OMG what happened to me! Ahhhh Life… just creeps up on ya sometimes. Sorry for the delay… again. (Hangs head down low in shame…) This chapter has really been hard to write as well. I felt that I needed something between the last one and the action to come with the Maenad and dun dun dun… a big reveal… coming up in the next chapter or two. It's a long one though and I hope you enjoy it.
Thank you again for sticking with me! Please read and let me know what you think.
-Kilera
…...
Shortly after Eric left, Jesus left as well to get some things he needed for his spell from the hotel convenience store and to check up on Lafayette, no doubt, leaving Sam and I alone to wallow in our thoughts.
Sam decided to break the silence that entered the room after those two had left and said, "We sure know how to pick 'em, don't we?"
"Huh?" I asked, breaking out of my silent musings on whether Eric would come through for us or not. It was strange really, I had more faith in Jesus coming back, a guy I just met, than Eric. But, after Dallas, and everything I thought I knew being turned upside down, I didn't know what to think anymore.
"Relationships… You fall for a dead guy that breaks your heart and now we're all stuck waiting on him to come back, hoping he'll come back, with the stuff we need. And then there's me who falls for a Maenad wannabe that gets her kicks by eating people's internal organs, oh, and who by the way wants to possibly serve one of us up to her pagan god or whatnot. What's wrong with us?" Sam asked with a small sardonic laugh.
I thought about what he said, shrugged and replied, "I guess we're just too open with our hearts. We let others in too easily and hope for the best." I stopped, thought about it for a moment more, and then added, "I don't think the problem is us though Sam, I think the problem is with those who've fucked us over. They're the ones that let us down, that broke our trust and our hearts. They're the ones who had something special and didn't see it."
"Yeah… maybe… but why did we let them in? Maybe we need to close ourselves off; you know, not make it so easy for them to trample over us; make them work harder to get in." Sam asked, obviously hurting from Daphne's betrayal, just like I was from Eric's.
"Maybe. But, if we close ourselves off from others because we're afraid of getting hurt, there'd be no way for love to enter neither. Me, personally, I guess I'd rather take the risk of some hurt and feel pain than to never have the opportunity to love at all." I replied pensively. The mood needed to change. I couldn't get sucked into this pity party that Sam wanted to throw at the moment, so I said further, "There's someone for both of us. I know we'll find them eventually. And when we do, we'll know to cherish every moment with that person because we will know what life was like without them. Besides, do you really think that God would throw all this crap in our direction and not throw us a bone at some point?"
Sam laughed at the last part of what I said and replied, "Yeah, I guess you're right about that. Or at least I hope so. I really do."
Maybe it was because of what this conversation was about, or maybe it was because the question always sat in the back of my mind when it came to Sam and his crush on my sister, but I finally felt like I could ask, "Sam, why didn't you ever ask Sookie out before Bill came around?"
Sam looked at me incredulous for a moment before replying, "What are you talking about Arabella?"
"Come on Sam, everyone in Bon Temps who ever set foot in your bar knew that you had a thing for my sister. The only one who didn't know was her. Why didn't you ever let her know how you felt about her?" I finally asked the question that no one had ever dared to ask Sam, even though we all wanted to. Sam was extremely private, in fact, we all knew very little about Sam's life before he came to Bon Temps. But despite his mysterious history, he was an open book when it came to his crush on my sister. His face said all there was to say whenever he looked at her.
"You don't know what you're talking about chere." Sam said, pointing his finger at me, pacing, trying, but failing, to convince me that I read the situation all-wrong.
"Sam…" I replied slightly exasperated with one eye raised. He wasn't fooling anyone.
Sam stopped pacing and sighed, a sure sign of defeat, before taking a moment to reply. "Yeah, it was that obvious, huh?"
"Yeah." I said with a slight head nod and a chuckle.
"I… I don't know. I guess every time I would muster up the courage to ask her out on a date, something always came up, like someone would interrupt us, or the place would get busy, or Tara would come in needing a shoulder to cry on, or…" Sam started to reply before I cut him off.
"Oh come on Sam, those are all just excuses. You could have easily picked up the phone one day and called her, or took her into your office and asked… But you didn't ask her because you were scared, weren't you… but scared of what?" I asked.
Sam stayed silent for a moment and I thought that perhaps I had pushed this conversation further than it should have gone. "I'm sorry Sam. I shouldn't stick my nose where it doesn't belong. It's just, I don't think of you as just my boss; you're also my friend and kinda like a big brother. I mean I have a big brother, but you're like a big brother from another mother." I said to him with a soft smile, hoping he wasn't mad at me for prying. I really did look at him that way, and besides, we were going to have to work together on this Maenad thing. I couldn't have him go into the situation all pissed. We all needed our wits about us to defeat that… thing.
"No. You don't need to apologize chere. You're absolutely right; I was scared. I was scared that she'd say she wasn't interested. And… to a certain extent, I was scared that she'd say she was."
"But you just jumped right into a relationship with Daphne. Daphne! I mean sure she's pretty, but Sam, come on; she was so horribly dumb and clumsy. I don't get it. Wait; was that all just an act? Is she really that dumb and clumsy?" I replied, confused by his response.
"Yeah, that probably did seem a little off, but with Daphne, I guess in the back of my mind I always knew it wasn't going to lead anywhere, at least not until I found out about her being a shifter too. That connected us, at least for me, on a different level." Sam said sadly. He hadn't realized until he found out that she was a shifter too how isolated he felt hiding his secret from everyone. It was so freeing to him to be able to be himself with her, his whole self, and be not only accepted, but also wanted, desired. "But, you know, I don't know if everything about her was an act or not. And that's pretty scary when I think about it. She seemed so goddamn real."
It saddened me to see Sam so forlorn, but it clicked now. Sure, Sam was friendly and often gave people a chance that others wouldn't, but letting someone real close, naw, he didn't let many people get real close. And that was it really; he knew that if he started something with Sookie, it'd be the real deal and that scared him. "Don't be afraid to let love in Sam. From what I hear it can be wonderful."
"How can you sit there, say that, and actually believe it? You just got played yourself." Sam said, not wanting to upset Arabella, but just honestly curious.
"I may have not had the best luck when it comes to love… yet… but I really do believe that it's out there waiting for me. We see it all around us Sam, everyday. I see it in some of the couples that come into Merlotte's. You have too. And, as much as you probably don't want to admit this, you see it with Sookie and Bill. You waited too long to make your move Sam and look what happened, she got picked up by someone else. That's why you can't wait for love. If it's something you want, you need to take the bull by the horns and fight for it. Especially if it's worth fighting for." I replied, thinking about how everything seemed like a fight these days.
"And what about you and Eric? I could tell here tonight there's still something between you two. And even though he may have said that he didn't care about you or whatever, it was pretty darn clear tonight that he does, no matter what he said. Are you willing to fight for that?" Sam said, continuing to be the pessimist.
