Thank you so much to all those who liked, favorited and followed my story! A special thank you to those who reviewed! I've never had this many reviews for a chapter! I greatly appreciate you taking the time to do so! It gives me warm fuzzy feelings inside! I wish I could hug you all!
This is kind of an in between chapter. We'll being seeing our favorite vampire really soon! ;-)
I leaned against the counter-top with one hand under my chin, staring at the computer screen. I loved my job, but this was the hardest part of it, deciphering the doctors' hieroglyphics into some semblance of a message. I've been working at this small hospital for a few months now, I liked how smooth the job was going thus far. I got along with everyone at this small pharmacy pretty well. I wasn't "bff's" with anyone just yet. The pay sure made the three straight years of school, with pretty much no summer or winter breaks, worth it.
After graduating from school and taking the boards, my father had offered me a job at the hospital he worked for. Instead, I found a residency at this hospital and took it. My mother was distraught by this decision and kicked me out of the house immediately. I found a small apartment nearby the facility and moved in. Since then, my mother and I made up for the most part. She saw that I was happy where I worked but that didn't stop her from bringing up the fact I choice another hospital over "her".
The hospital that I currently worked for could only afford to have a few pharmacy techs on staff. Sometimes when they worked the floor, delivering the patient's bedside medications. When this happened, I would have to make IV's. Honestly, that was my favorite part. There was something relaxing about drawing up doses and injecting them into an IV bag. It was one of the only places where you could just be alone in your own world on the job. Unfortunate for myself, the current state of the hospital was slow. Our patient count was down and so I hadn't gotten a chance to go into the hood to made an IV.
Presently the tech, Joana, was in the hood making IV's, while I got to decipher. What I wouldn't give to trade places with her at this moment. We were one of the only hospitals in the area that hadn't switched over to an electronic system for doctors to input their orders. Most of the time it wasn't a problem. But every now and again, we got a doctor who quickly wrote something that looked like a three-year-old scribbled with a crayon over the paper. Today it was Dr. Rahaja on the floor, drawing on paper. I could make out an order for a CBC and an MRI scan for an CCU patient. The other half of the order, which was the only part that was pertained to the pharmacy, I could see he wanted me to input the start of some IV medication. The medication was a bit of a mystery; I could make out an "e" in the beginning of the name but the rest looked like a wavy line that attempted letters. I was going to have to call the floor for a clarification, hopefully Dr. Rahaja was still there. That was another thing I hated doing, calling the physician to see what they ordered. Most of the time they were nice about it, but this particular doctor was an asshole and "how dare I not understand his order, a child could read what he wrote" was how he usually responded to the phone call. I was half tempted to have the nurse one the floor do it for me.
I felt a buzz in my pocket, I sighed and mentally thanked the caller from giving me a break from my computer screen. I pulled out my cell and looked at the screen. When things were slow my boss wasn't too picky about us being on our cells, as long as it didn't interrupt our work flow too much. I didn't recognize the phone number as a whole but the area code was vaguely familiar. I pressed the "talk" button on just below the "touch" screen on the phone and answered, "Hello?"
"Adriane?" The voice was familiar too, with feminine soft southern accent.
"Speaking, who is this?"
"Adriane, it's me…Sookie," She sounded drained over the phone, almost like she hadn't gotten any sleep recently.
"Oh my God! Sookie, I'm sorry I thought I had your number saved in my phone," I apologized as I mentally I scolded myself for not inputting her number into my new phone. Which was a piece of shit, I was missing my flip phone at the moment.
"I'm calling from my house phone that may be why?" Sookie answered.
"Oh, so what's up? How have you been?"
"I've been okay. A bit tied up at work. How have you been? It's been a few years."
"Well I finished school and I'm working at one of the Cleveland Clinic's hospitals. Otherwise I've been okay. It's really great to hear from you though!"
"It's great to hear from you too…" There was a pause in after that statement. Maybe trying to think of a segue into the next conversation. The reason why she was calling.
Deciding to make it easier on her I pushed, "So what's going on?"
"Well I'm calling because something happened."
"What happened? Is everyone okay?"
"Well do you remember Maudette Pickens?"
Drawing a blank on the face I replied, "The name sounds familiar..."
"Well they found her dead a few days ago…" There was a pause over the phone and a soft sniffle. She was trying to hide that she was crying, "We just found Dawn this morning, she's gone too."
"Oh my God, what happened?"
"They were strangled to death. They don't know who has done it. But it looks like it might be the same person."
