Bill Compton was fuming.
Everything was going as planned. He had taken care to start alienating Sookie from her closest friends. Not that he needed a lot of effort there, her friends being extremely prejudiced against vampires meant just his presence was enough to make them fight her. He had started distracting her from her usual schedule and was ready to take the next step to further her connection to him. Of course, Adele Stackhouse's death hadn't been planned on his part, but it worked for him perfectly well, further distancing Sookie from her brother and making her a bit easier to control.
He had felt her giving in to his prompting and she felt restless and horny, just as he planned. He waited for her to come to him, but she didn't. Her moods shifted back to grief, and he thought to leave it alone for the night, reasoning it was too close to her grandmother's death for his blood and claim to overcome her. And then, he felt anger, followed by a bout of despair and panic and he knew something was wrong. At first, it crossed his mind that the killer had come to finish the job and if he got there and saved her, she would feel even more favourable toward him. Maybe he could even convince her to move to New Orleans and step out of Northman's interest and protection, then it would be a breeze to have her in the castle and the Queen's little human zoo.
Bill never expected to find Hadley's sister, a newly made vampire inside the house with Sookie. He never thought she would become a vampire at all when he last saw her, battered, and bruised. The hatred in her eyes hadn't fazed him then but the memory did so now. He knew that if for whatever reason, she retained her last human months, she would come for him. It was unlikely that she did, but Sookie's family seemed to have the uncanny ability to exceed expectations.
And now here he was, on Sookie's porch, listening as her cousin explained every little detail of influence a vampire could exert on a human, panicking. He thought about banging on the door and demanding his reentrance but Sookie's careless abdication of his claim in favour of her cousin's stripped him of any possible right to her. And every word out of the vampire's mouth distanced the telepath even further from his influence. He could feel in the blood that still resided in her body the disgust, rejection and mistrust aimed at him. He wouldn't be able to influence her now, she would be aware of everything.
But he still had a mission and he needed to find a way to complete it if he wanted out of the Queen's control. After his failure with the new vampire inside the house now, he couldn't afford another. He briefly considered taking his frustration out on the black vintage car on the driveway but refrained. It would've been an act of petty revenge that could actually get him into trouble. As much as vampires didn't care at all for humans, messing with another's property or business was a huge offence.
"Northman…" He murmured, reaching for his cell phone. Maybe the Sheriff would be able to be of use to him now. Bill didn't care for the Viking and never had. He always hated the way he walked into a room as if he owned it, and everyone just bowed to him. He was no better than a savage in Bill's eyes. But this could be used in his favour because, as much as the Queen hadn't wanted Sookie brought to the Sheriff's attention, that ship had already sailed. He could report the new vampire in the area, as he was sure she hadn't registered with him yet, and, knowing of Eric's keen interest in Sookie, give her to him in exchange for the disposal of the new vampire.
That would resolve three problems in one. The queen could just order Eric to give Sookie to her, ensuring the telepath to her retinue, Eric's age and strength would surely be enough to take care of Sookie's cousin and with her disposal, Bill didn't need to worry about her coming after him, and he would be finally free of the Queen's thumb.
"Yes?" Eric's progeny, as always, sounded bored out of her mind. Bill often thought that she was much livelier as a human prostitute and should've continued as one but with how protective Eric was of her, he kept his mouth shut.
"I'd like to speak to Eric."
"I'm sure you do."
"Now."
"Well… Since you ask so politely…" He could hear that she wasn't moving and fought back to condescending remark about manners that was on his tongue.
"I want to inform him of a new vampire in the area that I'm sure didn't present to him." He could hear her saying something to Eric but couldn't understand what. Bill always hated when they spoke in whatever secret language they did when discussing things because he always felt like he was missing something important. He quickly grew impatient with the back and forth he couldn't follow.
"Mr Compton."
"Eric. You heard?"
"Yes. What exactly is your complaint?"
"What I just said! There's an unregistered vampire in Sookie's house!" This seemed to give the Sheriff pause.
"And what is this vampire doing there and why are you talking to me instead of protecting your property?"
"She attacked me, cast me out and ignored my claim! She broke the law twice and I demand retribution!" It was a risky move. He was asking the Sheriff to fight for him. It would relinquish his claim on Sookie to Eric if he killed the other vampire. Bill had thought about it and concluded that Eric's interest in Sookie was enough that he would likely just rush to where he was and kill the vampire, no questions asked.
Eric, on the other hand, hadn't survived a thousand years old for nothing. As much as he indulged, he always thought everything through. And as he paused, holding the phone to his ear, it seemed to him that something was afoot. The Viking stole a glance at his progeny who, much like him, had an incredulous look on her face.
After all the fuss, the absolute spectacle he had made on himself claiming the telepath, William Compton was just relinquishing her. As long as Eric could kill the other vampire, which he most likely could.
"What do you think?"
"I think any vampire that gets him worked up like this is a vampire worth knowing…"
"And the telepath?"
"You can demand her as payment for breaking the law. If you don't kill them in the end." Pam paused for a second, probably going through her vault. "It's odd that he is just willing to give her to you now, after the floorshow a few days ago. I can't put my finger on it but there's something more there." Eric hummed in agreement and asked for the address. He could hear Compton's triumphant voice on the other end of the phone and bristled. "Tell him to go back to his house and wait there. We don't need his presence, independent of what will happen. This night has just become very interesting…"