"I wish that I could read his mind and know what's really going on in there, I really do. He says one thing, but then his actions say another. He says I'm nothing, but then he's going out of his way to help us, to help me, when we all know he could just walk away from this bullshit. As far as I know, there are no vampires under Maryann's control and nothing's happened in Shreveport, and yet, here he is offering his help. He almost met the true death trying to get me away from Maryann. Why would he do that? I don't know what to make of it. And that's the God's honest truth." I replied forlornly. To say I was confused would be the understatement of the year. But I continued, "Even though I don't know what to think of my situation with Eric, that doesn't mean that I'm just going to give up on love in general. I don't have the answers, but I do know that I want love in my life and will find it. I just know it." Maybe I had read one too many trashy romance novels, or maybe I just envied the love I saw between Sookie and Bill, or maybe I just was longing to have that someone who made me feel like I was their world, but it really didn't matter what the reason was that I felt that way; I just did. I wanted love in my life and wasn't going to be afraid to let it in, as long as it was the right person. If that person was Eric, well, I guess it was on his end to prove it now. And while I would try my best to have an open heart and mind, it didn't mean that I was going to be stupid about trusting him completely. Not yet; not by a long shot.
"Who knew, Miss Stackhouse, that you were such a romantic and an optimist?" Sam said with sad smile before adding, "I wish that I could be as hopeful as you, but I'm a little older, a little more battle-hardened, and a little more skeptical when it comes to love." He really did wish that he could share her optimism on the subject, but he had been burned one too many times in the past and reality was a merciless bitch.
"Then it sounds like life's gonna be real lonely for you Sam and that makes me sad because you're truly a good, decent person and you deserve so much more than that." I replied truthfully before another silence entered the room filled with melancholy and sorrow.
Since neither one of us seemed to be in the mood to talk anymore, I grabbed the nearby remote and turned on the TV, flipping through the channels until finally settling on a rerun of Firefly. We both then just stared on blankly at the screen. To tell you the truth, if you had asked us any questions about what we were watching, we both probably wouldn't be able to answer, what with us both being lost in our own thoughts. But somehow, it was still comforting to not be alone.
…
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't even pay attention that Firefly ended and another show that I wasn't familiar with had started when Jason returned to the room with the kids, who looked a hundred times happier than before and a tray of food for me. Lafayette and Tara were not with him though.
"Where's Tara and Lafayette?" I asked Jason, as he set the tray of food on the bedside table, worried that Tara had become undone and all my hard work on saving her mind went down the drain. As much as I loved Tara, I didn't know if I could go through that kind of creepshow again. I knew I was already going to have nightmares from the first time.
"Uhhhh, you see, they was real upset, well you know that, and you know how they get when they're upset. Basically they drank… a lot." Jason began, feeling bad that he couldn't control the situation with the cousins better, but honestly this was Lafayette and Tara, you'd have better luck trying to control ravenous tigers, before Coby cut in.
"They's real funny when they drink Miss Arabella. Mister Lafayette and Miss Tara was dancing on the tables, talking funny stuff and singing real off-key like. It was like bad karaoke night at Merlotte's. No offense Mister Sam." Coby said excitedly.
I closed my eyes and sighed, hoping to God they didn't get kicked out of the hotel. I knew how rowdy they could get at Merlotte's, and sure, even I had to admit it was entertaining, but Sam always had a way of handling them when they got too out of hand. Unfortunately we weren't at Merlotte's now and Sam wasn't in the restaurant with them. I also knew that shit wasn't going to fly at a place like this.
"It's okay Coby, none taken. Jason, do you know where are they now?" Sam asked, looking at Jason, probably hoping the same as me; that they weren't kicked out, or worse.
"What's an exciting dancer Mister Sam? The manager of the restaurant came by and said that he'd seen Mister Lafayette on a website. Said he was a big fan. Do you think we could look up that website and see Mister Lafayette dance? He dances funny." Coby, who I could tell was riding a sugar high no doubt brought on by whatever my brother fed those kids, interrupted with Lisa nodding in
"That's an exotic dancer little buddy not an exciting dancer, and they's…" Jason began to say while roughing up Coby's hair, like he was teaching him an important life lesson. Shoot, this was Jason; he probably did think he was teaching the kid a life lesson.
"Jason! Do you really think that Coby and Lisa need to know what an exotic dancer is right now? And, more to the point, once Arlene is back in her right mind, do ya think she'd appreciate you giving them that lesson?" I shot at Jason, my eyes wide trying to get my point across to him.
Jason's eyes narrowed as he thought about Arlene's possible reaction, which he eventually decided wouldn't be good, and so he continued with his story instead. "Yeah, that'd be bad… well, like Coby said, the manager was… ahhhh…familiar with Lafayette. He seemed a little start-struck actually. Did ya'll know he was famous on the Internet?" Good Lord my brother could get sidetracked.
Sam and I both shot Jason a look that basically let him know we could give a rat's ass about Lafayette being on the Internet. There were more important things going on right now. However, I did file the information in the back of my mind to ask La La about later, preferably while getting drunk at Merlotte's. I could definitely use one of those nights after all this shit.
Jason, finally taking a hint, continued, "Oh yeah, anyway, he got them a room… you know, to sleep it off." He then added, "We went with them and I helped to tie Tara up to the bed, just in case… And before you go asking, neither of 'em had them alien eyes and they weren't chanting nothing neither."
As much as I hated the thought of my friend having to sleep tied to a bed, because of what she's been through and all, it probably was a good idea, especially because of what she's been through. I had no idea if Maryann would be able to reach Tara again and we couldn't afford Tara giving away anything about our attempt to get rid of her. Those poor kids though, I thought, 'they're really getting an education being stuck with us during this Maenad crisis. If that Maenad doesn't do it first, I bet Arlene's gonna kill us.'
…
As Eric flew over Bon Temps, flying high enough to not be noticed but low enough to be able to gage the situation below, he saw from that overhead perch the mayhem and destruction that the Maenad was commanding the residents to commit on their own town. Buildings were burning; roads were littered with over-turned cars and random items like refrigerators and sofas. Garbage was strewn all about as well, making the little shitty town now smell like shit. People were running about, some naked, some shouting the Maenad's chant, some badly hurt, but all out of their fucking minds. It was anarchy and chaos and exactly what a Maenad would organize on the verge of attempting to call forth her god. If the town made it out of this situation, they were going to have one helluva clean up to do and probably no recollection of what the hell happened to cause the mess in the first place. He had to hand it to the Maenad though, she was powerful, to be able to create such a scene. Even though vampires had glamour at their disposal to use to control lesser creatures, it would a very long time for a single vampire to glamour an entire town, even one as small as Bon Temps. She did it in a couple of days. Their rag-tag group was definitely going to have their hands full trying to put down not just one, but two Maenads, even if one was just in training.
Normally he would have loved nothing more than to just forget what he saw here and head back to Fangtasia and get back to some normalcy; sit on his throne, watch the pathetic souls who ventured into his establishment try in vain to get his attention. Feed, fuck, use, toss aside; that's what he was used to. But, even as he thought about this now, he knew that he really didn't want that existence any longer. He wanted Arabella and something more to matter in his world. And he wanted all the shit that had been thrown at them recently and the shit that he put into play with Sookie to just go away. But it wasn't going to go away, was it? No. Not on it's own. He needed to make up for his actions. He needed to make sure that Arabella was safe. He needed to help get rid of this fucking Maenad. It marveled him how someone as good as Arabella attracted so much bad in her world, but, if she didn't, would he be in her life?
