CHAPTER THREE: IMPULSE CONTROL


Jessica's P.O.V

Jessica Hamby was sick and tired. Of course, being a member of the undead variety, this wasn't a physical manifestation, but rather one of the emotional realm. She was a vampire. A hunter. A demon that lurked in the night. So, why the hell was she sitting around, playing house with Bill Compton, her goody-two-shoes maker, testing out true blood flavours, getting to know a blonde waitress, when really, she should be out hunting. Having fun. Partying. Drinking blood right from the vein.

Mainstreaming was a pile of fucking horse shit. Don't drink from humans. Don't scare the humans. Don't wear that dress. Don't hunt. Don't sleep with that boy. Don't kill that girl… The list was endless. All of it was bullshit. The lot of it. They were vampires, the apex predators, when did apex predators start playing by rules? Admittedly, Jessica had only been a vampire for a few weeks, but damn, she felt she knew more about what it meant to be a vampire than Bill did or ever could.

No. Jessica was sick of rules. She was sick of sundresses. Sick of church. Sick of doing her homework and chores. Sick of everything that reminded her of her human life that, really, seemed so inconsequential and honestly pathetic right now. She wished she was back with Pam and Eric. They knew how to have a good time, how to be real vampires.

Instead, here she was, sent to her room like a five-year old. The night had started out alright, boring and mundane, but safely placid. Bill had finally introduced Jessica to his… Feed? Lover? Fuck? Significant other?... Whatever, a woman by the name of Sookie Stackhouse, and Jessica had played ball. She had been polite. She had smiled. She had even braided her hair back and wore that horrid daisy printed sundress. Then the two had started to argue, about her nonetheless, and the atmosphere began to get more heated with each passing word and finally, just when Jessica thought she would finally see some fireworks, something entertaining, their front door had slammed open and who should enter but Eric and Pam.

The two hadn't been alone. Behind them was another vampire, a male who looked to be in bad shape, but before Jessica could question anything at all, Eric had demanded a private audience with her maker, told Bill to send her away, and then Bill was commanding her with his fucking maker bond to go to her room. She knew why Bill chose to send her away. He believed her to be too new. Too inexperienced. Too volatile… But that didn't lessen the sting of watching and knowing Sookie had been allowed to stay. The blonde was human, and even she got to listen in.

Jessica sighed and paced over to her window, jerking the old shutters open to feel the nights breeze flutter over her skin. The truth was, whittled down to its core, she felt trapped. She wanted blood, Bill denied her it, giving her that pigs swill known as true blood. She wanted to hunt, Bill denied her, impeaching the logic and reason that mattered little to a newly turned vampire. She wanted to party, Bill denied her, urging her to wrangle in her emotions, her wants, and to replace them with boring civility. Denied. Denied. Denied. Being a vampire was meant to be a new start for Jessica, and yet, she had not really left that bedroom back in her parent's house, scuttling around to follow her fathers' orders, always afraid to step out of the tight line of perfection her parents wanted her to follow. By god, when was something interesting going to happen?

"Hello."

The impish voice momentarily stalled Jessica, chilling her somehow, someway as an inescapable urge to run flooded over her, through her. However, before she could fully grasp the feeling, hold onto it, feel it, bathe in it, something thick and cloying settled over her, seeping into her pores, clogging her mind and body. Without really willing herself to, she was leaning out the window and speaking back to the faceless voice coming from outside.

"Hey…"

It took Jessica a while before she pinpointed the voice. The garden bellow was empty, just bushes, crooked trees and partly dead grass. Nonetheless, contrary to first glance, outside wasn't empty. A tree that stood just outside Jessica's bedroom window, a bedroom she didn't use or need, had a little inhabitant. Sitting on one of the lowest branches was a… Girl. She was dressed in an oxford shirt, the white so startling against the mottled brown of bark, it made Jessica idly wonder how she didn't see her before. The sleeves were haphazardly rolled up to her thin elbows, her legs bare and pale in the soft moonlight, tempting as they swung back and forth, dangling from the tree branch as her free toes wiggled in the air.

