Later that night... It was around 9 pm when Bill decided to knock on the door to my grans' house. Jason opened it, shook his hand, and gave him a brotherly threat to take good care of me.
Tara had decided to meet him too. She stayed over quite a bit. Especially when we were younger. Her mother, she's an alcoholic. She struggled our entire lives with addiction. We were more like sisters than friends.
Even though she was here for support she still wasn't happy about my date. Gran sat excitedly in her lounge chair, her feet propped up. She spent the entire day cleaning and making sure everything was presentable.
Bill Compton cleaned up well. So far I had only seen him in casual wear. Jeans and nice sweaters. He wore a tailored suit that fit his color quite well. He was pale, the navy blue contrasted. A dark green tie brightened his eyes. He was visibly older than me, maybe early thirties, while I was approaching my mid-twenties. His dark brown hair was slightly messy but it added character.
"Well, why don't ya come on in."
We sat down on the couch so he could be introduced to everyone. I felt slightly embarrassed. I wasn't dressed nearly as nice. I wore a pair of mom jeans and a black corset top that made the girls spill just right. The sleeves were gauzy and flowy. A pair of square-toed booties. My hair was straightened and parted down the middle with curtain bangs. Where were we going? He's dressed for a night in a much more fancy place. I mean yes I looked good, but maybe I should change into a cocktail dress or something.
"You ready to go, Sissi?"
"Oh sure!" Damn too late!
I had completely missed anything that had been said between the four of them. I was led outside to a BMW. He opened my door and held my hand as I got in. It's been lovely so far.
We drove all the way to Shreveport. It was about 22 miles outside of where I lived. Bon temps had a population of about 3000. The residents are mostly descended from soldiers that fought during the civil war.
Nothing was here except for old family homes, a single church, a few graveyards. We've got some schools, Merlotte's, a nice little French restaurant named Maison de Paris. The hardware store, a super save a bunch, some rinky-dink clothing stores. A motel, a senior citizen's home, some newish apartments, and the town bank. That's it!
I asked him where he was taking me, and he told me it was a surprise. We ended up going to an Italian restaurant. The name was Tuscany. Once led to a table, Bill pulled out my chair and pushed me in before he took his own seat.
"This is quite lovely."
" I like to treat a lady as she should be treated with luxury, grace, and respect."
The waiter came around. I ordered a glass of red wine and a glass of lemon water. For my entree, I got blackened chicken carbonara, a roasted side of potatoes glazed with truffle oil, and the house salad. While he ordered a few bottles of True Blood. We chatted until the meal came out.
"Is everything to your liking?"
"Yes. It's lovely, do those taste ok?"
"It's quite an acquired taste, but it's filling that's what matters."
"I guess so. I'd be sad if I couldn't eat my favorite foods ever again."
"You like to eat?"
"I love to eat. What was your favorite meal back in your time?"
"Well, we're getting into the meat of things. Well, I enjoyed a good steak when I could afford it. But to be honest, eggs. I loved a good egg on toast sandwich."
"Eggs? Hmm, I do like eggs but I think I prefer the meat. Bacon. That's where it is for me."
"I'll remember that. I'd love to cook for you sometime. "
"Bill, are you already pushing for a second date?"
"If you'll allow of course."
"We will see. It's your turn, you may ask me anything you like."
"Why is a beautiful young thing like you single?"
"Well, as I've told you about my mind reading. It usually gets in the way, but interestingly enough. I can't hear your thoughts."
"Really? Well. I'll be."
"It's a good thing, I promise."
"Well, I'm glad I can provide."
"Do you have any special gifts? Turn into a bat? I don't know, I'm just fascinated by you." He chuckled at the joke and was obliged to answer.
" I've never met anyone or anything like you before, you're a marvel to me too! No, I personally don't have any powers, some vampires do have them though. I don't know if anyone can transform into bats. However, we can all glamour people, some of us can fly or glide and many other things."
" Do all of you glow?" He slow blinked at me then asked.