"A serial killer in Bon Temps?" That seemed almost impossible for the small mostly friendly town I remember, "Are they having a funeral for them?"
"Yeah, they're coming up soon. But Adriane…Beth is missing."
I felt my heart drop.
"What?" Was all I could say. Beth is missing? "Has anyone seen her?" I realized the question was stupid as soon as it left my mouth. If she was missing then no one had seen her, I just couldn't think straight right now. Beth? Missing? How?
"No one has seen her in the last few days. Sam went over to her place and nothing was missing, but the door was unlocked and she wasn't there. He said it looked like she just disappeared."
"When was the last time she showed up for work?" My mind ran with some of the worst possibilities. Beth lying in a ditch on the side of the road. Beth strangled to death in a basement. Beth drained of all her blood from some blood sucking fiend.
"Well she doesn't work at Merlotte's anymore. She went to work for an accountant group in Shreveport. But she was supposed to meet up with a few of us last night after work to celebrate her new job."
I couldn't say anything. Beth was missing? Did someone kill her? I felt a warmth and sting rise behind my eyes as a tear escaped. She was my best friend from childhood. Yeah, we didn't leave off on the best of terms but she was still my friend. The last thing I said to her was "fuck you" and to never call. I felt horrible. I can't believe I said that. I'm a horrible person. She didn't deserve that. She was my basically part of my family and now…she was gone. Family forgives each other. If she was dead than I'd never be able to say "I'm sorry". Wait, hold on there, Adriane, she wasn't dead…just missing. My God, I could recall some of my favorite childhood memories with her always being there. Like when we spent half the day digging up worms in her backyard, and waited for her dad to come home to take us fishing.
"Adriane? Are you still there?"
"I'll be down there as soon as I can. I'll help you guys look," I said without thinking.
"You don't have to. You have an important job."
"It's not that important. There are other people who can cover me. Beth…Beth was-is my friend," I caught myself using past tense, we don't know if she is dead just yet…she's missing…she's only missing, only missing, "I'll help you guys look around."
"Okay."
"I'm sorry but I got to get off the phone and start making arrangements. I'll call you once I have them."
"I'm here if you need anyone to talk to, okay?"
"I'll keep you in mind. I'll be down there as soon as I can."
With that I hung up the phone. I got up from my desk and headed over to the pharmacy director's office. His office was attached to the pharmacy but tucked away in a corner. Where he spent most of the day on the phone or in meetings with other higher ups. The director was a kind, balding, middle aged man. He should be okay with my leaving for a while? I knocked on his door.
"Come in," A soft reply came from inside the room.
I opened the door and entered the room. Kyle was sitting behind his desk, doing the same thing I was, staring at the computer screen; though from him it looked like a spread sheet of some sort listing the prices of item. He looked away to see who had entered his office. Kyle was an older man, who lead a more sedentary lifestyle. He had kind eyes that reminded me of a loving parent, a look of disappointment from him always could make you feel like the worst person in the world. He never had to yell to get his employees to listen to him. I image he will be the best boss I will ever have.
"Adriane, is something wrong? You look a bit shaken," Kyle asked looking over his glasses at me.
"I just got off the phone with an old friend…one of my friends down south has gone missing," I stated, still feeling a little unstable from getting off the phone with Sookie. The more I said it, the more I thought it. The more real it became that Beth could be dead.
"I'm sorry to hear that," His eyes shown his sympathy.
"I'm here to ask if I could have some time off to help look for her."
He looked down, he was mulling it over. In the short time I have worked here; I haven't asked for a day off, took any sick time, and called off for any reason. I hoped he would just give it to me without any problems. I think I have a few sick days saved up, along with personal days. Hopefully he would just let me use them along with any vacation time. Then again he could not and I would have to leave right away and quit. Just like leaving Beth behind, for her to go and disappear.
"I'll see if anyone will be willing to cover for you for the rest of the week. We should have enough people here to be fine without you for a while," He said after a moment, I felt a weight rise off of my chest.
"Thank you so much! I really do appreciate it!" I exclaimed, I felt the tears well again behind my eyes.
"My sister went missing when we were kids. Spent a long time looking for her. We never did find her…I hope you find your friend. Go ahead and take the rest of the day."
"Thank you, sir. I'll call you at the end of the week," I said and left the office in a rush.