Her hair, long and curly, had a shine to it, a sleek sort of glistening that spread little patches of dampness into her shirt, as if she had just showered and couldn't be bothered to dry her rambunctious hair, a black so dark, it was onyx in the soft silver light. Suddenly, Jessica was hit with an image, an illustration she had seen in class one day when studying roman mythology. A little person dancing around a half goat man with pan flutes. A woodland nymph… Yes. She reminded Jessica of a nymph.

"Do you want to play a game?"

Her eyes were large and open, inviting, playful, delightfully alluring in a sort of garish green shade. Somewhere deep inside of herself, Jessica knew alarm bells should be ringing, she should be running, she should scream or call for help or something to get away from whatever this… Thing was, for it definitely was not human, Jessica could feel that in the very marrow of her bones… But her voice and eyes. So alive. So free. So spirited… Everything and anything Jessica Hamby wanted to be, wanted to feel, was mirrored back to her, tugging at her, goading her to follow.

"A game?"

She smiled then, so large, dimples appearing, teeth white and starkly sharp, that a thrum of fear, no… Excitement hummed through Jessica. Come and play. Come and play. Come and play. It was like a heartbeat, pounding, drumming at all thought and feeling.

"Yes, a game. You look bored. Why don't you step out here and have some fun with me?"

Even as the strange girl spoke, Jessica found her body moving, sliding out of the window, balancing on the sill, one leg dangling over the edge, ready to drop. In that moment, there was no questioning, no second guessing, no hesitation. She wanted fun. She wanted to follow the girl, wherever should she go, and Jessica wanted to play.

"Fun? I want to have fun…"

Her voice, even to her own ears, sounded dreamy.

"Of course you do. That's all any of us want. Me and you… We can have fun, can't we?"

Jessica slid further off the window sill.

"Yes… Yes. Fun. Me and you."

Disconnectedly, Jessica realized she was only parroting back to the strange girl around her age. It didn't matter. Only the fun they would have mattered.

"Good girl. Come on… Come here…"

Jessica dropped.


Sookie P.O.V

"Sanguini. I didn't expect to ever have your acquaintance again."

To say the room felt heavy would be an understatement. Ironically, a line had been drawn both physically and in the figurative sense almost immediately after Jessica had stormed her way upstairs. Eric, Pam and this new vampire Sookie had never seen before, but by the way Bill and this Sanguini were eyeing each other, the way Bill spat his name just, they had a long history, were standing on one side of the room, by the door to the hall way, and Bill and Sookie had taken up root on the other side by the fireplace. Sookie could almost see the chalky white line splintering the room into two sides. Red and blue. Black and white. Right and wrong.

Eric, as always, exuded disinterested comfort. Kicking back against the wall by the door, arms crossed over his broad chest only covered by a tank top, one leg carelessly crossing the other, Eric looked bored. However, he wasn't fooling Sookie, not when she saw that little quirk in the corner of his lips, that glint in his eye. Something was coming, something was going to happen and he, Eric, was going to enjoy this. Sookie didn't need to be a mind reader to know that much.

Pam, however, looked rattled. She stood as primly as she always did, nose high in the air, hair polished and combed to perfection as she inspected her nails with the very same air of indifference as her maker, but Sookie didn't miss the quiet tap and click of the heel of her platform as she tapped her foot. Something was making her uncomfortable.

The last vampire was harder to read, perhaps because Sookie had never met him before. He was tall, spindly, almost frail looking, but there was a sort of viciousness to him, a venom, a poison to his blood. He made no show to hide the broadening of his grin, nor the vindictive twist his eyes took. His voice and tone mirrored his face perfectly. Clipped, choppy, but dusted with a sort of sarcastic resentfulness.

"Is that anyway to speak to an old friend?"

From the corner of her eye, pushed up close to Bill's side, weary of the other three vampires, Sookie could feel Bill stiffen more than she could see it. However, he held his ground, his chin tilting just so, a proud sweep to his shoulder hardening them and Sookie… Sookie was left confused and befuddled, as she often was when it came to vampires and their interrelationships.