"I've never... I glow?"
"Yes. It's how I knew you weren't human. I saw it the day you walked into the bar."
"Well, I'll be. I didn't know that. Are you sure you're human?"
"As far as I know."
" What is glamouring like? Is it like hypnosis or something?"
"Pretty much. We vampires use it in some way or fashion but it's used mostly to feed. It makes the human feel safe and pliable so they give blood without much resistance."
"Really, come on. Try it on me. I've never met anyone even remotely like me. Oh please, just don't make me bark or squawk like a bird or something."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
He made me look directly into his eyes. I kept waiting for something to happen. But nothing ever did. He scrunched his brows and cocked his head,
" Do you feel my influence?"
I shrugged my shoulders and giggled out my answer. He shook his head in disbelief. He begged me to try my gift on him once more. To see if I could affect him in any way. So I did.
I took his hand and held it in my own. I tried to bring my light out. It was faint. All I needed was a spark. The longer I held his hand the more I watched his face scrunch up in pain.
"Geez, that feels like tiny wasps are stinging all over my hand." he pulled his hand away and rubbed it.
I apologized then I looked at my glass of water and focused on it. Once I could feel it coming, I turned my head as the glass burst and splashed ice all onto the table. I smiled. The waiter came over in a hurry to clean up my mess. I felt bad, Bill looked on with fear and excitement in his eyes.
"That was certainly interesting. I'm sure you're not completely human. But whatever you say." His hand caressed mine. He wasn't afraid! I was giddy.
I ordered a dessert to take home. Once we were done we continued to talk the entire ride home. He asked questions all about my life. He wanted to know everything and I was inclined to tell him.
" My parents died when I was 6. It was a horrible storm and they were trying to get out of the city. They had been bickering about directions, at that point they fought about everything. The car got off track on a bridge, they drowned and we didn't. My gran raised us from then on. "
I'm very sorry for your loss. Did they know about your powers?"
" Oh yes they knew; momma had found out first. It started to show when I was around 4 or 5 in school, I'd say things that I just couldn't know. The school called, and they had me tested for everything possible. My momma wanted to put me in the hospital. She knew what I was, and it scared her, she tried to love me, but she was terrified.
As for my pa, we had a much better relationship. I was daddy's little girl. Aren't all daughters though? He denied it so much, they would fight. It didn't help that I wasn't hers.
In school, I got the best grades especially in high school, I may have cheated a bit though. I had a rebel stage too, where I started to skip school and smoke weed gran never got too upset, she thought I was acting out because of my ability.
Jason used to get so pissed because he thought she was showing favoritism. I explained to him later after we graduated why I did it, he cried over the fact that I felt I had to skip and smoke because it helped me block everything out. He vowed to never jump to conclusions about me again. We got even closer than we were which should be impossible but that's my life."
I gulped hard, almost broke out into a sweat. I had never just laid everything out like that before. To my surprise, he went more into detail about his life and we talked more about my family. He had a wife before and children. He detailed some of the worst days on the battlefield and some of the best. Once we pulled up the driveway to my house, he was out of the car faster than I could blink.He walked me to the front door and there we stood. His arms were around me, as he gazed into my eyes.
" I had a very lovely night with you, Ms. Stackhouse. Hopefully, you take me up on my offer and we have another one."
He leaned in for a kiss. His lips made a light brush, it made me want more. His lips were very smooth, and his skin was cool. I deepened the kiss with so much passion he was forced to grab me. The heated moment made his fangs come out. He apologized profusely as they had nipped my lip, my blood rested on his lips. His tongue lapped at the drop, it made his eyes turn a deep dark blue, he stopped breathing, bowed, and left promptly.
I went inside. My heart was pumping and I was moist. Gran had stayed up, she practically demanded I tell her how it went. After I was done retelling, I went to my room got into bed, but I couldn't stop thinking about cool skin and fangs. I 'massaged' the tension away before I drifted off to sleep.
