Thank you again to all of you who are still reading. It makes me so happy to have ya'll out there! Just a little disclaimer… I don't own the Hilton Hotel chain… I just picked a hotel name to use in the story. I hope you enjoy & review. Please review
….
Thankfully over the next two weeks, Sookie was able to keep the onslaught of visitors at bay. She shooed away the nosy neighbors and acquaintances bearing stinky tuna casseroles and jello molds. Did they really think I was just waiting, no dying, to tell my story to them over pecan pie or swap stories over banana bread like I was recounting a dance I had been to or how I found the perfect outfit for church? Everyone and their mother just HAD to know about Rene and how I 'got him' like it was a pleasant memory. They made me feel like I should have Rene's butt up on my wall on a plaque like a hunter's trophy, you know, next to my deer antlers and elephant tusk. It's amazing how fast word spreads around a small town, especially since there was nothing in the papers or in the news about it. Well, I guess Rene was engaged to Arlene, the biggest gossip there ever was. The worst of the bunch though was Jason's friend Hoyt's mom, Maxine. My goodness that woman was as loathsome as could be. According to Sookie, she had a bet going with a couple of the other gossip hounds that eat at Merlotte's that she would get my story come hell or high water because no one could pass up her ambrosia salad. Think again lady. It ain't that good. How Hoyt ended up such a nice, decent, and quiet guy, is anyone's guess.
As for those closest to me, most of them didn't come around much, but for different reasons. Since the Bon Temps police department officially named Rene/Drew the Bon Temps killer, Jason was more than free to come and go as he wanted, or more to the point, needed to. So, he returned to Dallas, almost as fast as he came to see me after the assault. He needed to fulfill his obligation of infiltrating the Fellowship of the Sun. I still had to chuckle a little at the thought of Jason being a secret spy. Granted, he looked good in a suit and he certainly had the 'getting the ladies' part down pat like James Bond, but as for the rest of being a spy, like using your head ,yeah, not so much. Jessalyn and Owen had already returned to California. I wasn't sure exactly why they had to go in such a rush though. They vaguely talked about some family obligations that Owen had, but I still was scratching my head, clueless, when they left. I was on some pretty heavy pain medication for a brief while there though. Thankfully I was off of them now. I didn't like feeling so loopy. As for Lafayette, Tara and the others, they went back to work at Merlottes. The restaurant wasn't going to run itself.
In the end, I was glad that everyone had things to get to. It made healing a lot easier and quieter. It's not that I didn't appreciate their well wishes or company; in fact, I felt truly blessed that I had so many people in my life that cared for me. It was just hard to see the pity in their eyes and hear the pity in their thoughts. 'Poor thang, what's she gonna deal with next?' 'She's gonna be damaged for a good, long while.' 'I hope she can get past all this.' Those were just some of the thoughts going through peoples' minds. Unfortunately, since my body was using so much energy healing, it made it very difficult to keep up the walls I usually do to keep everyone's thoughts out of my head.
I didn't want anyone's sympathy though. I didn't deserve to be pitied. I survived everything that was thrown my way, unlike Cindy, Dawn, Maudette, Tina and Gran and who knows who else Rene may have killed. They deserved to be pitied, not me. Their lives were taken from them; unfairly, harshly and too soon. Luckily for me, the only thing that Rene took from me was the time it was taking to heal. And, to be honest, that was all I was going to let the bastard take from me.
And Eric, well, he gave me the space that I asked for. I didn't know if that was good or bad. Part of me wanted him to be over at my house, every night, banging on my door demanding to see me; missing me. The other part of me was glad that he stayed away and let me heal. Not knowing exactly why he chose to stay away was what really bothered me the most though. Did he stay away because I asked him to; because he chose to respect my wishes, or was it because he didn't want to deal with me because he didn't care? I hated feeling like this, torn, uncertain and basically stupid. I was being stupid, over a guy. I really needed to get my shit together. How did he get under my skin in so little time? Why was I sounding like a broken record?
With all the jumbled thoughts going on in my head, I just wanted to heal and move on. That was going to take encouraging thoughts, positive energies. If that was just by myself or with Sookie, then I was okay with that. I was going to do whatever it took to make me… well, me again.
….