Knowing he didn't have time to dwell on all that he couldn't fix at the moment anyway, he moved forward and assessed the situation. Thinking over things, he decided that he would first locate the items that the witch needed for his spell and afterwards would try and find the location of the party. Not that the location should be hard to find. The Maenad didn't appear to be trying to hide anymore.
So, he flew as fast as he could and landed in the now desolate parking lot of Merlotte's, glad to see that there were no humans about. Once he arrived, he took notice that the bar was absolutely trashed. The Merlotte's sign was torn down and lying on the ground, half the lights broken, the other half blinking ominously, like a warning of sorts. The front door looked like it was kicked in, all the windows were shattered to oblivion, no doubt destroyed by the tables and chairs that were lying broken all over the parking lot after being thrown out of the bar. A raccoon ran through the broken doorway holding a hamburger bun as Eric slowly walked into the place, the only sounds coming from his shoes that made crunching noises as he walked over broken glass and plates. The inside of the bar was even worse than the outside, and that was saying a lot. The floor was littered with pretty much everything that used to be on the walls at the restaurant. Where there used to be a neatly arranged variety of alcohol behind the bar now were empty broken shelves. Food was smeared on most surfaces and was beginning to smell worse than food normally did to a vampire. 'This is going to be one expensive bitch to clean up.' Eric thought to himself as he walked through to the back of the restaurant intending to go out the rear exit that was closest to Sam's trailer.
Not that he cared in the least for this shifter, (although as shifter's went, Sam wasn't as wretched as some others he had met, not that he would ever tell the shifter that) but as a bar owner himself, he could understand the wrath that shifter would no doubt feel once he sees the shit-storm that blew through his place. If this were Fangtasia, heads would roll, but this was not Fangtasia; it was Merlotte's. Eric knew that the shifter would probably go soft and forgive and forget the crazed patrons. Although killing the Maenads probably would make forgiving and forgetting a helluva lot easier for him, knowing that bitches were responsible for this mess.
Once he entered the remarkably untouched trailer, Eric easily found the items that Sam said would be there of Daphne's, a short denim skirt, a red lace tank top, a pair of navy blue Keds shoes and a brush full of the wannabe Maenad's hair. He quickly threw the items into a plastic bag he found in the kitchen and continued on to the Piggly Wiggly Supermarket for the other items the witch said he needed. He knew lingering in one place too long right now would be asking for trouble.
As he walked through the automatic sliding glass doors of the Piggly Wiggly, all he heard was the sounds of boring smooth jazz that the speaker system played. There was no one in there; no cashiers, no managers about, no customers, at least none that he took notice of at first. It was strange to see a store that normally would have dozens of people in there, deserted. But then his vampire senses took notice of someone hiding in the back and he took off in that direction at vampire speed.
When he arrived at the spot where he knew someone was, he saw a scared young woman with a sleeping baby in her arms, hunched down and crying softly.
"Please don't hurt my baby! Please don't hurt us!" She cried out under her breath, trying not to wake the baby while clutching the little girl closer to her and rocking back and forth in fear.
Eric rolled his eyes as he had no intention of doing anything to this woman or her child, but then he thought she might know something about the party. "I will not hurt you. But I need you to tell me what is going on here."
The young woman looked up at Eric and said, "I'll tell you anything, just please don't hurt us." It was clear to Eric that the woman was still leery of trusting that he wouldn't hurt her. The Maenad had obviously caused a lot of trouble around town already. The young mother then continued, "The only reason why I'm even out and about is because I ran out of baby food for my baby. Everyone's gone crazy. People have been beating each other up, shooting each other, screwing in the dirt, eating dirt, just crazy stuff. It's like they're all high on some fucked up drugs. Maybe it's those bath salts. I heard about what those things can do to people…" Eric then decided to cut her off.
"Do you know where everyone is right now?" He needed to know where the party was going to be. He already knew why everyone was acting nuts.
"I don't know for sure, because I've been trying to stay away from all of this, but I did overhear a couple of the neighbors talking to each other out on the street by my house saying there was going to be a big blowout at the Stackhouse place. That's all I know. I swear." She replied truthfully.
Eric knew that was as much as he was going to get from this girl so he said to her, "Go home. Lock your doors and cover your windows. Make sure your baby stays as quiet as possible. You don't want to go outside tonight or tomorrow night. Do you understand?"
"Yes. Yes. Are you going to help the town?" She asked, wondering if this guy was in the FBI or police or something.
"Hopefully… for all of your sakes." Eric said before walking away to find the things he needed for the witch. He didn't need to look behind to know that the young mother took what she needed for the next couple days and quickly left the supermarket.
After he got what he needed at the store, he decided that he would take a peak at what was happening at the Stackhouse place and verify what he already suspected was the location he was looking for.
…
Eric knew that Maenads were notorious for destruction, but even he was floored when he viewed the damage that the Maenad had done to not just the Stackhouse home, but to their yard as well. As much as he knew the shifter was going to flip out when he saw his bar, Arabella was going to be absolutely crushed when she found out what the Maenad had done to her ancestral home. Granted, the shifter's bar was pretty fucked up, but his home was left unscathed. Arabella's home on the other hand just became the poster child home for the apocalypse.
There was a reason why vampires kept the location of their homes such a closely guarded secret. They say that home is where your heart is. Well, it's also where you tend to keep your most prized possessions, where you keep your treasured memories, where you feel safe and secure, where you sleep, and where you live. To have your home violated, especially in the way the Stackhouse residence was, would cause alarm, anger, and distress to any normal individual. He hated that he'd have to be the one to tell her that the Maenad had decided to redecorate her home more in the fashion of Horror Weekly instead of House Beautiful.
He then shifted his focus and took note of all the people moving about, carrying things here or there, breaking stuff, creating various grotesque shrines about the place, obviously making preparations for… something… Eric knew that this was indeed the location of the Maenad's party. Knowing that there was nothing else he would gather from sticking around any longer, he bolted into the sky with the items the witch needed and headed back to the hotel.
…
Jesus had returned not long after Jason and the kids had returned to our hotel room. He had a bag full of stuff with him now and an anxious look when he saw the kids were back.
Taking my arm gently and pulling me over to a corner of the room where the kids wouldn't hear us talk, Jesus said quietly, "Ummmm, the stuff I need to do may not be appropriate for the little ones. Is there somewhere else they can stay tonight?"
I thought about it for a brief moment. I couldn't send them back to Lafayette and Tara's room. For one thing, they were bombed and would probably wake up pissed off with killer hangovers. I already didn't want to have to tell Arlene about half the stuff the kids saw let alone that. Nope. Not to mention I still had my doubts about Tara's mind. Sam hadn't gotten a room yet though…
"Hey Sam, would you mind getting a room for you and the kids here tonight. Jesus needs some… privacy… and the kids should really be in bed right now anyway." I asked Sam who was watching Spongebob Squarepants with the kids and Jason.