I got home as quickly as I could, I rushed into my apartment. Copper looked up from his nap on the couch, jumped off, and ran over towards me with that happy dog look. The beagle shepherd mix was a good boy, who was my cuddle buddy whenever I came home. He was the only roommate who always was happy to see me when I came home, even though he was my only roommate. I gave the dog a quick rub down before I ran into the bedroom. I made a mental note to call my mom to see if she would take care of him while I was gone. Grabbing clothes out my closet and throwing them into my travel bag, the dog whined behind me. It didn't matter what I was tossing into my suitcase, as long as I could have something comfortable that would combat the heat. I remember that hot summer I spent with Beth down there. I threw in my makeup kit, hair products, shower items. Everything a female would need for a road trip. Road trip…this isn't a vacation; this is a manhunt. I had to get down to Beth quick.
Within a few hours I was at the nearest airport buying a ticket, after my parent's agreed to take care of the beast (Copper). The next flight they had to get me to Louisiana would cross to Georgia before going to leave me in Shreveport with little to no layover, thank God. It's the closest I can get to Bon Temps as I can get without driving for almost 12 hours. I internally groaned at the price of the last minute tickets, but willingly paid. Finding Beth would be worth the price.
Six hours later I was in Shreveport waiting for Sookie to pull up in her yellow beater. I had called her before I got on the first plane to give her the heads up. I stood at the curb with my heavy bags, I don't know why I packed so much. I packed clothes I hadn't touched in years that I was surprised I still had. Was that me reminiscing and feeling guilty about leaving Beth by herself in a new area with few friends and no family? I left her alone, this is my fault she disappeared. The familiar burn behind my eyes started to happen as my eyes welled with tears. I shouldn't have left her alone; I should've stayed with her. I could have transferred to a new school down in the south. I bet there's pharmacy schools down here. Why did I have to go to the one closer to home? Beth was-is my family. Well at least she was, we hadn't spoken in years.
"Fuck you Bethany!" I sobbed as I brought fist up to my face to rub away the falling tears. Beth, I hope you are okay.
A pair of headlights shown in the dimming light of the sunset as I stood under the streetlight by the pickup zone. I sucked in a breath as I stifled my tears and once again wiped my face of the evidence. A few cars passed by. I sighed as I took a seat at the closest bench that was under the lamp. I wanted nothing more than to be hidden away, safe in a house with the approaching dark.
I did my best to be the progressive vampire lover but I just couldn't get there. The whole idea of vampires scared me. I loved my Anne Rice novels growing up, the realism next to the fantasy of Stephanie Meyers. Vampires sparkling, please. Vampires from Anne Rice novels were seductive and dark. Which is what the real life vampires are, obscure and enigmatic. Or at least that's what the conservative side of the media wanted us to believe. They continued to flood the news with vampire hate and how dangerous these blood sucking fiends are. I was more than happy to go along with that, there is nothing wrong with vampires but I certainly didn't want to be meeting one.
A honk of a car brought me out of my thoughts, I looked up towards the curb and there was Sookie. She was in the same yellow car that I remembered from a few years ago. I smiled as I picked up my suitcases and head towards her car. Sookie looked exactly the same as I remember, a gorgeous blonde with her welcoming smile.
"I didn't think you would still have this heap of junk!" I teased as I leaned into the open window of her car, noticing she was in the same uniform as last time, "Sam hasn't changed the uniform?"
"Hey don't diss it! It still runs! It gets me from A to B. And no, Sam hasn't changed the uniform," Sookie replied with a smile.
"Can you pop the trunk? I'll throw my stuff back there till we get to the hotel," I gestured toward the rear of the car.
"You are not staying at a hotel while you are here, you can stay with Gran and me while you're here."
There wasn't a point in arguing, Sookie would win anyways, "Thanks Sook."
"Your welcome, Adriane."
I heard the trunk "pop" and I picked up my items and took them to the trunk. After throwing them inside, I climbed into the passenger side of the car.
"How was your flight in?" Sookie questioned.
"Uneventful, which I'm grateful for. Thanks for picking me up."
"It's not a problem, a taxi to Bon Temps would be so expensive. Besides then I couldn't get the chance to have you spend the week with at my house, you would have told that cabby to take you right to the hotel. We all have missed you, I have to say that Jason was disappointed when you took off without saying goodbye."
I sighed and looked down at my lap, "I regret leaving the way I did. I should have resolved our fight before taking off."
Sookie hummed and put the car into gear, then took our leave of the airport. After a moment of silence, I didn't want to be alone in my thoughts again, I just had 6 hours of that; I didn't need anymore.