Today I asked Sookie if she wanted to have a picnic with me in the garden we worked on after Gran was taken from us. We hadn't tended to it in a long while, but it still looked just as beautiful, if not more so. Everything had filled out and bloomed magnificently. She agreed and said she would make all the fixings as long as I set up the plates, cups, blankets, pillows and such. I definitely got the better end of the deal as it didn't take that long at all to set up.
So, I set up our picnic spot right in the middle of our yard. It was the best place to view everything. Sitting on the soft blue blanket I placed on the ground, I took it all in; the house we grew up in, looking a little worse for wear, but still as solid as the day it was built; the garden bursting with the life we had planted; the cloudless sky with the sun shining down so warm it felt like I was being hugged by God. It made me think of Gran and her warmth and kindness; her spirit; and how she was always around to fix our 'boo boos'. When we were real little, it was the skinned knees and bruises the playground had to offer. When we were a little older, it was helping us nurse unrequited crushes, at least for Sookie and I, Jason never had any 'unrequited' anything. In fact, Gran had to practically beat those girls crushing on Jason away with a stick. The thought of that brought a small smile to my lips, which fell almost immediately as I thought of my latest 'boo boos'. They were on a much grander scale comparatively, but her love and sage advice would be been awesome to have just the same. When I thought about it some more though, I realized that while she was gone she was not gone at the same time. She had in raising us the way she had, given me the tools to not only navigate the mine fields that life had thrown me in lately, but also survive them. Maybe I had learned a thing or two along the way from her; to be a strong, independent woman; to know that if I had to count on only myself, I could and would still be okay. She had raised us ever since our parents had passed on, and most of that time without any male assistance, or any other kind of assistance for that matter. We were never well to do, but we were never without. She made sure of that. I needed to remind myself of Gran, her strength, and make sure to keep that strength alive in me.
I looked up from where I was sitting; up to the second floor window of Gran's room. Sookie and I had put off boxing up Gran's stuff since her death, not wanting to lose touch with her, literally. Taking solace in the fact that all the things she loved were still there, just a room away, if we needed it. But, now with everything that's happened, I realized that she's always going to be with us; in the teachings she gave us and the love that still shines through. We didn't need her stuff to know and feel all that.
Sookie finally came out of the house and placed on the blanket a beautiful array of food and pitcher of strawberry lemonade, before sitting down on the blanket herself.
"Sookie, you didn't have to go through all this trouble." I said looking at the spread, but secretly glad she did. All my favorites were there; chicken salad sandwiches, fruit salad, deviled eggs, chips and dip… yum! Sookie had definitely gotten her love of cooking and ability to do it well from Gran.
"It was no trouble at all. You know, when you mentioned doing a picnic, I thought, my goodness, we haven't done that in ages, and it's such a beautiful day. We really need to do it right." She said, grabbing a chicken salad sandwich and placing it on her plate.
"It really is too beautiful of a day not to be outside. I'm glad you're not working today." I replied, knowing Sookie loved being in the sun just as much as I did. She had been working quite a bit since I was making Merlotte's down a waitress because I couldn't work while recovering. Merlotte's always seemed a waitress down though.
"Yeah, me too. And I can work on my tan a bit." Sookie said before taking a bite of her sandwich.
"Since you are off though, there's something that we need to do." I said to her, apprehensive to broach the subject of boxing Gran's things.
"What's that?" Sookie asked, wiping her mouth with a napkin.
"We need to clean out Gran's room Sookie. It's been long enough." I replied, eyeing her thoughtfully for her response.
"Who's to say how long we take to do that? Why do you want to do this now anyway?" Sookie asked clearly upset.
"Sookie, Gran's been gone for a while now. She would never have wanted us to have a shrine to her in this house. She was strong, brave and practical, just like us. She would have wanted us to move on; keep her treasures, donate what we didn't need, and put her room to better use. Not to sound insensitive, but she's not coming back Sookie; she don't need a room in the house anymore. And we certainly don't need her things to remember her. She'll always be with us here." I said to Sookie while pointing to my heart.
Sookie looked at me for a moment, silent as a church mouse. I was afraid that I may have come across as a little cold and heartless, which wasn't what I wanted, but we needed to move on. We needed to close that chapter of our lives. I could have read her thoughts, but felt like that would have been incredibly insensitive at the moment. I would let her take her time in responding. Finally, she said, "I wasn't ready to do this, for a long time, but you are absolutely right. She wouldn't have wanted us to be this morose. She always did say, 'life is for the living'. Let's enjoy this beautiful day and food, and then we can do it, okay?"
