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, I hope everybody is being careful with COVID. Thank you for waiting for this chapter. Stay healthy everyone and Happy Thanksgiving!

Chapter 24

Sam was dead and a lot of crying and screaming happened. I still couldn't believe what had happened in front of my eyes. I held on to Alcide as if my life depended on it and I cried.

Loudly.

Alcide didn't push me away; he allowed me to let out everything that my heart could give. The feeling of losing somebody close to me brought back the memories of my grandmother and her violent death.

And I cried more.

I cried until my body felt drained and tears weren't flowing anymore.

"Sookie, I know you're hurting, but we've got things to take care of right now," Alcide said.

I looked up to see his face, but his attention was on someone or something located behind me. I turned to find the source and found both waitresses sitting on the floor and one of them was on the phone. She had called 911.

Not good!

I let go of Alcide and looked at him horrified. My brain was coming up blank and Alcide understood. Immediately he switched from friend to packmaster and started to make decisions. I just went with the flow.

He went straight to the new employee and took away her phone.

Things happened very fast. Within minutes, Alcide had Jannalynn's mom's body in the back of his truck, hidden in his large toolbox. Alcide's pack member, who I didn't notice before, helped him. Then, each one grabbed the new employees and locked them in the toolbox too, with the dead body. They kicked and screamed, but they were no match for the wolves. How did they fit in there? I didn't want to know.

"Sookie, have your vampire send somebody ASAP to erase their memories. The police are on their way, so tell them that Jannalynn's mom killed Sam, just as it happened, and then she ran away."

"Andy will be asking for details. Where could they have gone?"

"Keep it simple. She had a gun and you feared for your life. You don't know where she went. She walked out of here and your two new employees took off running soon after. Tell Andy that you're just too distraught to focus on their whereabouts."

"What about Jannalynn's body?"

"Don't worry about Jannalynn's mom; I'll take care of her body. The less you know the better."

I nodded and prayed that I'd remember everything he said. Alcide left Merlottes right away. I could hear faint sounds coming from Alcide's toolbox, but I knew people wouldn't pay attention to that.

Now I was alone with Sam's body. I took off the coat I was wearing before I melted out here with the heat and laid it on a chair nearby me.

I wanted to hug Sam, but I knew better. The last thing I needed was for my prints to be a part of the crime scene.

Sam.

And sure enough, two minutes later the police arrived.

Andy Bellefleur was the first one to arrive. Andy's face was long and serious. Death was written all over him. He walked in and took off his hat as he approached Sam. The ambulance crew walked past him and went straight to work on Sam. One of the paramedics performed a quick check of his vitals and shook his head as he slid his hand softly over Sam's face, closing his lifeless eyes.

"What happened?" Andy asked me.

I looked at him and tears flooded my face again. I told him the story just as Alcide had told me, and then repeated myself when other officers and the FBI agent arrived.

"What is Jannalynn's mom's name?" Andy asked me.

"I don't know," I replied. It never occurred to me to ask her name.

"What does she look like?" Andy continued asking me questions and taking notes of my answers. I described her and the clothes she was wearing while she was here. Staying close to the truth will help me hide the lies.

"I'll find her. Sam's death won't go unpunished. You have my word," Andy said as he left with two other officers to look for Jannalynn's mom who was "on the run". Meanwhile, a whole lot of things happened as police officers came in and out of Merlottes doing their police work. I sat there quietly and answered questions when asked.

Suddenly, reality hit me. I just lost my job too.

"Sookie," Eric said as he walked towards me. He looked at the commotion going on between the police and the FBI agent around Sam's body as somebody covered Sam with a white blanket.

"You got here fast. Sundown was a few minutes ago," I told Eric.

"You needed me here urgently," Eric replied.

Seeing Eric was exactly was I needed. We hugged for who knows how long. With him, I felt safe; I was no longer facing this alone.

"How did it happen," Eric asked and I told him. I noticed the FBI agent was paying attention to our conversation. So I made sure I repeated the same story all over again; soon after, the FBI agent lost interest in our conversation and that's when I told Eric the real story. He called Pam immediately for her to meet with Alcide.

"First I lost Gran and I miss her every day. Then, I find new family members with Nial's arrival and then I lose Claudine and Claude tried to kill me. My friend Arlene tried to kill me too. I almost lost you and Pam. And now I lost Sam. I'm tired of losing people I care about," I told Eric.

"You are stronger than you think. I know you have gone through a lot, but you have to stay strong. You are not alone and things are not over yet," Eric said.

"I know," I replied.

"Let's get out of here," Eric said.

"Yes please," I replied. I went to get my purse while Eric waited for me in the parking lot. Suddenly, I remembered that I drove here and that reminded me of our pending conversation.