What in the sweet name of baby Jesus was going on? Of course, Eric interrupted Bill and Sookie often, Sookie thought he might take a perverse sort of pleasure from storming into their lives and demanding actions, duty and work from them with no repayment, but normally, at least, Bill was a step ahead and warned her Eric was on his way or perhaps wanted her to go to Fangtasia to meet with the big blonde brute. There had been no warning this time. None whatsoever, and the fact that Eric, of all vampires, could implant himself into their lives so easily, without any thought, was more than slightly disconcerting, especially when Bill put up no fight to kick him out, no matter how pointless that fight would be. It was a matter of principle to Sookie. Bill saw it as causing unneeded aggravation. Just another point in their arguments lately.

"Friends? I would not say we had anything close to friendship. Not after what you did."

To be completely fair, Sookie told herself, Bill seemed entirely too focused on Sanguini to really bother much with Eric and Pam and that… Well, that was telling in and of itself. Sookie watched, almost fascinated, as Sanguini's smile faltered and a snarl took its place. Suddenly, it felt like the air had dropped fifty degrees, going from muggy Louisiana swamp to Canadian winter and Sookie felt goosepimples blister her skin.

"I did what I had to. Our kinds don't mix… They didn't mix."

For once, just once, instead of taking solace in the quiet peacefulness Vampiric minds offered to a world-weary mind reader, Sookie wished her powers worked on them, just so she could make sense of whatever was taking place. Kinds, friends but enemies, snarls and smiles, hidden words… It was all so very confusing and very, very uncomfortable to witness. In an outward display of her unease, Sookie's hand crept up and latched itself onto Bill's bicep, trying to find comfort in solidarity, to show Bill that no matter what was going on, what he was facing, she was here for him. Bill's gaze snapped to her and she watched as his eyes softened, a small smile gracing his face. Of course, Eric had to ruin the moment by throwing himself into the situation.

"As amusing as this verbal parrying is turning out to be, should we not be getting down to business? Sookie, if you don't mind…"

Eric jerked his head behind him, towards the door, silently dismissing her as if she was nothing but one of his staff back at his tacky bar. Sookie diligently bit down on the flare of ire that sprang up from such an obvious disregard. She was used to feeling ire in Eric's presence at this point. The polite thing would have been to ask her to leave, but then again, when was Eric Northman known to be something anywhere near pleasantries and politeness? None. Furthermore, and perhaps more worryingly, Eric normally couldn't wait to include Sookie in his nefarious plots and schemes, with or without her consent. To be dismissed so quickly meant that this was more private, more serious, than Sookie had first thought and curiosity, hot and burning, clung to her lungs, begging her to question, to stay, to uncover this mystery.

However, Sookie did get a feeling that this wasn't her fight, not a situation meant for her to be witness to, and as a favour for Bill and a nod to his own privacy, Sookie let her hand drop and took a step away to head towards the door. After all, hadn't their argument moments prior to Eric's abrupt arrival been just about that? About Sookie being excluded, about Bill hiding things from her, about Sookie's habit of digging into things she had no business digging into? Perhaps now was the time she could show him that she knew when to let well enough alone… Sometimes. Now it was Bill's turn for his hand to shoot out, to grab gently but assuredly onto the crux of her elbow, stopping all attempt at her leaving.

"Sookie can stay. I have nothing to hide from her."

The smile on Eric's face was simply devilish as he kicked away from the wall, prowling closer, so close he nearly crossed that invisible line.

"Oh, are you so sure of that Bill?"

Sookie swallowed, eyeing the space between Eric and Bill, wondering if either one would do what they obviously both wanted and cross that line. Sanguini, however, seemed to be in no mood to play the other two vampire's games.

"In the latter half of the 1980's, you were roaming the streets of London, correct?"

Bill glowered, and his hand disconnected from her, sliding into the pocket of his pants, retreating, jaw clenching as he scanned Sanguini. Eric smiled, as if he had won their little battle, and flopped onto the coach, arms spanning the back like a hawk spreading its wings. Or a vulture.