"Yeah, that sounds like a plan. She would have wanted it this way." I said as I began to grab my food and relax.
…
So, after our picnic, for four hours, Sookie and I went through every momento, photo, tchotchke, trinket… everything… that Gran's room had. Each item reminded us of a point in our lives with Gran. We shared a few stories; some that made us laugh; some that made us cry. Some things we decided to keep, like Sookie wanting Gran's antique hair brush and mirror set and me wanting to keep the beautiful floral quilt that she and Grandpa Earl received when they were married. After our stroll down memory lane, the room was emptied and boxes were either placed in our attic for saving or were brought downstairs for the Goodwill truck to come by and pick them up. It was cathartic and exhausting, and exactly what both of us needed to do. Gran would have wanted us to do this; to live our lives; to move on.
….
The next day I felt a lot better and was happy to look a lot less like shit. So, I made a decision.
"Sookie, I think I'm ready to go back to work. I'm gonna call Sam and see when I can get back in the rotation." I said to Sookie over breakfast.
"Honey, are you sure? I mean, you're still black and blue all over and you had a couple of broken ribs." Sookie responded after taking a sip of orange juice.
"Honestly, my ribs are only bothering me when I put pressure on them; walking and doing things isn't bothering them at all. As for the bruises, I can cover up what's left of them with make-up now that they're not that bad. And besides, the whole town pretty much knows what went down, thanks to Arlene, so it's not like I really have to hide anything anyway. Not that you're not great company, but I just feel like I'm done hiding here at the house. Plus, I could really use the money." I replied.
"Well, we could definitely use the help there, that's for sure. " Sookie said, bringing her plates to the sink. She was getting tired of working so many shifts and she could tell that Bill was missing her company something fierce. Since she was so tired after work, when they did get together over the past two weeks, she often fell asleep on him.
The doorbell rang unexpectedly. "I'll get it Sook." I said as I got up and went to see who was there.
"Hello." I said to the attractive middle aged man standing on our porch, who was wearing a very expensive suit and tie, glossy black oxford shoes and a haircut that probably cost more than my outfit. He was definitely not from Bon Temps.
The sharp dressed man gave a slight flinch when he saw my bruises, but quickly recovered and said, "Hello. Are you Miss Arabella Stackhouse?"
"Yes, and you are?" I asked the stranger, curiously.
"Woodrow Delaney, from the law firm of Cross, Hampton, and Delaney. I'm sure you've heard of our firm." He said proudly.
I tried to recall the name, but it didn't ring a bell. "No, I'm sorry I haven't. Are you sure you're at the right place sir?" I asked not getting why this man was here. He did know my name though. 'Shoot, I hope I'm not in some sort of legal trouble.' I thought to myself worriedly.
He replied, somewhat more to himself than to me, "Well, we're more known in New Orleans." But then he continued, "Anyway, if you are Miss Stackhouse, then I most certainly am at the right place. May I come in so we can discuss your settlement?" He asked, patting his briefcase.
"What settlement?" I asked, clearly confused.
"Why, with the Hilton Hotel, of course. The owners of the hotel are deeply committed to making sure that you are taken care of after the unfortunate circumstances that occurred at their Shreveport location recently." He said, clearly looking at my bruises again, this time with authentic sadness in his eyes.
After opening my mind up to see if he was on the up and up, which he was, I finally responded. "Ahhh, well, in that case, come on in Mr. Delaney." I opened the door wider and showed him to the living room sofa.
After having a quick look around the room, Mr. Delaney said, "You have a quaint home here Miss Stackhouse. Let me just get my paperwork out here on your coffee table and we can begin." He then sat down and started to prepare his materials.
Sookie walked in and asked, "Arabella, what's going on?"
"Well, I'm about to find out as well. Mr. Delaney, this is my sister, Sookie Stackhouse." I responded.
Mr. Delaney quickly stood up, reached his hand out to shake Sookie's hand, and just as quickly sat down again as he said, "Pleasure to meet you Miss Stackhouse. Now, let's get down to the nitty gritty here, shall we. Like I said before, the Hilton Hotel would like to offer you a settlement, which we are confident that you will agree is very fair indeed. Now of course, should you choose to accept this settlement, you would be agreeing to never discuss what happened with any publications, news reporters, or the like and you would agree to not hold the Hilton Hotel chain liable for any further criminal or civil proceedings. Basically we would all wash our hands clean of one another."