"Awwwww… Miss Arabella, don't make us go to bed now. We're having the best sleepover ever tonight! I call pillow fight!" Coby yelled out while Lisa grabbed a pillow and knocked a clearly engrossed Jason clean off of the bed.
"Heeeeyyyy! Naw, that ain't fair to hit a grown man while he's watching his favorite toons. Ya'll going down!" Jason exclaimed back while grabbing a pillow of his own and playfully hitting back at the giggling kids. Sam just shook his head at the sight, although I detected a slight smile on his face.
While I knew we could all use some stress release, unfortunately it really did need to wait until after we dealt with the Maenad situation. Hating to be the bad guy, but knowing someone needed to, I yelled out "STOP!"
I wasn't known to yell at people, so when I did, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at me stunned.
I walked over to the kids, gently took the pillows from their hands, casually threw them back on the bed and said, "Okay guys, I know that this has been quite the experience for ya'll, but it's really getting late and us adults have some important stuff that we need to take care of. But, I'll tell you what though, tomorrow I'll take you to Gilly's for the best banana split you've ever had. How's that sound?" I knew they needed something to look forward to, seeing as I couldn't guarantee that they'd see their mama again, or any of us for that matter after we attempt to take back the town from the Maenad's control.
"As long as I get extra cherries on mine." Coby said with a smile while Lisa chimed in excitedly, "And extra whipped cream!"
"I think that can be arranged. Thanks for being such good sports! I'll make sure to tell your mom just how great you both were." I added the last part knowing that the kids would appreciate that. Maybe it was because their dad was a deadbeat, as well as her other two husbands or maybe it was because she wanted them to get out of Bon Temps, but whatever the reason, Arlene could be pretty hard on her kids, so any praise they got always went a long way.
I had to admit in this brief moment between the kids and me; I envied their naiveté and youthful fearlessness. I really wanted to think that everything would be okay just because it would be, like they believed. Their momma shielded them from the bad in the world, just like any good momma would, so they didn't know any better, but I did. I knew that awful things happened, and to good people at that. And now, knowing, and yet not knowing, what we were up against made me just want to crawl into a hole and hide, seeing as I was scared shitless over what was to come.
After taking a deep breath to clear my thoughts, I said, "Okay then… Sam, if you could…" I then motioned with my arms for him to take the kids and get a room for them.
"Sure thing chere. Call me if you need anything or when you're ready for that ice cream tomorrow." He said as he took Coby and Lisa's hands.
"Night Miss Arabella, Uncle Jason, and Mister Jesus." Coby and Lisa said in unison as Sam led them out the door.
"Night guys." Jason said with a smile. I couldn't help but think he'd make a great dad someday. I hoped that we'd live to see that day.
Now that they were out of the room, I turned to Jesus and asked, "So… what do we need to do?"
"I'll start setting up the ritual I need to perform in the bathroom before making the switcheroo potion. When your vampire friend returns, knock on the door to let me know. I may or may not be ready to answer, but at least I'll know he's here with the items. I don't need what he's supposed to bring until the end of the potion making anyway. Oh, and if you hear some strange sounds, don't worry, it's part of the ritual." He said as he made his way to the bathroom.
"Are these sounds going to be loud enough to bother people in the other rooms? We probably don't want to have to explain what we're doing in here to the hotel manager." I asked worriedly. 'What the hell was going to go on in there?' I thought to myself.
"Just have your vampire friend glamour them if they get too curious. Should be easy enough for him to do. So, are we good?" Jesus asked he held onto the bathroom door waiting for the okay to close it and start his part of the plan.
"Wait, what ritual? And should we go to the bathroom now, you know, so we don't have to bother Jesus none later." Jason said, actually having a valid point even though he didn't know what we were talking about.
"You go first." I said to my brother as Jesus moved away so Jason could get by.
While Jason was in the bathroom, I asked in a soft voice so that only Jesus would hear, "Are you sure this is going to work?" I couldn't help but be a little nervous seeing as it would be my ass who would be attempting to fool the crazy Maenad by trying to pass myself off as Daphne.
"You haven't had much experience with witches or witchcraft, have you?" Jesus asked.
"No, and up until recently the only supernatural beings I knew about were vampires because they came out of the closet, but since they opened the door, it appears that there were a whole mess of creatures hiding in there with them. So much has happened recently that I don't even know why I'm surprised anymore when another one pops out at me." I replied honestly.
Jesus chuckled. "Yeah, there's a lot more out there than you could imagine. But, just like with humans, there are good supes and there are bad supes out there. You'll get better at figuring out the difference."
"It'd be a whole lot easier if someone would be so kind as to give me a handbook on it though, kinda like Supernaturals for Dummies." I said with a huff. 'Maybe they could even put an entry in there for what I was. That'd be real nice.' I thought to myself.
"Even I could use that." Jesus said with a smile before adding, "But anyway, I understand your concern about the potion. I want you to know that I wouldn't have even mentioned it if I didn't feel with 100% of my being that it would work. I learned from the best, my grandfather. Our magic is old and it is powerful. But you are powerful as well. I can feel it. It runs through you unlike anyone I've met before."
I was going to ask him more about that before Jason came out of the bathroom with a sheepish look on his face. "You might want to wait a few before you go in there."
"Awwww Jason! Really!" I said with a disgusted look on my face. Jesus just smiled and shook his head.
"Well, what was I supposed to do? I needed to do my business." Jason defended himself.
"Look, it's alright, really. A few minutes isn't going to make or break anything." Jesus said calmly.
"See, everything's okay. Now, is there anything that I need to do to get ready for tomorrow night? You still need to fill me in on what's going on." Jason excitedly reminded me of my promise to keep him in the loop. It warmed my heart that he was so eager to help, but concerned me as well because he had no flipping clue the danger that Maryann posed. I knew he didn't because if he did, he definitely wouldn't be Mr. Eager Beaver.
And so I told him about the plan for the switcheroo potion, but left out the part about Sam turning into a bull. Jason didn't know that Sam was a shifter and it wasn't my place to out him to my brother. Thankfully Jesus didn't say anything either.
"So what's my part? What do I do?" Jason asked excitedly, like he was getting ready to go deer hunting with Hoyt, except this time the game was the rare, wild and elusive Maenad.
"Jason, I need you to stay here with the kids." I said awkwardly. I knew that was the last thing he wanted to do, but I needed to keep him and the kids safe. Also, he didn't have any special skill set (cough cough wasn't a supernatural being cough cough) and certainly wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, so I could only assume that he'd be easy picking's for the Maenad to mind control. I couldn't let that happen either.
"What! Naw! You can't leave me on babysitting duty again! That's bullshit!" He said angrily while stomping around the room. 'Maybe he needs the babysitter.' I thought to myself as I watched his mini tantrum.
