Disclaimer: I am not the owner of these characters. The original story and the characters belong to Charlaine Harris. I am only borrowing them for a little while.

Before I start with the chapter, I want to thank you for the awesome responses. I received many messages via public comments and pm, and the unanimous request was for plan B….. So Plan B it is!

To answer the most common question: would there be a HEA? Well of course! No matter what, this story is about Sookie and Eric

I will be posting chapters here a little bit slower while I work on the extended outline. I promise you this: it will be an amazing ride!

Chapter 23

Merlott's parking lot was almost empty with the lunch crowd gone by now. As a matter of fact, there were two cars in the parking lot; one of them was Jason's truck and I didn't recognize the other one. I parked near the back corner, so that tonight's customers won't get a chance to slam their doors on my new car. I was planning on returning it to the dealership after I talked to Eric tonight.

I considered leaving the Cluvier dor hidden in the car, but I couldn't bring myself to trust it away from me, so I left it in my pocket. I got out of the car and I did what I have never done before: locked the car and set up the alarm.

I walked towards the back entrance to Merlottes when the owner of the unknown car exited through the front door. I stopped to observe her. She was young, maybe mid-twenties with the most beautiful, long, brunette hair that moved as the wind blew through it. She was tall and skinny with just the right curves to turn men's heads to her direction. Not that it was difficult to get Bon Temp's men to do that anyway.

I didn't know why, but her presence intrigued me, and my curiosity sky rocketed when I tried to read her mind. All I found was complete silence. Not even the tiniest of sound came from her brain. What shocked me the most was not the silence, but the fact that she stopped walking and looked in my direction. She stared at me for a couple of seconds and then continued walking, got in her car, and left.

She was not human and definitely not a vampire as it was the middle of the afternoon. Sam's and Alcide's brains projected some waves that sometimes I could read, but that woman…. It was emptiness.

My heart skipped a beat and I held my breath the moment I remembered Niall's message. I stood there, not knowing whether I should follow her, or wait here to see if she would return and attack me, or go inside Merlottes where I knew Sam would help me in case I needed it.

I waited there, frozen in place, but nothing happened. Eventually, I snapped out of it and went inside Merlottes; hoping for the best.

I set up my purse in the usual locker, and went to the dining area to see if Jason was still here.

"Jason," I called him as he was about to leave Merlottes.

"Sookie, I've been waiting for you. Damn Sook, when did you get a new ride?"

"I didn't. Eric did."

"He's taking good care of you. That's good. It's the least he can do after what you did for him."

"I didn't do it expecting for him to pay me back. Besides, I'm sure the monthly payments would be twice more than my entire paycheck."

"You told us that he's your husband. Let the man take care of you as it should be."

"I don't need a man to pay for me."

"It's not paying for you. It's to help you. That's what a relationship is about."

"Where did you get all of that?" I asked in shock.

"Sook, that's how Michelle and I are making it work. We help each other."

Food for thought. I wanted to say something back, but I didn't have anything to say. After all, I was an amateur when it came to relationships.

Before Eric, Bill had been my only relationship and I didn't think that would be a good example to follow. Bill didn't help me, but he paid handsomely to his lost and later found family, The Belleflour. It didn't feel good knowing what he was doing for them and what he wasn't doing for me. And here I was, Eric doing the complete opposite.

"Listen Sook, I wanted to talk to you about the wedding plans, but it's too late and gotta go back to work. I'll stop by here again after I get off work."

I nodded and he left right away. Jason had too many flaws, but he sure was very responsible at work.

With Jason gone, Merlottes was officially empty until the diner crowd showed up. Meanwhile, it was time to get everything straightened out to have it ready for the new crowd. Since the two new employees were cleaning up their tables, I decided to find Sam; we had several things to talk about.

Of course I found him in his office, working on the accounting books.

"Can we talk?" I asked as I entered his office.

"Sure, but I must warn you that today is not a good day for me."

I wanted to ask how's that because, really, Jannalynn wasn't important, but I had to respect that she was important for him.

"I can only imagine what you're going through and more than likely this is bad timing, but it seems it will never be the right time. First, I want to say thank you for the partnership. I wasn't expecting that and it was a great surprise." The moment the words left my mouth, I went ahead and hugged him tight and kissed him on the cheek.

"You're welcome," he said as he smiled; suddenly I started getting sexual messages from him. That's when I realized I had let my guard down, and my brain was receiving his messages. I quickly put up my guard again and step back cautiously. Sam recognized his mistake and changed his mood.

"Sam, what's going on?" I asked looking him to the eye.

"I'm angry. You slipped away from me and I didn't realize it until it was too late."