"So what exactly are you offering my sister?" Sookie interjected.
"Yes, I was just getting to that. The offer is for $500,000. Believe me when I say that they will not give a penny more." He said, obviously trying to get me to accept the offer as is.
Sookie, thinking that Arabella may not be able to get more money, at least not without a court case, which she knew Arabella wouldn't want, thought she'd try to get her sister a little extra something anyway, "While the money is a nice offer, Mr. Delaney, the hotel will no doubt cover all her medical expenses from this incident and give her free lifetime stays at any Hilton, or Hilton brand hotel anywhere in the world, meals included, even room service as well, right?"
"You drive a hard bargain Miss Stackhouse, but I do believe that would not be hard to arrange. So do we have an agreement, Miss Stackhouse?" Mr. Delaney asked me expectedly.
"I need a moment to think about this, if you don't mind." I replied, honestly. And so, as I sat there, I tiptoed lightly across Mr. Delaney's mind without him having any clue. Some people broadcasted better, louder, and stronger than others. In this case, Mr. Delaney ended up being quite the broadcaster. Maybe it wasn't the most ethical thing to do, but hell, who wouldn't use telepathy if they could with a lawyer while bargaining? I'd be stupid not to and besides, I wanted to know what he knew. It turns out he knew some interesting stuff. For starters, he knew I could have sued them for a heck of a lot more. What wasn't out in the open was that the front desk clerk had been smoking a joint in the alley when the attack had started and that was why there was such a delay in getting me help. Had the clerk been at her station, she would have immediately seen the attack on the closed circuit monitors. Well, that was shitty, but I couldn't blame the front desk clerk, not really. I mean, she took a smoke break, granted an illegal smoke break, but it was just a smoke break nonetheless. As much as I would like to throttle her for her timing, I couldn't help but think, honestly, how was she supposed to know that some psycho asshole was going to go medieval on my ass? And Lord knows how many times Sookie and I took breaks at Merlotte's to run a quick errand if it was slow, or have Arlene fix our hair in the bathroom, and the like. But, besides all that, Mr. Delaney had hired a private investigator to look into my life and that of my family. The investigator didn't have to pry too hard to find out that we associated freely with vampires. For goodness sake, all the investigator would have to do is go to Merlotte's and wave a twenty; you'd have a fight between several patrons as to who would get to blab about us. A twenty was as good as three pitchers of beer at Merlotte's. As much as he didn't seem to want to go down that road, seeing as he had a vampire in his own family, he was willing to use that to his advantage if he needed to should I decide to take the hotel to court. He didn't like to lose. 'That must be why his name is in the law firm's name. He must be good.' I thought. Reflecting further, I knew the bias that a jury would no doubt have against me if I were painted as a slutty fangbanger. The funny thing though was not only have I never been bitten by a vampire, I also hadn't had sex with any either. But, all it would take is an insinuation that I was doing those things to cloud a jury's mind. I didn't want to put my family, well, what was left of it, through the ringer for a couple extra bucks. No. I would just take this money offered to me, unexpectedly at that, and be grateful that it fell into my lap. Although, it would've been nicer to have gotten the money by buying a lottery ticket instead of having to get the shit beat out of me. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers, right… Also, what was being offered was more money than I could have ever made at Merlotte's in years and I certainly didn't have any inkling whatsoever to blab my story to the press.
So, having come to a decision, I responded, "Yes, Mr. Delaney, you have yourself a deal. But I think it would be wise to have the paperwork looked over by our family attorney. I mean no disrespect by that, as I'm sure your firm is highly reputable and all, but I would be remiss to not cover all my bases." I replied.
"Well, I'm happy to hear that you agree to the terms and conditions and I certainly have no problem with you having the paperwork looked over. It's actually very wise of you. Let me know where I need to send it and I can get it there immediately, after making the changes to add the medical costs and hotel stays, of course." Mr. Delaney said smiling. He knew this was a win-win situation; this girl would get some money that she could obviously use, seeing the signs of disrepair on the house and her, and his client would be happy that this was all settled relatively quickly and more to the point, quietly.