"Look Jason, this isn't going to be like one of your hunts with Hoyt. This Maenad can control minds. She's made the town go crazy. You saw what she did to Tara and I can't even get into what was going on in Tara's mind. Eric tried to attack her and almost met the true death, and he's got vampire strength. If you can stand there and tell me what you can do to bring that bitch down, then by all means do it. But, if you can't, then you're going to stay here and keep the kids safe… here." I went off on him because I really just needed him to understand that there was nothing he could do, and not because I wanted him to feel like he was useless, but because it was the god's honest truth.
Jason stood there silently stewing as he took in my words. Worried that he took them the wrong way, I added, "Jason, honestly, I don't even want to be heading into this situation, but the Maenad is looking for someone that's two natured and I unfortunately fit that bill. You're my brother and you have such a good heart. I know you want to help. But please trust me when I say that the best way for you to help is to stay here where I know that you are at least safe and the kids are safe too."
Jason sighed before asking, "You're sure… there's nothing that I can't help with?"
"We're really trying to fly under radar with this Jason, so the less people we have going in, the better." I replied with a small tentative smile. "Not to mention, Lafayette, Tara, Jesus, they're all going to stay here at the hotel as well. It's won't just be you."
Jason's face seemed to soften a bit at hearing that it wasn't just going to be him staying behind at the hotel. "You're a heck of a lot smarter than me sis. So I guess I'll have to trust your judgment on this one. You had my back in Dallas. I'll guess I'll have to trust your instincts here then too." He finally relented, thankfully.
"Thanks Jason." I replied as I gave him a big hug.
"I think I'll try my luck in the bathroom now." Jesus said as he grabbed his stuff, entered the bathroom and shut the door, to do exactly what was anyone's guess.
Jason and I just sat back down on one of the beds, no more words needed between us, and watched the rest of Spongebob Squarepants as we picked off what was left of the food on the tray.
…
Eric was on the elevator on his way up to Arabella's room when his phone pinged that special sound that meant he was receiving an urgent text. 'Shit.' He thought to himself as he exited the elevator with the witch's items and looked at his phone. The message was from Pam.
Get your ass back here ASAP. The Magister is on his way. Guess what he wants to talk about.
"Shit!" This time he said it out loud. He knew something was up when his Queen had arrived looking for her money, but the Magister. This shit was getting too deep. He hoped that Pam was as thorough as she needed to be with getting rid of all traces of V in Fangtasia. The Magister had his… ways… of knowing things. The place needed to be beyond immaculate. If he was successful in wrangling out of whatever the Magister had in store, he knew he was going to have to pay a visit to his queen and find out what the fuck is up with her.
However, even though the Magister was no joke, he knew he needed to give the items and information on the party to Arabella so they could deal with the Maenad even if he couldn't. So, he rushed a vampire speed to the door and knocked, truthfully a little harder than he had meant to, anger over the Magister taking hold.
…
I looked through the keyhole to find out who was banging on the door so hard. It was Eric and he looked pissed. I hesitated to open the door at first, because any sane person would think twice about opening the door for an angry vampire. But, I saw he had a bag in his hands, which could only be one thing… the stuff that we needed to get rid of the Maenad. I figured maybe he had a run in with someone in town while getting the stuff, or maybe he was just annoyed to have to be an errand boy, but no matter the reason for his anger, we needed that bag. So, I took a deep breath and opened the door slowly, hoping for the best.
Eric saw the apprehension on Arabella's beautiful face when she cracked the door open. He could understand her hesitancy, seeing as he did nearly take the door down with his banging. It was then that he also realized that his face was probably reflecting the fury over his situation with the Magister. He didn't want to needlessly scare her, so he reeled in his anger and said calmly, "I didn't mean to alarm you with the banging; may I come in?"
He seemed to have calmed down, so I opened the door wider and moved my arm to indicate that he could come on in.
When he got into the room, he noticed some of the group was missing. "Where are the shifter and the witch?"
"Sam took the kids to sleep in another room and Jesus is in the bathroom doing some ritual in order to make the potion. Oh, he wanted me to knock when you arrived." I said as I walked over to the bathroom door and knocked on it. To be honest, I was pretty curious about what was going on in there because there were definitely strange sounds coming from the bathroom. Thankfully we hadn't had any visits from any hotel staff about it, yet.
I waited a second to see if Jesus would open the door, and he did, much to my horror. As the door opened, it revealed that his face had transformed into something that looked more like a mask, a twisted evil looking mask. His ears had thickened and elongated and he had some sort of bone things coming out from his nose. He teeth looked razor sharp and his face seemed to be tattooed in tribal-looking markings of green, red and white. I froze in my spot upon seeing him in that state while Jason, who was sitting on one of the beds fell off in surprise. "What the fuck?" Jason exclaimed scared out of his wits.
Eric flashed over to me at vampire speed, quickly shielding me from what he thought was a danger to me, baring his fangs and hissing at Jesus.
Jesus just pointed to the bag, ignoring Jason and my frightened looks and the fighting stance Eric was in. In fact, Jesus didn't seem fazed by any of it at all, nor did he seem to be able to talk with his face being as distorted as it was right now.
Eric, seeing the gesture and the fact that nothing else had happened, handed the bag over to the witch, who promptly grabbed the bag and shut the bathroom door again.
"That was fucked-up. That's some fucked-up shit right there." Jason said out loud the words I was thinking as he stood up from behind the bed, pointing at the bathroom door.
"Witches have the power to do some extremely powerful things. It's normally best not to associate with them." Eric said after clicking his fangs back, looking directly into my eyes. Something told me that he had some run-ins with some not so nice witches in the past. However, even with the grotesque face, my gut instinct told me that Jesus was not a bad witch. Although, it would have been nice if he could have warned us about his little beauty transformation ahead of time. I couldn't help but wonder if that was his real face or the one I met him with.
Switching gears, I asked, "So, did you find out where the party is going to be?"
"Yes." Eric replied simply, too simply. 'Ugh, this is going to be bad news, I can feel it.' I thought to myself as he obviously was stalling.
"Aaaannnndddd?" I asked, wishing he'd just come out and say where it was going to be.
"Your house." He finally replied with a sigh.
"My house? No. That can't be right." I said, as I obviously was having a slight case of denial.
"That bitch is using my family's home for this… this… whatever the hell this is? Oh, she messing with the wrong people!" Jason said, pumping his chest, going full Jersey Shore on us.
Looking at Eric though, with the seriousness on his face, I knew that he wasn't lying. "Do I really want to know what's going on there?" I asked dejectedly, because sometimes, it's just better not to know, I'm beginning to learn.
"No. You'll see for yourself tomorrow night." He said as he placed his hands on her shoulders, wanting to pull her close for an embrace. But he didn't. He knew he had to take things slow with her; earn her trust back, because when he got her back, he wanted it to be forever. He continued, "I know that you all will do fine tomorrow night and will defeat these Maenads. You have an unbelievable knack for working yourself out of sticky situations. I have faith that you'll get out of this one fine as well."
"Why am I getting the feeling that you won't be there to help tomorrow night?" I asked, wondering where this speech of his was coming from.
"I honestly don't know if I will be able to or not. Something's come up that I have to deal with and I don't know how long it will take." Eric said cryptically, but honestly.