"How have you been Sookie?"
"Alright I guess, Merlotte's has been busy lately. Oh! I started seeing someone!"
"Please tell me it's Sam, please oh please tell me it's Sam! He's been hopelessly in love with you since he came here!"
Sookie laughed, "No! I can't date Sam! He's my boss, it wouldn't be appropriate! I've been seeing this new guy to town, well I guess old to town. He's been here since the beginning of Bon Temps!"
I felt the smile fall from my face fast, "You're seeing a vampire?"
"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"
"They're dangerous Sookie, they are manipulative. They have those eyes that hypnotize you."
"It called glamouring and it doesn't work on me. Did you know, you can't hear them when they think?" She ignored my first comment, she's probably heard that line a million times by this point I'd guess. Between Tara, Sam, and Arlene; I bet she's been lectured constantly.
"What do you mean?"
"Well the guy I'm seeing, Bill-" Sookie replied while I snorted at the name.
"That's not much of a vampire name. It's not Lestat or Armand or anything. But, vampire Bill, kinda has a ring to it, I guess."
"I know I said the same thing, but anyways. I asked him to glamour me one time and it didn't work."
"Wait you asked to be glamoured?"
"Yeah, I was curious what it was like."
"Sook, you are asking for trouble."
"Well he's nice and I knew he wouldn't do anything to hurt me. I trust him."
"How long have you been going out?"
"Not long, maybe a week or so."
"A week? You trust way to easily."
"Whatever, you didn't complain when we first met."
"Well we had that weird touch experience and you know I'm harmless. Besides the point, what do you mean that you can't hear their thoughts?"
Sookie took a breath, "Well exactly that. I can't hear them."
"How?"
"I don't know; Bill thinks it's because he's dead. Maybe their thought process isn't like ours."
"Well I can see how that's appealing." I replied as I leaned back in the seat, dazed, as I took in this extra information, "How nice it would be to let your guard down and not having to concentrate on constantly pushing them out."
"Maybe you can't hear them too?"
"It's a possibility…" I found myself zoning out while thinking about the prospect.
I could see Sookie's attraction to Bill if its only for that reason. While I have great control over my telepathy, there are those times that it's beyond my control. Most of the time I'm not scared of touching people, but still…there's those moments that I am scared. In thick crowds. Walking at the mall. Sookie. It'd be nice to not have to be scared of accidently brushing up against someone and hearing their most intimate thoughts. Then there's Sookie. Someone who can't just avoid touching people. She has to avoid people all together.
"I'm sorry, being around people can't be easy for you," I felt guilty and sorry for her. It must take so much energy out of her to not listen in on people. I have it so easy next to her. All I have to do is just not shake hands, give hugs, dodge physical contact. Here Sookie has a mental battle every second of every day to not listen in. If she was to actually evade people, she would have an extremely lonely life. Vampires would be highly appealing in that case, she wouldn't be alone and would get to relax.
"Eh, it's alright. I've lived with it for so long, it's just nice to have someone who is in the same boat as me. Even if it's not completely the same."
I hummed and looked as Sookie, who stared ahead at the road in front of us. She did have it a lot harder than myself. All I wanted to do was reach out and grab her shoulder in reassurance, even hug her. I couldn't bring myself to touch her, the thought of being "zapped" again was a bit much for me. If there was anyone I was scared to touch, it was Sookie. That touch from when we first met still haunts me. All that power wrapped inside of her. Even staring at her for one second to long, you could feel all of it roll off of her. There was a humming of power just under the surface, it even felt like she hadn't unlocked all of her's just yet. With any luck, Bill couldn't feel that. But if he could, I hope he wasn't using her for it.
"I know I can't get you to change your mind, but at least be careful with him. He may seem nice, but you don't know what kind of friends he has."
"Don't worry, Adriane. I will be," Sookie replied.
Feeling a little better about the situation, I decided to make a change to the topic to the reason I came back to Bon Temps, "Two girls dead and Beth, what happened to Bon Temps?"
"I know, it's a bit of a shocker. The last murder was years and years ago. Gran can't even remember. All we know is that, both Maudette and Dawn where found strangled. The only connection they can make is that both were involved with some vampires. They both had bite marks on their bodies."
"Nothing about Beth?"
"Arlene was the last one to see her. Beth was babysitting her kids while Arlene worked Thursday closing shift the day before she was missing. All of us were planning on celebrating her new job the next night. When she didn't show, we just figured that she was tired after her first week. When we called she didn't answer, so we just figured she forgot about meeting up. Sam went over the next day to see if everything was okay, she wasn't there. I found Dawn this morning too. But the police haven't turned anything up. They think the same person killed all three of them. Worst yet they think Jason did it."