"You know I was."

Eric, once again, placed himself right into the centre of the conversation.

"What were you doing in London?"

Bill sighed, even though he needed no breath and strolled over to the fireplace, staring down and into the dancing red flames. Sookie wondered what he saw there then, as, with his back to the other vampires, but with a clear view for Sookie, she saw a shadow pass his eyes. Pain. Keen, oozing pain. Something about London, something about the 80s, hurt him. It hurt him deeply.

"I met the authority there. They showed me the proper way to live. The just way."

Mainstreaming. He had learnt to mainstream, consume true blood rather than human blood, back there, in London, in the 1980's. Was that what upset him so? That he had only turned to mainstreaming so, for a vampire, relatively recently? Did he believe she would think little of him for knowing this? No. He should know her better, especially by now. Sanguini, however, gave Sookie another piece of the puzzle that was slowly but surely falling around her.

"You also met some… Friends there, didn't you? Peter, Remus, Sirius, James…"

The pain on Bill's face turned to anguish, icy and sluggish, before he wiped his face clean. the walls of determination, the guard of self-preservation, falling around him like armour, giving him a look of marble and stone as his spine straightened and he swivelled to regard the vampires in the room.

"Yes."

Bill's voice betrayed him. It was tight, locked, biting. Sookie wanted to place a hand upon his shoulder, to squeeze, to offer support, but she was stuck in place, as taught and displaced as Bill's voice, confused and yet… intrigued. Sanguini grinned and Sookie knew, just knew, he was going in for the kill. It was the same sort of smile Tara got seconds before she decided to verbally tear someone apart, where she knew just the right words to hurt someone, to cut them to the bone.

"Oh, and we can't forget Lily-"

"You don't get to say her name! Not after what you did."

Bill cut Sanguini off with a growl, a flash forward, so close, his nose was almost pressed into the other vampires. Sookie's heart sped up, thundering in her chest, but Sanguini only laughed. It was slick and wet, like oil. Questions swirled around Sookie's mind. Who was this Lily, this woman who had garnered such a… Protective sort of aggression by the mere mention of her name, from her Bill? Sookie's mouth opened to ask just that when she saw Eric, watching her, waiting, looking for a weakness no doubt, to prod at later. Despite her curiosity, just to watch Eric not get what he wanted, she stubbornly clamped her mouth shut once more. She would not fight with Bill. Not in front of these vampires at least. Her tension was still running high from their fight before, she would not willingly add fuel to that fire.

Nonetheless, Sanguini looked like he wanted to burn the entire town down as he pushed himself further into Bill's space, forcing the shorter vampire back a step, coiling like a viper. It was then, as his neck pushed forward to loom over Bill that Sookie saw the bandage wrapped around his neck, speckled with blood. She had never seen a vampire wear a plaster or bandage before. They didn't need to. They healed so fast…

"What? Made them forget about you? Changed their memories? Sent them away? Of course I did! I did what any respectable vampire would have done! Your relationship wasn't natural! You-"

Bill would not be cowed so easily, and really, Sookie had never seen that fire in his eyes before, that sort of anger, that rage. It almost scared her.

"Not I, you! You inserted yourself into matters that did not concern you! You saw something unique, beautiful, and you burnt it to the ground because you wanted to hurt me! You've always wanted to-"

"I wanted to protect you both!"

Silence crashed around them like a nuclear bomb. The only sound Sookie could hear was the beat of her own heart, nearly deafening by now. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. It took six heartbeats before Sanguini crumpled, pulling away, huffing and spitting as he, uncharacteristically for a vampire, scrubbed at his eyes. It was odd, Sookie would admit, seeing a vampire such as he, obviously old and intimidating, act so… Human. Sanguini paced back and forth, three steps left, sharp turn, three steps right before he pointed an accusing finger at Bill.