I wrestled my shoulders out of his light grip and huffed back at him, "I should have known you'd find a way out of this." I was pissed that he, yet again, wouldn't be there for me. At least he had the decency to tell me first this time.
He knew that she was disappointed and pissed, so he said, "Arabella, I brought back the stuff you needed, let you know the location of the event, I should have actually been heading elsewhere five minutes ago instead of heading here, but I came, so that I could fulfill my promise to you that I would bring those things to you. I don't make promises that I can't keep and right now, I can't promise that I will be there tomorrow night, but I will promise you this, if I can't be there I will send someone else in my place to help. You won't be alone."
I rolled my eyes and sighed, because I couldn't fault him for what he said. "Fine. But whatever you have going on better be just as shitty as this Maenad situation. I don't want to hear in two weeks that you had run off and judge a tini-bikini mud-wrestling contest or some shit like that instead of helping here."
Eric chuckled and replied, "If only it was, but no. No tini-bikini mud-wrestling contest for me." Then he turned serious and said, "Be safe out there and have faith in all your talents." I knew that he meant my blue light special and telekinesis. They were the only things that worked against the Maenad in our last confrontation with her.
"Eric, are you in a lot of trouble?" I asked softly as it finally dawned on me that maybe he had some extra special shit to deal with right now as well.
"That still remains to be seen." Eric replied, leaning in ever so slightly, before backing up and bolting out the door in a flash. He wanted to hold her, to kiss her, just in case something didn't work out on either of their ends, but he knew if he did, he wouldn't be able to leave, and the reality of his situation was that he needed to. The Magister waited for no one.
…
Eric arrived outside the door of Fangtasia in no time at all to find the parking lot empty, save for his car, Pam's, and a large black SUV with a license plate that read 'THE LAW'. 'Great, the Magister is here already.' He thought to himself. And so, knowing that he may not get another chance to do so, he quickly sent off one text to Blackburn, to warn him of what may be heading his way, knowing that his friend would then warn the other sheriffs as well. None of the sheriffs in Louisiana needed to fall for the Queen's folly. After shooting off that message, he then sent another, very important, text, one that he was hoping would bring aid to Arabella if he could not. After he was done, he walked in with his head held high and his trademark swagger, bracing for the worst.
"Mr. Northman, how nice of you to finally grace us with your presence." The Magister bellowed from across the room, daring to sit on Eric's throne on the stage while flanked by four of his elite squad. Anger flashed across Eric's face for the briefest of moments, before it was quickly replaced with neutral indifference. It was obvious the Magister was trying to get a reaction out of Eric. Eric however wasn't about to play into his little trap, no matter how insulting it was for that little asshole bureaucrat to sit in his chair, HIS THRONE!
"My apologies Magister. I am having some issues with a Maenad in my area and had to take care of some things in relation to that. It took a little longer than expected." Eric replied with a bowed head, giving this little shithead reverence that wasn't due.
"Ahhhh Maenads; what bitches they are to deal with. Oh it's all right Mr. Northman. Your progeny filled me in on that tidbit. Better to pay them their tribute and let them pass through than actually deal with them though. I'm curious, why are you dealing with her?" The Magister asked, leaning forward, trying to look more threatening. Speaking of his progeny, Eric couldn't help but wonder, where was Pam right now?
"I was looking into another matter in the town that the Maenad is currently occupying. She attacked me. She is very old and I believe has gone off the rails, even for a Maenad." Eric explained, deliberately leaving holes that he hoped the Magister would fill in with his own surmises. Nothing he said however was a lie.
"She attacked you, and you lived? How did that happen?" The Magister asked astounded. From what he knew of Maenads, if one wanted you dead, you were pretty much dead.
Eric had to be careful here. He couldn't tell the Magister about Arabella. "The Maenad is interested in the two natured. I believe that she is interested in a shifter currently. That being said, after she attacked me, she was distracted by something, which took her attention off of me. She may have caught wind of the shifter being nearby. I don't know, nor did I care at the time. But in that time that she left me, I was able to heal." Eric said, again technically telling the truth, but with LOTS of holes.
"Luck was definitely on your side there, Mr. Northman. Well, enough about that. I'm actually here tonight to discuss some very disturbing information I've come across about activities going on in your area." The Magister began what Eric knew was coming. "News has spread that V sales have been on the increase, especially in your neck of the woods Mr. Northman, so much so that you're on the verge of becoming the V capital of the world. What do you have to say about that?"
"I have come across the same information Magister. In fact, that was the matter I was looking into. It seems that a trio of vampires, nestmates if you will, have not only been wrecking havoc in the human and vampire communities, but also selling V to fund their debauchery. I was going to deal with them tonight after taking care of this Maenad business. If you would care to join me, we can go together and you can see for yourself what I have uncovered." Eric replied, daring the Magister to come along for the ride.
"Well, I always did enjoy a good goose hunt. Let's get to it Mr. Northman. The night's not getting any younger." The Magister said as he tapped his silver tipped cane onto the ground three times. Eric thought it strange, but didn't think much more of it.
So, Eric flew out the door, the Magister at his coattails, and hoped to Odin that Liam, Malcolm and Diane hadn't found the V that Lafayette had planted in their nest.
…
Eric led the Magister directly to the trio's nest. He didn't know if they'd be home, considering all the bullshit going on with the Maenad right now, but he hoped they would be. Better to get this shit done in one fell swoop.
"What a shithole." The Magister said in disgust. "What self-respecting vampire, let alone three would live in such a pathetic looking hovel? If they're selling V, the money's definitely not going to their nest."
Eric balked at the Magister noticing the obvious before saying, "You know there are many other ways that vampires can choose to spend their money."
"True." The Magister relented before adding, "But are they looking to get staked?"
Eric didn't have a comeback for that as he looked upon the sad excuse of a nest. The lawn had been severely overlooked; weeds overtaking what used to be a grass covered front lawn, some as high as three feet. Then there was the house itself. The house couldn't have looked any plainer or ill kept. The plain beige siding on the plain rectangular house was peeling and in desperate need of paint. A couple of the wooden steps leading to the front door were missing and the porch light was hanging by an exposed wire. As for the windows, those were all painted black, probably in their attempt to light tight their nest. It was obvious that the vampires cared nothing for curb appeal, to say the least. They also didn't seem to care that it was obvious that vampires lived there, what with the car they had parked in front with the license plate that read 'FANGER'. 'Idiots.' Eric thought to himself. 'It's one thing to be brazen, but this is utter stupidity.'
And so, Eric didn't reply to the Magister's comment, but instead knocked on the front door. To his relief, Diane answered, wearing nothing but a blood covered ripped lace negligee and a smile.
"Sheriff Northman… And you brought a guest as well. To what do we owe the honor? Won't you come in?" Diane said before licking blood off of her fingers like she was licking a lollipop. Eric could only guess by her friendly demeanor that either they ditched the V already, they had no clue that it was in their nest, were incredibly confident or incredibly stupid. He wasn't surprised though that they didn't recognize the Magister; they'd only been in Louisiana for a couple of months and hadn't gone before him, yet. However they would know the name.