…
"So, what are you gonna do with all that money?" Sookie asked me after Mr. Delaney left. She didn't want to be, but she couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous at her sister's good fortune, that was until she reminded herself exactly why her sister was getting the money; blood money.
If I had to admit to myself, my first reaction to her question would have been 'RUN'; to run as fast and as far away from Bon Temps as I could. With everything going on around here, it probably would have been the smartest thing to do. But then I thought of Gran. She wouldn't have run from her fears. She would've stayed and faced them – head on. I also thought about all the people I would have missed. It's funny, because when I told Eric about my two year trip around the US with Jessalyn, he had asked me what I was running from. I had answered truthfully that I wasn't running from anything. I just wanted to experience life a little. Now that I have had a lifetime's worth of bad experiences here at home, I wanted to run. Go figure. But no, I wouldn't be running anywhere, no matter how tempting it may be.
"You know, I think I'll keep the majority of it saved up in some sort of investment. But, this house needs some love, don't ya think? It definitely needs a new roof and siding at the very least. And, I think I know exactly who to call to do the job." I said to Sookie with a smile.
"Alcide, right?" Sookie responded smiling back, and added, "Of course he'd be bringing the eye candy with him."
"Sookie, you have a very attractive vampire keeping your bed warm, or should I say cold, most nights and you're again talking about some other man as eye candy. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that being with Bill has corrupted you a little." I said teasingly, with a huge smile on my face. Sookie was quite a prude before Bill, to say the least.
"I was saying it more for your benefit sweetie. Not mine. I know I've got a good thing going. I worry about you… a lot. I want you to be happy." Sookie replied. But, after seeing my smile fade and after a slight pause, she said, changing the subject, "Arabella, thank you for thinking about fixing up the house. You're right, it really does need it."
"Sookie, we're the co-owners of this house now. Gran left it to both of us. We need to look after it, and each other. What are sisters for if not to help each other out?" I said, ignoring her previous comment and giving her a light hug. It would've been a better hug if my ribs weren't still a little sore upon touch.
"What would I do without you?" Sookie said.
"I don't know, but Jason would probably keep you pretty entertained still." I said with a smirk.
"Yes, he does seem to get himself into some strange situations, doesn't he?" Sookie said.
"Yes he does. And, I'm sure he'll have a couple stories from Dallas soon enough."
"Good Lord, you are right about that." Sookie replied with a laugh.
….
The next day our family attorney informed me that he had received and reviewed Mr. Delaney's paperwork and gave his stamp of approval. So after a quick office visit, I was the recipient of $500,000. It was an odd sensation; to feel so financially secure. If only the rest of my life could feel as secure right now.
…
When I had gotten in touch with Sam, he asked if I could start later the following week, because his shifts were pretty much covered for the time being. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was up with Sam when I had talked to him. He seemed incredibly distracted during our call, but I just chalked it up to the lunchtime rush, or maybe hanging out with Daphne was rubbing off on him. I would have liked to have started sooner, but now that I had the financial cushion that I did and some projects to get started, I was okay with having more time off.
My next call was to Alcide. I had to admit to myself that it would be nice to see him again. He was like a great big teddy bear (or I guess teddy wolf in this case); all big and furry, what with his thick dark head of hair and facial hair, cute and cuddly. It was hard not to feel safe around him. Wow, never thought I'd say that about a werewolf…
"Hey Alcide. I've got great news." I said to him when he picked up my call.
"Oh, what's that? You finally lose Northman?" Alcide asked, smiling to himself. Talking with Arabella always made him smile, and truthfully, he hoped that she had found a way to drop the over-possessive vampire.
Arabella felt a pang of hurt when Alcide said that. She hadn't talked to Eric since the night he stopped by to see her after Rene's attack. She knew that she needed to talk to him, but hadn't drummed up the gumption to yet. "Ummm, not exactly. Well, anyways. I've come into some money and want to hire you to put a new roof and siding on our house. Whatcha say? You up for that?" I responded, hoping he wouldn't ask further about Eric.
"Wow, you must have come into some cash to do those projects. I'm happy for you. Yeah, sure, I can do that for you. When do you want me to start?" He responded, happy to have an excuse to see her again and for the extra business.
"As soon as you can. Those repairs have been sorely overdue." I replied, happy to be able to start fixing up my beloved house.