"They knew Bill. The ministry… They knew. The night I sent them away, the minister had already sent out a squadron of Aurors to… Deal with the problem. And you know how the ministry of magic deals with vampires and vampire 'sympathisers' or 'apologists', don't you? Did you want that? Did you want to see Lily burned at the stake for fraternizing with the enemy? Did you want to see her tortured and killed? Or to simply vanish and wash up on some beach in Scotland where no one knew her name and her body would be left to rot in the sun? And oh… What they would have done to you… The message they would have sent with your desecrated body…"

Jarringly, Sanguini came to a stop, so still, so limp, it was like everything, from blood to bones had been drained out of him, sucked and pulled and he was nothing but an empty husk, a shell. The sight of him there, ashen and so very, very dead, scared Sookie more than his confusing tale could ever do.

"So yes, Bill. I changed their memories and sent them away. I killed the Aurors, faked some memories and I doctored some files. I had to. You and Lily would have been killed if I had not and the wizarding world would have gotten what they always wanted. A solid reason to declare war on our species. I'm not sorry for what I did. I'm only sorry I didn't do it sooner."

Leisurely, Sookie tried to piece the information together. In the 80s, Bill was in London. He met some people there, Sirius, Remus, Peter, James and Lily. They were friends… Bile rose up in Sookie's throat. Lily… More than friends, Sookie would guess and, unreasonably, a spike of jealously hit her right in the sternum. Sookie shook her head, determinedly squashing that feeling down hard and fast. She had no reason to be jealous. Bill was here, with her and he, of course, had a life before Bon Temps. Then it struck her. Wizarding world. Ministry of magic. Aurors. Witches and Wizards… They were real. Sweet mother Mary… They were fucking real? What was that now? Vampires and wizards and witches, whatever she was? What was next? Goblins? Werewolves? Fucking Fairies? For a long moment, she spiralled at the doors that were opening up to her, showing their faces. These wizards had a minister, a ministry, a government. Bill's voice, soft and gentle, broke Sookie out of her whirling mind.

"She's… She's dead, isn't she? The Lily that died in the war-… It was the same one, wasn't it?"

Sanguini cocked a brow.

"I see you've been keeping up with the wizarding war. How much do you know?"

Now there was a war too? Vampires had been out of the coffin for a good few years yet and still, humans, she, none of them had any idea of the things, the creatures that prowled their world. How could they miss a war? Were these wizards and witches simply that good at hiding, or did humans in general just turn to blissful ignorance? Sookie had a deflating feeling that it was a touch of both. Bill, however, was having no trouble keeping up.

"The basics. The ministry of magic is good at keeping their world airlocked, but some news still leaks. Especially news as big as a species wide war. I heard Lily and James's son survived? Harry? That he led the fight?"

Sanguini refused to meet Bill's eyes.

"Harriet, but she goes by Harry, yes. Bill… James was sterile. He couldn't have kids."

Bill nodded but there was a crease there, between his brows.

"So, Lily and Sirius? I couldn't quite picture that myself but-"

"Sirius was in love with Remus. Anyone with eyes could see that."

Bill blinked, and blinked, and blinked. Sookie, at this point, had no hope of catching up, to know exactly what was going on, she was only along for the ride now. However, later, you could bet she was going to interrogate Bill. How could she not? Witches and wizards, real? That wasn't something you just let slip passed you. Sanguini, realizing Bill was not getting whatever he was hinting towards, took off on a rather… Strange tangent.

"Did you know witches gestate for fifteen months? Werewolves gestate for seventeen. A fairy, I heard, is pregnant for only five months. Dhampir's, however, have the longest gestation period. Twenty-five months. Just over two years."

The world swam around her and shakily, Sookie scooted to a chair, slipping on. Werewolves. Witches. Wizards. Fairies. Dhampir's, whatever they were… Was anybody human? Was anybody truly normal in this world? What right did she have to be surprised, she, herself, wasn't normal, was she? Oh, no. But she had always wanted to be, dreamed to be, and now, what even was normal anymore?

"How does this have anything to do with whatever you're here for?"

At Bill's question, Sookie tried, by god almighty, did she try and get back into the room, to be present, to push her errant thoughts away for later. Always later. Sanguini did not try and dodge the question this time. It seemed, to Sookie at least, if hinting wasn't going to work, he would spell it out for them.