Eric and the Magister walked into the decrepit house only to find that the inside looked even worse. Lafayette wasn't exaggerating when he described the nest. These three had definitely gone primal.
"Hey Diane, who's that?" Malcolm asked as he and Liam entered the room, both clearly coming from their dinner.
"You remember Sheriff Northman, don't cha boys. I don't know his friend though." Diane said, giving the Magister the side eye.
"Oh, how rude of me. This is the Magister. Magister, this is Liam McKnight, Malcolm Beaumarchais and the ever lovely Diane Hardwicke." Eric said with a grin that brought shivers to the three nestmates.
"Well, this is… unexpected… to say the least. Won't you sit down? We have a nice AB negative that's sure to wet your whistle, I know he wets mine." Malcolm said with a slight New Orleans creole accent, nervously. He knew that their antics were getting noticed, but he never thought the Magister would notice them. He wondered just how fucked they were. He was about to find out.
"Well, we don't intend to stay too long. Do you mind if we take a look around?" The Magister asked with his own sinister smile. He knew that the answer would of course be 'No, don't mind at all' because no one said no to his requests.
Malcolm looked nervously at Diane and Liam before replying, "Why of course not Magister. By all means." After which the three stood off to the side to allow Eric and the Magister room to walk around.
Eric figured that it would be a bad idea for him to find the V, because it would definitely look like a set up. He would just have to look like he was fishing for the V and hope that the Magister actually found it. He knew where Lafayette had hidden the stash though, just in case.
The Magister and Eric then started to walk around the decrepit house, Eric sort of meandering around where Lafayette had hidden the stash in hopes that the Magister would take interest over there. But strangely enough, the Magister seemed to have interest on the other end of the house, causing the three nestmates to look more and more concerned. 'What are they hiding?' Eric thought to himself.
The Magister stopped milling about, having caught a whiff of something. He looked down at the area-carpet covered floor. Something wasn't right about it. There was a circular object jutting underneath. He pulled back the rug to find a circular iron pull attached to a door in the floor. Once he did that, Malcolm flew over to the Magister in attack mode, along with Diane and Liam. They obviously didn't want whatever was down there to be found. But, whatever it was, it was worth it to them to attack the Magister.
The Magister, who was hundreds of years older than Malcolm, easily took out the younger vampire by staking him through the heart with his silver tipped cane. Malcolm almost instantly fell to the floor in a pile of goo. Eric came to the Magister's aid by quickly ripping out the hearts of Diane and Liam. As old as the Magister was, Eric was even older than him. These three never had a chance.
"Well Mr. Northman, let's find out what these three idiots didn't want us to see." The Magister said as he yanked the iron pull up.
What was down there surprised the hell out of Eric. There were two vampires lying in the crawlspace, silvered and being drained by, if the description was accurate, Jason Stackhouse's crazy ex Amy. Eric didn't believe in miracles, but he was open to the idea right now that they do indeed exist.
"They made me do it! Those vampires, they made me do it!" Amy yelled up at Eric and the Magister. She knew who Eric was. She'd been to Fangtasia before and knew his status as Sheriff. And now, she knew her goose was cooked.
The Magister flew down to the crawlspace, unsilvered and decatherized the two vampires before grabbing Amy by the throat and slamming her against the dirt floor. Once he knew she was immobilized there, he began to glamour her.
"How long have you been draining vampires?" He asked with spite.
"A little over a year." She replied, entranced in his glamour.
"Here in this town?" He asked, wondering how Northman wouldn't have figured that out before now.
"No." She replied.
"Then where?" He asked, agitated again.
"All over the state of Louisiana." She replied honestly.
"How long have you been doing it here?" He asked.
"About a couple of months." She replied.
The Magister thought about her response and concluded that the timeframe coincided with the increase in Northman's area. He had thought at first that the Sheriff may have been complacent in the distribution of V in his area, but now, it would appear that he was doing his job. It would take a little while for anyone to notice it was occurring.
Eric couldn't believe his good fortune at this turn of events. Unfortunately though, because of his own selling of V, these three were able to slip under the radar, of even him. That was disconcerting to say the least, but for now he would take it as a blessing of sorts as it would get him out of hot water with the Magister.
The two vampires who were being drained started to stir and as they did, the Magister said to Amy, "You are of no further use to me as I have gotten all I need from you. As for the two vampires that you attempted to drain, well, I believe that they could use you right now."
And with that, the two vampires both clicked their fangs in anticipation of feeding off of the human who tried to end their existence. Amy screamed out as they plunged their fangs into her harshly, sucking her dry within seconds due to their excessive need for blood at the moment.
When they were done exacting their revenge on Amy, the two vampires joined Eric and the Magister in the living room of the nest.
"Thank you Magister and Sheriff. If you two hadn't come, we'd have met the true death for sure." The female vampire said.
"Do you recognize these vampires Sheriff?" The Magister asked Eric, curious about how well he maintained his area.
"Yes, this vampire is Marley and the other is her mate Kurt. They have frequented Fangtasia many times and are vampires in good standing." Eric said as he looked at the two, wondering how this all came about.
"Is that true?" The Magister asked the two.
"Yes Magister." They both replied.
"And how is it that you found yourselves in this situation?" The Magister asked truly curious. These three vampires didn't seem to be too swift and the human that was assisting them didn't seem much smarter.
"There's a Maenad wrecking havoc in our town. She's controlling all the humans here and it was making it difficult to find meals nearby. So, we had been going into Shreveport for our meals, but when Malcolm had invited us over saying that they had a few willing humans at their disposal for feedings, we figured we'd stop by and see what they had. They silvered us once we entered their nest and you saw the rest." Kurt answered.
It was all the Magister needed to hear. "Go home." He said simply to the two vampires who didn't need to be told twice. They quickly left, wanting to put the near true death experience behind them.
"Well Mr. Northman, it would appear that you have been doing your job in keeping order and protecting the sanctity of the blood. It seems that this Maenad has indeed been a problem. What do you intend to do about that?" The Magister asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Things are in motion to put an end to her as we speak." Eric replied, elusively.
"Good. I want to hear that she is gone by the end of the week." The Magister demanded, like there would be nothing to it.
"Of course Magister." Eric replied knowing that the Maenad would probably be gone within the week, whether she was destroyed or not. Once she did her ceremony tomorrow night, she would either end up dead at the hands of Arabella or Sam or their plan would have failed. But either way, her god would be nowhere to be found. And if she survived, she would probably head off to another town to wreck havoc there starting yet again her futile search for her god that never comes.
"As for this abomination, we will burn this nest down to the ground with everything in it. With everything going on in this town, no one will even begin to ask what happened here." The Magister said as he walked into the kitchen to find something to ignite the place.
"That is a sound plan Magister." Eric said.
The Magister found some matches in a drawer and walked back into the living room. "I would suggest you go outside now Mr. Northman."
Eric immediately bolted out the door. He was soon followed by the Magister, who had set the living sofa on fire. It didn't take long for the entire house to go up in flames. Once the two of them were convinced that the place was sufficiently destroyed, they flew back to Fangtasia.