"We talked about this some time ago. It's a topic I wouldn't like to revisit."

"You asked."

"I did because I want us to go back to the way things were before it changed. You will eventually find someone that deserves you the same way I found Eric and that's not going to change."

"I realize that now, more than ever."

"What do you mean?"

"The moment I saw you kill the Queen of Oklahoma, I knew right then, that I lost you permanently. Be that you turning into a vampire or getting killed by one. Either way, I lost you."

"First, you can't lose what you never had. Besides, I'm not going to be a vampire and hopefully I won't get killed by one. I see that what happened with Jannalynn scarred you, but you shouldn't be such a pessimist."

"I'm being realistic. Do you seriously think that the vampires of Oklahoma will be ok with you killing their Queen? You just humiliated them! Vampires don't react well when their pride is hurt."

This was the second time I heard the same thing. Eric said something similar last night. The truth was that I didn't plan anything pass the death of Freyda and I could care less about Oklahoma. For all I cared, they could hold an election tonight and get a new King or Queen. But one thing I didn't expect was to deal with a group of vampires whose feelings have been hurt.

"I'll cross that bridge when I get there," I replied. Really, that was all I could do about it.

"I wished I could get back in time. I wouldn't have agreed to help you host the fight. I should have let Eric drown in his own dirt and away from here."

"You're missing something… I would have done it with or without you. Since we aren't going to agree on this, it's best we leave this topic alone. I'm going to do our monthly inventory. Alone."

I grabbed the paperwork from the file cabinet and a coat that we had stored for whoever needed it and left his office. While the storage room was just two doors down the hall, it was two doors away from him. Right now, I wanted space and silence. Sam's attitude was somewhat disturbing. I was expecting him to be hurting over Jannalynn's death, but instead, it was totally opposite. Yes, I definitely needed space and silence.

I decided to start with the largest freezer that was located all the way to the corner of the room, but by the time I made my way to the second freezer, my fingers were starting to feel numb. The disorganization in the freezers drove me crazy, so I got all the meat out and organized it while I kept track of the inventory. I still had one more freezer to go, two refrigerators, and the shelves, but I was considering taking a break to literally stand outside under the sun to warm up.

I looked at my watch and after careful consideration, I decided to go for it and enjoy the last hour of sunlight left.

I set up the paperwork aside, waiting for my return and exited the storage room.

A loud gunfire startled me. I stayed quiet, not sure whether I heard it right. Two seconds later screams followed. I recognized the voices… they were the two new employees'.

I rushed to the front and found a scene that never in my life I thought I would see. My first instinct was to follow the source of the screaming, and there they were, both employees screaming their lungs out near the door entrance to the dining area. I followed their line of sight and it directed me to where everything was happening.

Sam was bleeding on the floor with a bullet wound on his chest. He struggled to breathe with blood pouring out of his mouth and the puddle of blood around him was fast stretching under a table. I thought that Sam was trying to say something, but he couldn't make a sound other then the clogged sound as he choked on his own blood.

Jannalynn's mom was a couple of tables away, holding a gun that I bet that the reason for Sam's wound. Right behind her was Alcide who was fast approaching her…. quietly.

Time froze, and with it, so my heart. Every muscle in my body was rigid. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. My heart just stopped beating.

"You destroyed my family," Jannalynn's mom shouted. Her hands were still shaky from the blast of the weapon.

The two employees continued screaming.

Sam gasped for oxygen while his face turned blue.

Alcide was already about two steps away from Jannalynn's mom. If she looked behind her, then she would bust Alcide and probably shoot him too.

I still couldn't move. I had zero control over my body.

"I lost it all because of you," Jannalynn's mom continued shouting.

The two employees switched to crying. A cry that carried their pain mixed with panic.

Sam stopped gasping. The puddle of his blood on the floor had doubled in size.

Alcide grabbed Jannalynn's mom from behind and put his hand behind her head in a weird way and a bone cracking sound followed. Her body went limb. He had broken her neck.

The two employees sobbed and went on their knees.

Sam's body went limb. His eyes were still open, but there was no life in them anymore. They were empty.

A scream of pain came out of my chest. My heart hurt so much that I thought this was going to be it for me too. My legs weakened and could no longer support my body. I dropped on my knees, screaming, crying. I starred at Sam's body, waiting for him to return to us. He was a shifter, so he could heal. He needed to come back!

"NO!" I yelled deep in pain. I couldn't lose Sam.

Not today.

Not like this.

Alcide was by my side immediately. He held me in his arms and I let it happen. I cried on his shoulder desperately. I clung to him as if my life depended of it.

I needed his strength. I was broken.

Note: Nope, I won't give you any hints about the mysterious woman! *evil smile*