"Harriet was born on the thirty-first of July 1991. I sent you and Lily apart in December 1989."

Sookie didn't understand the climax, but Bill sure did. Yet again, for the first time, even when she had already witnessed him being drained from V addicts, Sookie had never seen him this dazed before as he took a crooked step backwards, his accent thick and rolling like sea fog.

"No… No. Dhampirs aren't real. They're a myth, a fable, told to scare newly turned vampires from disobeying their makers and-"

"Harry died on July thirty-first this year. She was seventeen… She woke up in August Bill."

Sanguini wouldn't let up. He had Bill in a corner now, floundering, denying something, refuting it, right where he wanted him, and he wasn't going to give away ground.

"No. You're lying. Lies. Why would you do this? Was tearing me and Lily apart not enough for you? Now you want to play some sick game with her-"

"Harry's never been bitten by a vampire. She's never digested any vampire blood. Harriet Lillian Potter is a Dhampir, and James was not her father…"

Sookie was tired. She was tired of this verbal battle. She was tired of the confusion. She was tired of Eric's smug smile. She was tired of Pam's sly grin. She was tired of Bill being flustered. She was tired of always being behind, of never knowing what or who or when something was coming or going. She needed answers. If she and Bill were ever really going to work, if they were ever going to be equals, she couldn't be kept in the dark any longer. She pulled up from her seat, looked Bill dead in the eye and her tone left no room for rebuttal, dismissal or substitution.

"Bill, what's a Dhampir?"

Sookie's stomach squirmed, like it was full of maggots, squirming, nibbling. She thought she already knew. She may not be the brightest bulb, but she wasn't stupid. She just wanted Bill to say it. To hear it from him, for once, just once, for him not to try and keep her sheltered, to give her answers, to not leave her behind in some twisted act of trying to protect her. Yet, Eric was the one to answer her.

"A Dhampir is the child of a mortal woman, human or witch, with a vampire."

Sookie took in a deep breath. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she had misheard something, or didn't quite understand. Vampires were dead. Dead. They couldn't have-… They couldn't…

"You mean a pregnant woman is bitten and-"

Eric's head pitched to the side, like a puppy spotting something plushie and chewable.

"Don't be so naive Sookie. You know exactly what I mean. When a vampire lusts after a woman very, very much, they both get naked and-"

Bill snapped.

"Eric! Enough!"

Eric, for a beat, looked ready to lunge at Bill for being spoken to in such a manner, but he only settled back in his chair with a nod of his head, as if he was silently telling Bill it was his mess, he should clean it up. For Sookie, the painting fell into place. Two years pregnant. London. The timing. A war. Bill had… Has a child… A girl… A real child, with his DNA, his blood, his genetic makeup. There was a storm of emotion inside of Sookie, wreaking havoc, but nothing was quite what she expected when she finally received the revelation she was half fearing but needing to hear. She wasn't jealous. She wasn't angry. She wasn't hurt or confused. She felt… Compassion.

There had been a war. A seventeen-year-old girl, a child, had fought it and died only to wake up as a… Dhampir. A child. What monsters made a child fight or lead a war? Sookie loved Bill. She loved him dearly and this child was a part of him, she carried around a little bit of Bill and she had been in a war… It wasn't alright. It wasn't okay. It wasn't fine. Was she hurt? Was she scared? Sookie turned to face Sanguini.

"Is she okay? Is she safe?"

Sanguini nodded but Bill took up the mantle, his confusion slowly ebbing away to an almost frantic need.

"Where is she? Is she in London or-"

Eric cut him off.

"She's in my car. Or, at least, that's where I told her to wait. Sanguini here was bringing her to you but she awoke too soon. She's carved a pretty little path of corpses and destruction through our vampire neighbours before I found her."

Sookie frowned.

"Vampires?"

Sanguini nodded.