…
When the two arrived back at Eric's club, the Magister commanded, "Follow me Mr. Northman."
Eric didn't know where this was going, but he had not choice but to follow the Magister's instructions, especially since the four elite squad members he left behind were still there. "Yes Magister." He said calmly. He didn't want to appear to be nervous. Nervousness always looked like guilt of something.
The Magister walked Eric to the back of the club and then onward down the stairs, to Eric's basement, or more to the point, Eric's dungeon. 'This isn't good.' Eric thought to himself.
Once they entered the basement, Eric's anger took over. "What's the meaning of this?" Eric yelled out as he saw Pam being restrained by two elite squad members that Eric didn't even know were down there.
"Oh Mr. Northman, this was just insurance, in case I found you to be less than cooperative, or trustworthy. It's always good to have an ace in the hole, isn't it? But it doesn't matter anyway. Since you've proven that you were indeed doing your job and have taken care of the situation, your child will be released. No hard feelings I trust?" The Magister replied, clearly enjoying toying with them.
Eric reigned in his anger, albeit it took a brief moment, before replying, "No Magister."
"Well this has been fun. Am I free to go now?" Pam asked the Magister, trying as best as she could to not look completely put out.
"Yes, you are free to go. And, Mr. Northman, I expect to hear about that Maenad situation." The Magister said before motioning for his men to follow him up the stairs.
"Of course Magister." Eric replied as he and Pam followed up the stairs.
After the Magister and his men had exited Fangtasia and left the area, Eric motioned for Pam to follow him outside the club.
"Are you alright? Did they hurt you? I didn't feel any pain from you." Eric asked, concerned for his child and angry that the Magister was playing fucking mind games with them.
"All those dickless wonders did was deprive us of our profits from tonight and me personally of a well deserved brunette with glorious breasts. Other than that, I'm fine." Pam replied, trying to keep up a calm, cool, and collected front, but Eric knew better.
"You did good Pam. You cleaned up the place, dealt with Lafayette, and you were extremely smart and brave tonight." Eric began.
"Brave? Pft…what was there to be brave about, they were nothing." Pam replied cockily.
"Pam… the Magister may be a colossal asshole, but he is no one to be fucked with. Just take the compliment." Eric said earnestly.
Pam wasn't used to hearing these kinds of words from her Maker, as he didn't hand out compliments often, usually keeping their banter light and fluffy, and so upon hearing them it started to sink in just how bad the situation could have been. But she had tried to play off that she wasn't scared; like it was no big deal, like everything else they've encountered. But, in reality she was scared shitless. Seeing that she was about to cry as she was finally allowing the feeling to creep in, that she was scared, Eric pulled her into his arms and gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead.
"I knew you'd come for me, but…" Pam started to say before Eric cut in.
"I will always come for you my child." Eric said with conviction.
Pam nodded in understanding before Eric added, "I'm sure The Magister had the place bugged, so until Bobby can do a thorough search of the premises, no talk of V or anything else that could prick up the ears of the Magister, understood?"
"Do you think I want to deal with that asshole again? He's already cost me one dinner. I'll be damned if he takes another from me." She replied with her signature smirk.
"That's my girl." Eric replied as his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and groaned. Answering, he said, "My Queen?"
"Eric, it is my understanding that you met with the Magister tonight." Sophie-Anne said, fishing for information.
"Yes." Eric replied, wanting to make her sweat it out. After all, she placed him in this asinine situation anyway.
"Annnnddd?" She asked anxiously.
"Everything is in order here. He was satisfied with what he found." Eric replied cryptically, on purpose.
"Will he be making a pit stop here?" She asked, now nervous. She didn't know if Eric had ratted her out or not.
"He didn't mention where he was heading next." Eric said, thoroughly enjoying the thought of her squirming in her throne.
"Goddamn it Eric, I am your Queen! What does he know?" She now was yelling into the phone, clearly losing her shit.
"He now knows that three loathsome vampires were responsible for V sales in Area 5. They were taken care of tonight by him and myself. The situation has been contained." Eric now gave her the information she so desperately wanted to hear.
"Excellent! Now that the situation is taken care of, you will come to my nest tomorrow night to discuss… things." Sophie-Anne commanded.
"Can this wait until the weekend? I'm still dealing with that Maenad." He asked, not holding his breath, knowing how impatient she could get.
"I am your Queen and nothing takes precedence over my needs, not even some shitty back-ass red-neck town. You will come tomorrow!" She yelled into the phone before doing a 180 and saying sweetly, "I'll make it worth your while."
The timing couldn't have been worse, but he knew that he needed to meet with her sooner than later anyway. He needed to find out what the hell was going on with her before she put him, his child and the other sheriffs of her kingdom in danger again. "I will be there my Queen." He replied evenly.
"Good. I will see you tomorrow night then." She replied before hanging up.
After she hung up, Eric noticed that he had received a response to his important text from before. Relief washed over him as he read the reply.
"What about the Maenad Eric? And Arabella?" Pam asked wondering what was going on with that bullshit.
"I believe that the Maenad will be taken care of tomorrow night." He simply replied.
"And Arabella?" She asked in regards to her favorite breather.
"She has an incredible knack for survival. I think she'll do just fine." Eric replied, realizing now just how much faith he had in her and her instincts.
"I hope so, because I don't have any faith in the pathetic band of misfits that did their ho stroll into our bar." Pam said with a wrinkled nose, as if she could still smell the stench of those little 'tea cup' humans, as Eric put it. Then it dawned on her, "Wait, you're not going to send me into that hot mess, are you?"
As much as it pained Eric to admit it, those pathetic creatures probably were better equipped to handle the Maenad than he could, as witnessed by his near true death experience when he tried to attack her. He decided to not get into that with his child though and just answer her question, "No, I need you to run the bar tomorrow night. Someone else will be coming to assist."
"Good. Because if I was going to have to lose another pair of shoes to that nasty-ass creature, it was going to be up her ass after I kicked it!" She replied as they both walked back into Fangtasia for the night.
…
There I lay now in bed, trying to sleep but not being able to, reflecting on the night, worrying about tomorrow night and wishing I had a crystal ball. We had a plan in place, whether it would work or not was anyone's guess, but it was the only one we could come up with. Were we screwed… probably. But, who else was going to come and save our town? If we were to involve normal police channels, they probably would've just assumed the town was high on something and treat everyone like criminals. These people didn't deserve that.
Reflecting further on the night, I thought about how effortlessly I slipped back into an easy rapport with Eric, and it worried me. Before he left the room, I could've sworn he was leaning in to kiss me, and as I lay here, I could honestly say that I don't know if I would've resisted. 'What's wrong with me?' I thought to myself shaking my head. He confused me to no end. He appeared to care, but then in Dallas he said he was using me. I wondered, 'Is it possible to feel so deeply for someone and they not feel the same?' But then I thought about Sam and his unrequited longing for Sookie. So I made the decision here and now to try to distance myself from Eric after this Maenad thing was over. I wasn't going to fall to his charms again, not without some sort of proof that he really cared.