"I can stop by later this afternoon to take a look at things and we can go from there." He said, knowing that he could clear his schedule to meet up with her.
"Great! I'll be home pretty much all day, so I'll see you whenever you can stop by." I said happily.
"See you later." Alcide replied before hanging up and deciding he should probably shower. He didn't want to look like a bum going over there.
….
I was sitting on one of the rocking chairs on my front porch, reading a trashy romance novel (a guilty pleasure) and drinking some lemonade when Alcide's truck pulled up. I couldn't help but think of how Alcide could have been the cover model for the book I was reading if he had his plaid shirt undone, had his hair a little messier, like after sex hair and was lying on a pile of hay looking like he was ready for a go. Maybe Alcide missed his calling. I suppressed a giggle at the thought.
I was glad that I didn't look like the train wreck I did earlier in the week. Thankfully I was finally able to take off all of my bandages and could cover up a majority of the bruises with make-up now. I was healing rather quickly, but anyone with a decent set of eyes could tell I'd been through something. I didn't know if he knew about the attack, but I didn't want him to worry about it. After all, Rene was dead and gone now.
"Hey Alcide." I said after setting my book aside so he couldn't see the smut I was reading and walking down the front steps, heading toward his truck.
"Hey there yourself… Hey, wait a minute. What happened to you?" He said after getting out of his truck and stopping in his tracks once he saw me. He then walked over to me slowly and gingerly placed his fingers on my chin to tilt my head side to side. Oh well, I thought I had done a decent job of covering most of it up.
"You didn't hear, huh?" I replied softly.
"Hear? Hear about what Arabella? Did that vampire do this to you?" Alcide asked with his voice getting gravely while he let his anger show.
"No! No… Eric didn't do this to me. I know you know about the killings going on here in Bon Temps. Remember, my Gran and my cat were killed by that crazy asshole." I said.
"Yeah, but what's that got to do with you?" Alcide asked wondering and worrying where this story was going to go.
"Well, it turns out that Rene Lenier was the killer. I don't know if you know who he was, but he was the groom-to-be at that party I last saw you at. He also happened to attack me and gave me these lovely bruises as a parting gift before I shoved a broken bottle of Bud into his neck and killed him." I replied matter of factly.
"Oh my God Arabella. I had no idea." He said as he swooped me into his arms and gave me a tight hug. He felt awful that this beautiful girl in front of him was such a magnet for hurt and trouble.
"Owwww! Not so tight Alcide." I said quickly as my ribs, while mostly healed, were still a little tender and not ready for the kung fu death grip of a werewolf.
"Oh… oh, I'm sorry Arabella. Are you okay?" He said letting go and stepping a foot back. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Don't worry about it Alcide, I'm fine. My ribs are still a little sore, that's all." I said and then continued, "Yeah, I'm not surprised you didn't hear about it. It never made it into the papers or the news. And, your business is mostly in Shreveport, right?"
"Yeah, most of it is. But, Wow. You would've thought something like that would have made the news." Alcide said in wonder. How does the killing of a serial killer not make the news?
"Yeah, well, it's a long story. How about I'll tell you all about it while we inspect the house?" I said.
"Sounds like a plan." Alcide responded before going to his truck to get out his planner, pencil, tape measure and ladder.
Over the next two hours, we went all around the house, looking at all the exterior items that needed to be fixed and talking about what had happened in both our lives since we last saw each other at Arlene and Rene's party. As it turned out, Alcide had some unhappy news as well. Debbie, his v-addict ex-girlfriend had gone completely ape-shit crazy. She was responsible for burning down Alcide's sister Janice's beauty salon in Jackson, Mississippi because Janice had refused to do her hair. Of course Janice wanted nothing to do with the bitch who broke her brother's heart. Things were getting out of hand with Debbie and Alcide didn't know when or how it was going to stop. I felt bad for him because it was plain as day that he still cared a great deal for his crazy ex. It's too bad Debbie couldn't realize what she had with him and just accept his love and devotion instead of driving a monster truck over his heart again and again. While his heart was big, it wasn't indestructible.
…..…
"You may come in Bobby." Eric said to his day-man, Bobby Burnham.
"Hi boss." Bobby said as he sat down in the chair in front of Eric's desk.