I crossed the parking lot to meet Eric. The night felt different. I looked around but I couldn't see Eric's car.

"How did you get here?" I asked Eric as we walked towards my new vehicle.

"I flew. It's faster," he replied stating a fact.

"I want to thank you for the new car, but I can't afford the payments."

"It's paid for. It has extra security added, but it's not strong enough if it ends up at the bottom of a lake," he smiled and continued, "also, your old car has been taken care of; it's no longer at the bottom of the lake."

I knew he was teasing me. Trying to distract me even if for a few minutes and I appreciated that.

"The salesman was scared to death when he delivered the SUV. He wanted to make sure that he met all of your demands. Speaking of demands, why did you specifically request it to be white? Coming from you, I would have expected it to be black."

"Because you are the light in my darkness."

"I'm glad you're here," I smiled at him. I barely finished the sentence when Eric embraced me and kissed me for like thirty minutes. We kissed, hugged, and kissed again.

I actually felt guilty because here we were making out at Merlottes parking lot while the paramedics and the police dealt with Sam's body.

"I felt your distress as I woke up and came here immediately."

"How did it go with Sophie Anne last night?"

"It's been difficult to clean up the mess that Felipe left. The most difficult part is Freda's situation. I wish you had consulted with me before moving forward with your plan."

"You're being ungrateful and that pisses me off," I said taking two steps away from him. Right now I needed my personal space.

"I will forever be grateful, but there are consequences that could have been prevented."

"What consequences? Freyda is dead, whoever can take over Oklahoma, and you're free. I don't see any consequence that involves you or me. Neither one wants Oklahoma, so whatever happens with it it's not our business."

"You killed the Queen of Oklahoma with a lot of witnesses including her own. And you used the ceremonial knife to do that."

"So now one of her vampires is going to try to kill me? Tell her people to choose a new queen or king and be done."

"It's more complicated than that. I'll have to sit down and explain it to you, but today is not a good time. You have gone through a lot. You just lost Sam and I know he was important to you. Just know that I'll do everything in my power to protect you," Eric said as he closed the short distance that separated us and kissed me again.

His kisses were different. He wanted me badly as the bulge in his pants screamed for my attention, but his kisses felt deeper, filled with emotions I've never felt before. One of them really got my attention because I felt his fear, and Eric Northman never feels fear.

He let go and I smiled slightly. I didn't know if I should mention what I just felt from him. It actually scared me because fear was a word that didn't exist in Eric's vocabulary; not even in the most life-threatening moments I have experienced with him.

"I must go help Sophie Anne and solve Freyda's problem. I would like for you to come with me to Fangtasia. Don't be alone tonight."

A small commotion interrupted our conversation and I went to the front of Merlottes to find out what was going on.

Big mistake.

They were wheeling out Sam's body and my eyes filled with tears again. Right at that moment Jason arrived and entered Merlottes parking lot slowly, confused about what was happening. He parked next to my car and came to me immediately.

"What happened?" Jason asked worried.

I knew that if I went to Fangtasia with Eric I would have to put a strong face, and honestly, I didn't know if I could do it. I wanted to cry if I felt like crying without having vampires judging me. So Jason was my excuse; bless his heart.

"Go ahead fix Sophie Anne and Freyda's problems. I'll stay with Jason," I said as I turned to Jason, "Sam is dead".

Jason's face went from worried to shocked.

"Sook I'm sorry," Jason said hugging me.

I tried my best not to cry, but I failed miserably. "Eric, if I go to Fangtasia I don't know if I could stay strong and not cry. I don't know if I could do that. My heart hurts. Honestly, I want to be alone tonight. I now know that there is a problem with Freyda's death, but I don't want to know tonight. Jason could make sure I get home, but I really want to be alone. I know you've got a lot on your plate and I don't want you to feel like you also have to babysit me. Maybe I'm being selfish, but I don't know how to feel right now."

"I'll give you space as long as you promise me that you'll go home and won't leave your house for anything and won't open the door to anybody."

"Eric," I questioned his words, but he interrupted me, "you will lock yourself in your house," he said with a firm voice.

I wanted to discuss what he was not telling me, but I didn't have the energy. I nodded in agreement. He kissed me, nodded to Jason, and left.

Soon after everybody left and Jason and I were left alone in Merlottes parking lot. I locked Merlottes and drove home with Jason behind me.

Once at home, the first thing I did was change clothes and hide the Cluvier Dor as usual. Then, I went straight to Gran's tea cabinet; I needed something to relax. I told Jason everything that happened, the real story, and I cried even more. I had to backtrack the story because Jason didn't know about Jannalynn's verdict and her conviction per pack law, about her father's death and her vendetta against me.

