though. 'I need to find a better spot.' I thought, but then heard the door from the staircase open; knowing now I was stuck. Rene had caught up with me. I prayed to God that he didn't find me here. Still having my phone on me, I quickly texted Eric again.
Help me Pls!
"Where are you chere? Why you running from me?" Rene asked teasingly. He was enjoying fucking with her.
He quickly looked around the room to see if she was indeed still there. He was banking on it, because if she was further ahead, he'd have to make a break for it out of dodge. While doing his scan, he saw the doors to the armoire move, just a smidge, but they did move. 'Ahhh, that must be where she is.' Rene thought as he moved over to the furniture piece.
Once he reached the doors to the armoire, he pulled them open seeing her scrunched inside.
…
I wasted no time in bolting out of the armoire. Seeing as I had started running from a balled-up position, it didn't take long for Rene to catch up to me. Once he did, he tripped me; causing my phone to fly out of my hand and me to fall face forward onto the floor in front of the door to the indoor pool area. Since I had the wind knocked out of me with the fall, he was able to easily grab a hold of me by my hair and drag me into the pool room, but not without getting in a quick kick to my ribs for good measure. 'Were there no other people in this fucking hotel?' I thought to myself dumbfounded that no one was witness to the scene unfolding.
Pain was all I felt at this point, but I knew I had to overcome it or I was going to die. Before I could formulate a plan, Rene had dragged me far enough to pull me to the edge of the pool and push my upper body into the water to try to drown me. I wasn't going to go down without a fight though. In my thrashing, I was able to kick him in the balls, which caused him to release me into the water while he retracted back from the pool in pain.
"You little fangbanging whore. You bitch. I'm going to tear your heart out and throw it in the trash, where you and your kind all belong." Rene hissed as he grabbed his crotch trying to regain his composure to attack me again, all the while images of all the murders were playing in his mind which in turn projected like a mental horror movie in my mind. Flashes of the murders of Maudette, Dawn, Tina…. My Gran….all played out in my mind. Unfortunately, I couldn't block him out with all the pain I was feeling now, physical and mental. As difficult as it was to move, I knew I had too, so with every ounce of my being, I waded over to the other end of the pool and got out, looking for something I could use to defend myself with.
Rene recovered quicker than I had expected and ran around the pool. It didn't take him long to catch up to me. I tried to run, but he got a hold of my leg which caused me to trip and fall to the ground again. I struggled against his hold as he tried to drag me to the pool. This time I was able to grab a hold of a leg of a nearby lounge chair. Pulling the chair as Rene was pulling me, I inadvertently knocked over a glass beer bottle that was hiding underneath the chair. 'Thank the Lord someone ignored the no food or drink signs' I thought as it rolled to me. I quickly grabbed it as soon as it was close enough and smashed it on the ground, thereby breaking it into two. And so, before Rene could do anything, I flipped myself over with strength that came from the depths of my soul, and jammed the broken bottle of Bud into Rene's throat. He stumbled back from me, blood dripping from the circular gash in his neck, making gurgling noises, before finally falling into the pool. His blood left his body at an alarming rate as he laid there, arms and legs outstretched in the water, a look of shock on his face as he finally sunk to the bottom.
"Ma'am! Oh my God, ma'am, are you alright? We just saw on the monitor what was happening. We've called the police. No one's supposed to be in this area. Our renovation project just started three days ago." The front desk clerk stammered out, clearly upset by the sight before her.
I started shivering on the ground, as my body started to go into shock. It didn't' help that I was laying there soaking wet in only a bra and underwear set. 'But hey, at least they matched. Sookie would be proud.' I thought trying to find humor in an otherwise humorless situation. The police and ambulance team came soon afterwards. I was placed on a stretcher and taken to the hospital for evaluation. I heard from the EMT that Rene was definitely dead. 'Good.' I thought but couldn't help but wonder where was Eric? Why hadn't he come?
…
A/N: The Mudbug Madness festival is a real festival in Shreveport.