"So, what's new with Ms. Stackhouse?" Eric asked, curious as to what his pet had been up to during the past week. He had Bobby watching the Stackhouse residence during the day while Arabella was recovering. She had asked him not to stop by, which was unfortunate, but understandable. He figured she could use a cooling off period, and time to heal. Eric had all the time in the world to wait. And, contrary to popular belief, Eric could be patient when need be. But, on a deeper level, he really didn't want to see her in that state. Seeing as he wasn't going to give her any blood, it was going to take time for those bruises to heal. And truthfully, he didn't want to be reminded of her humanity, her frailty. If she were a vampire, she would've healed the night it happened, but being human, she was going to wear the consequences of that attack, an attack he was unable to predict, prevent, or change for a short while.
Bobby got right to point, "Well, for most of the week, it was pretty boring. She mostly stayed in her room or the living room reading or watching TV, ate, you know, nothing out of the ordinary. But, she did have a visit from a lawyer representing the hotel where the attack occurred. Seems she took a settlement from them for $500,000."
"That's interesting." Eric said, thinking she probably could have gotten more. With her gift, she should have been able to read the lawyer's mind and play him like a fool. 'Well, that was really her call.' He thought before he asked, "Anything else?"
"Yes actually. The werewolf, Alcide, stopped by." Bobby started before he was interrupted by Eric.
Eric slammed his hands onto his desk as he asked with an edge to his voice, "When was this? How long did he stay? Did he touch her? Why was he there?" Eric shot out his questions in rapid fire succession in such a way that it took Bobby a bit by surprise. He had never seen his boss get so fired up about one of his fangbanger whores before. At least, that's what he thought Arabella was at first, just another fangbanger that he had to tend to for his boss. She would not have been the first and probably was not going to be his last. He'd seen many come and go in his long tenure with Eric. But, seeing how Eric reacted, he wasn't so sure that was the case anymore. Bobby wished he knew more about why he was watching this girl, but then again, maybe he didn't. Knowing too much could be a bad thing sometimes, especially in Bobby's line of work.
"He stopped by today; this afternoon to be more precise. He seemed upset when he saw her. He gave her a hug, not a romantic kind, but more out of friendly caring. She winced in pain and they broke the embrace. I don't think he knew about the attack. They talked for a bit as they went around the house measuring and looking at things. It appears that she asked him to fix up the house now that she came into that money. After that he left." Bobby stated succinctly. He knew it was better to get to the point with Eric and not embellish.
Eric sat back in his seat, a little more relaxed now and thought on Bobby's words for a moment. The Stackhouse residence was in some disrepair. He could see where she would want to fix it up a bit now that she had the money to do it. It just irked him that she had to call Alcide to do the work, again. He knew the werewolf was attracted to his pet. He would have to call the werewolf again.
"If there's nothing else, then you can leave Bobby." Eric said finally.
"Thanks boss. Do you want me to continue to watch the house?" Bobby asked wondering how long he'd have to watch the girl. It honestly was some of the most boring work he'd ever had to do for Eric.
"You will continue to watch the house until I tell you otherwise." Eric replied quickly. He didn't trust Alcide. Vampires very rarely trusted other supernaturals on a good day, let alone when they have access to a pet. He definitely wanted a set of eyes on the house, especially now with the werewolf starting up another project there.
"Okay boss; will do." Bobby said before getting up and leaving the office.
As Eric sat as his desk, pondering the new information, he thought to himself, 'I know I was going to wait for her to contact me, but now, I may need to make a visit.'
Before Eric could get up to leave, his cell phone rang.
"Yes." Eric said.
"Eric, it's Isabel. We need to talk." Isabel Beaumont replied. She was Godric's second in command in Dallas. It was odd to get a call from her and not from Godric himself. Godric was not only the Sheriff of Area 6 in Dallas, he was also Eric's maker, whom he was still incredibly close with.
"Isabel… to what do I owe the pleasure?" Eric asked politely, but curious.
"We have a problem." Isabel said bluntly.
Eric had already gathered that, just by the fact that Isabel was the one to call, but what that problem could be was what peaked his interest. "And that would be?"
"One of our nestmates, Farrell, went missing four nights ago." Isabel started.
"Is that all? Four nights isn't that long to be gone, not for one of our kind. He probably is on a bender shacked up with some human." Eric said bored already with the conversation.