"Sook, you know if Alcide had not killed Jannalynn's mom, she could have killed you next. After all, from what you said, you are just as responsible for her death as Sam was. Even though you didn't do anything to her, she still acted because of you and Sam's friendship. I think Alcide saved your life."

"That could have happened too. I'm glad he killed her. One thing I have learned with all of this, when you kill somebody that has a vendetta against you, you need to kill the whole family. Leave one alive and he or she will live to revenge the dead."

I continued telling him the story about Jannalynn. I didn't know what surprised him the most: learning all the things that have happened between the pack and the vampires or learning I was Sam's business partner and Merlottes part owner. I'm sure he wanted to ask what I was going to do now with Merlottes, but he stopped mid-sentence. I didn't want to think about if for now and he understood that.
Jason couldn't understand a few parts of the story, but I didn't blame him; he didn't know a lot of the things that had happened. He asked many questions, so I had to sidetrack with older stories for him to understand the whole picture. I left a few things out; for his safety, it was best for him not to know.

"Sook, I can't believe that you have done so many risky things and here I was thinking that you were safely working at Merlottes. Why wouldn't you include me? I could have helped you multiple times. Even now that I'm a werepanther I could help even more, but you still won't include me. I know Hotshot people aren't the brightest bulbs in the box, but with my guidance they could get better."

"You don't understand. This world is dangerous. I don't even know all the rules but apparently, I'm good at breaking them."

"I understand that it's dangerous. Heck, I'm still learning about the werepanther world, but you were part of it from the beginning. I didn't exclude you. I didn't make you feel useless. At least I knew that if things turned for the worse you were there with me. We are the only family that we have left and we are supposed to help each other, be there for each other. Yet, I'm not part of your world."

I wanted to explain to him that I was protecting him, but his words got me thinking; would I have gotten less hurt had Jason been there? I mean, I have gotten hurt so many times since Bill's arrival into my life. "Maybe I should include you more often; let you be part of my crazy world."

A sudden presence in my backyard got my attention, and when I tried to read its mind, it came back empty.

A vampire.

Without wasting time, a knock on my back door sent chills down my spine. Eric's words bounced back and forth in my mind; do not open the door to anybody. He imposed his command.

"Are you going to open the door Sook? Eric said not to do so," Jason said.

"I know. It's a vampire," I said trying to sound calm and failing.

"Mrs. Sookie it's me Bubba," said the voice behind the closed door.

I took a deep breath, relieved about Bubba's presence, and went to open the door. Jason was right next to me.

"Bubba what brings you here?"

"Mr. Eric sent me here. He said to let you know of my presence and to stay in the backyard."

"Did he say why?"

"To protect you," Bubba replied with a shrug.

I wanted to ask more, but I highly doubt Eric would tell him details.

"Would you like some True Blood?" I asked smiling at him.

"I have True Blood, but a warm bottle would be good," he said innocently.

"Of course. Come in," I invited him but he hesitated, "Mr. Eric said to stay in the backyard."

"Alright then," I said and went on to warm a bottle.

"How are you doing Bubba?" Jason asked.

"Hungry," he replied as I handed him the warm bottle. He downed it fast and handed the empty bottle back to me.

"I'll be back here Mrs. Sookie," he said as he left.

I smiled at him and closed the door. Something was going on and Eric didn't tell me. I think I made a mistake telling him to not tell me what was going on with Freyda and Oklahoma. I saved my questions for when I see Eric tomorrow and went back to Jason.

Jason didn't say anything about Bubba's presence, but his face told me that he was going to keep guard.

I cooked a light dinner for the two of us while we talked about other things. Jason's company was distracting and comforting.

"Michelle and I chose a night wedding, so that Eric and your vampire friends can join. We will need to know how many you would like to invite so we can have enough True Blood for them."

"Jason that's very thoughtful. I'll ask Eric if he can come and I'll let you know. I'm guessing just Eric, Pam, and Karin," I said. I didn't know if the other vampires would be up for a werepanther wedding.

"Who's Karin?" Jason asked.

"She's Eric's other vampire daughter. I don't know if she's still in town or if she will be in town for your wedding. I'll ask Eric that too and let you know his answer."

"What about Bill?" Jason asked.

"No. I won't invite him."

"I'm guessing with Eric there, Bill needs to go uh?" Jason asked with a small smile.

"Something like that," I replied.

Jason told me all about his wedding plans, the food, and the music. It actually made me feel good to see him so happy looking forward to the wedding, kids, even teaching his future son how to play football. Yes, in his mind, he will have a boy with Michelle. He had short and long term plans with Michelle! It was such a pleasant surprise to see this new Jason.

He stayed with me most of the night until I could no longer stay awake. He left after a goodbye hug and my promise to attend his wedding in ten days.

Note: Something is coming! Sookie better keep her guard up! *evil smile*