"Jason? Jason couldn't kill anyone. He can have a temper but he's not a murderer."
"I know, but they have him locked up right now."
"Sookie, I'm sorry! That's terrible! Who thinks he did it?"
"Andy Bellefleur, he thinks that Jason did it. I think Sheriff Dearborne doesn't think that Jason didn't do it…Bill and I are gonna try to find proof that Jason didn't do it."
"How are you gonna do that? Where are you gonna start?"
"Both Maudette and Dawn have been seen at that bar in Shreveport. You know, Fangtasia."
"I remember Fangtasia. Beth was dying to go there when we came down. It was supposed to be the best vampire bar in the US," I grimaced. I hated that bar, it was the whole reason I left Bon Temps. The whole reason I came down the first time with Beth.
"Maybe Beth went there too?"
"I don't think she'd go alone, she hated going to new places alone."
"Well maybe she went with Dawn, the two became close after you left." Sookie stated coolly then quickly back peddled after hearing herself, "I'm sorry. I know you guys had a fight about going to that place when you came down from the north."
"It's alright, it's in the past," I waved it off.
"Anyways, Gran wanted me to listen around for the possible killer. I was hoping we could check out Fangtasia and give it a listen."
"What?! Sookie you can't be serious!" I was shocked. I can't believe that Sookie would suggest such a thing! Was she looking to get us killed! How could she just assume that I would go along with such a plan! She should have known by now how much I did not want to go there.
"I figured if it was the two of us, we both can listen around and see if we can find anything out."
"How? We would be useless if we both can't hear vampires!"
"Well vampires aren't the only ones who go there. Humans do too."
"If they are there, they are looking to die or be sex buddies with vampires," I pointed out.
"Not true."
"Have you ever been to a vampire bar?"
"No, but neither have you I'm assuming."
"True but look at the people they attract! You and I both know that Maudette and Dawn didn't exactly look for the usual partners in their sexual exploits," I exclaimed looking at Sookie, "Look, if you decide to do this. I will not go with you."
"Okay that's fine. I'll have Bill go with me," Sookie replied looking at me from the corner of her eye.
I gave an exasperated sigh and looked up at the ceiling of the car. She was going to do this with or without me. I pushed my hair away from my face and over the top of my head. God, Sookie could be so stubborn and stupid sometimes. When she made up her mind she was going to go with it. There was no changing her mind.
"If you want to leave me alone in a bar with a whole bunch of vampires that's fine. I'm sure Bill can protect me, but it sure would be nice to have a friend there with me so I wouldn't be only normal human there," Sookie sure was laying the guilt trip on hard.
"Sook, we are far from 'normal'," I pinched the bridge of my nose, then breathed and gave in, "Fine I'll go with you."
"Oh you will! I'm so glad Adriane!"
"Bitch," I teased as I looked at her, "Just for the record, I think this is an extremely stupid idea."
"Noted," Sookie chuckled, "We just need to head back to the house, so I can change."
"That's fine, I take it you just got off of work?"
"Yeah, I told Sam what I was planning on doing. He gave me the same lecture but let me go. He knew that I was doing it for the girls and Jason."
Sensing she needed a topic change, "I hope I have something to wear that is worthy of Fangtasia. God was a stupid name."
If only Beth could hear that I was going to the very vampire bar that she wanted to go to. I bet she would have a heart attack. I was going willingly only for the sake of Beth's and Dawn's. Dawn deserves to have justice brought to her killer, and Beth to her abductor. Otherwise I would turn and run back home.
Sookie laughed, "Yeah it is. If you don't have anything you can borrow something of mine."
"Thanks, I'm guessing the dress code is something 'goth' clubbish."
"Hmmm, yeah something along those lines. I don't really have anything that fits that either, but I bet something with a bit of red will suffice though," Sookie shrugged.
I paused as I thought about the wardrobe I brought. I mentally went through all of the outfits in my head, I didn't really have anything gothic like you would see in a Blade movie. Maybe I had some darker clothes? Something that combated the heat? A light bulb went off in my head.
With a smirk I said, "I think I have just the right outfit."
I can't believe I was going to do this. I felt a knot in turn in the base of my gut. Everything in my being was telling…no screaming, NO. Something was going to happen there. I doubted it would be good.