"No, Farrell isn't like that. But to answer your first question, no, that's not all. The human you lent us, Jason Stackhouse, he has gone missing as well. We've been unable to get in contact with him for three nights. He is supposed to be in contact with us every night." Isabel continued.
"What does Godric have to say about the situation? And why am I just now hearing about the Stackhouse human being missing?" Eric asked, not only wondering what his maker thought of the current state of affairs but also hoping he wouldn't have to tell Arabella and Sookie their brother was missing, or eventually worse. After all, he was responsible for sending the idiot there in the first place.
Isabel replied hesitantly, "That's the biggest problem of all Eric. Godric said he had a tip on where Farrell could be and went to check it out last night. He never called or returned. It's not like Godric, Eric. He never leaves without us having some way to contact him. And tonight, no one's been able to reach him. Have you felt anything amiss?"
Eric nearly crushed his phone in anger. The mere thought of something happening to Godric was incomprehensible to Eric. HE COULD NOT LOSE HIM. And that was that. After calming a bit and thinking about what Isabel had asked, he said, "No Isabel. I haven't felt anything awry with Godric, but unfortunately, that doesn't necessarily mean he's okay." Eric knew that Isabel would understand what he meant by that. Makers could repress their feelings, thoughts, etc. to their children if they felt the need. If Godric was trying to protect Eric for some reason, he could prevent Eric from using their connection to find him.
"I see. I was hoping you may have heard from him, one way or another." Isabel said flatly.
"Do you have any clues as to what may have happened? You said that Godric was following up on one. Did he tell anyone what that was? And, do you think Godric and Farrell's disappearance is connected to the human's disappearance?" Eric asked, trying to get more information on the situation.
"Unfortunately we don't have much to go on right now. We have our suspicions, but nothing concrete. And as for Godric, he didn't tell anyone before he left. I think he thought he could handle it on his own." Isabel answered, inwardly lamenting the fact that she let Godric down in some manner. She was his second and should have been more useful than this. She knew she looked like a fool right now and rightfully so.
"I would like to come to Dallas and do some investigating, if that is alright with your nest. I have some alternative resources available that may be able to assist." Eric said, thinking about Arabella and Sookie. Their unique abilities may come in handy in finding his maker, and not to mention, their brother as well.
"I don't see that being a problem, given your relationship with Godric and expertise, being a Sheriff in your own area, but I still have to put it before the rest of the nest, as I'm sure you understand. I shall call you with the answer as soon as possible. And rest assured Eric, we are doing all we can here. Godric is much beloved, as is Farrell. Everyone here wants them to be returned quickly and intact." Isabel said sincerely.
"I understand Isabel, but time is of the essence here. Let me know when I can come. Also, keep me informed if there are any new developments in the meantime." Eric replied coolly.
"Of course Eric. Goodbye." Isabel said.
Eric said nothing in return, but instead simply hung up. He didn't particularly feel like being cordial anymore. He was pissed and scared, not a good combo. Not much scares a vampire, especially one as old as Eric, but the thought of his maker being in trouble, well that just about scared Eric to the bone.
Pam rushed into Eric's office the minute he was off the phone and asked, "What's going on? I felt so much anger off of you that I nearly bit off the new waitress's breast while feeding. And trust me when I say, it would have been a shame. With you being such a connoisseur of a nice set of tits, I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from."
"Godric's gone missing." Eric replied, still not believing the words that were coming out of his mouth.
"Are you sure?" Pam said aghast while suddenly becoming more serious.
"Isabel just called to tell me. She would not have done so if the situation didn't look bad." Eric said, knowing the absolute truth in that statement. Isabel was a good second, for the most part and her devotion to Godric was substantial. He knew that as well. He then added, "The Stackhouse brother is missing as well."
"Shit. What are you going to do? Is there anything I can do?" Pam asked, wanting to do more, say more, but not knowing what to do at all.
"I've got to go to Dallas; see what's going on myself, in person, but beyond that, I don't know. They don't seem to have too much information there. I'll need you to stay here and cover Fangtasia for me in my absence." Eric replied, now seemingly in a daze.
"Of course Eric, whatever you need." Pam replied lovingly to her maker. She knew if anything had ever happened to Eric, she'd be beyond lost.
"Thank you Pam. I need to run out for small bit. I will be back soon." Eric said to Pam before rushing out the door at vampire speed. She had an inkling of where he may be headed.