"Aye, Dhampirs hunt and feed off Vampires, not humans. They're notoriously hungry in their first few months, hunger they can't control, but luckily, it fades... In time. The real problem with Dhampirs is they also nearly completely lack any sort of impulse control. They see food, they eat. They want to bite, they bite. They want a fuck, they'll fuck. Their clothes itch, they'll strip and strut around naked. They want a nap, they'll lay down and sleep even if it's in the middle of a busy highway. The sound of your voice annoys them, they'll break your neck or rip out your voice box. They think it might be fun to jump off a building, they'll leap without second guessing. They get any idea in their head and they do it. Their lack of impulse control makes them deadly to all species. They don't give up, they don't give in, they never fold."

Sanguini took a moment to gather his thoughts before carrying on.

"However, it is also a weakness. Their greatest one. They cause more harm to themselves than anything else. It's been known that a Dhampir has gotten curious about what can and can't kill them before and, in acting out this curiosity, without any impulse control, they've killed themselves. Ripped their own head clean off just because they wanted to know what it felt like. A Dhampir's sire is often the only one who can get through to them, to curb their impulses, to convince them not to carry out certain ones most of the time. To tell them it's a bad idea, or at least, can order them not to do it. That's why she needs Bill. It's the only reason I've brought her here."

Everything was so confusing. Her little world had been tipped right up on its head and left was up and down was right and nothing was as it should have been. Witches and wizards were real. Bill had a biological child who… Ate other vampires and apparently, if struck by an idea or whim to slaughter the whole town, would carry it out without a second thought. Jessica was having trouble adjusting to her new life and…

A foreboding shadow crept its way across Sookie's skin, the hair on the back of her neck and arms raising. Dhampirs were able to feed and hunt off vampires, not an easy feat, leading Sookie to believe they were quite dangerous. Perhaps the most if their food source was something as strong, fast and tricky as a vampire. They, according to Sanguini, couldn't control their hunger and if it was hungry, unable to deny even the most simplest of impulses, it would feed. Sookie, Bill, Sanguini, Pam and Eric were all in one room, safe in their numbers. Jessica was upstairs, alone and thinking back, Sookie had not heard a single noise come from upstairs. Not a creak of a floorboard, a groan of a bed or a slam of a door.

"Bill… Where's Jessica?"

Bill hesitated.

"I sent her to her room. She's fine-"

Eric was up in a bolt.

"I told you to send her away, not to her room!"

Then he was gone, flashing out of the room with that inhuman speed of his, Pam hot on his tail with Sanguini soon following them. Bill glanced back at her.

"Stay."

And then he too was gone, leaving Sookie to a roaring fire and anxiety. Sookie, however, was never any good at listening and dashed out of the front room, through the hallway and out the front door the vampires had left open. She needed to know Jessica was okay. That Bill would be. What if this Dhampir turned its hunger to him? Sanguini had just told them this Dhampir, all Dhampirs, had no impulse control.

"Harry, stop!"

That was Bill's voice, bright and tumultuous. Sookie's trainers pounded harder against the gravel. She made it just in time to see, beneath an oak tree, the three vampires' circling. By the trunk was a short girl, dressed in an oxford shirt, hair alive and wild. She was bent over something, holding it to her chest, neck and face obscured as her shoulders quaked. It was only as she pulled back, staggering back a step or two, a loud click ringing out, that Sookie realized what she was holding.

Jessica.

The girl, Harry, turned to face them, fangs away, mouth, chin and neck smothered in blood, and she… Smiled. It was such an innocent smile, all daisy and summer breeze, that the scene around them didn't fit. She looked like a child who had a chocolate moustache standing next to a destroyed cookie tray, not a Dhampir who had been draining Bill's Childe.

"I was hungry."

Her voice was light, airy, with a hint of smoke. So matter of fact, easy going, like she had been stating the sky was blue, or asking whether that cloud looked like a hotdog or not. Unceremoniously, without much thought, she dropped Jessica and kicked her over, as if Jessica was nothing but a ball or a toy that she had grown bored of. Harry watched with wide, inquisitive eyes as Bill dashed for Jessica, checking over her neck wound, listening to the dazed vampire mutter something about games and fun. Sanguini's voice echoed in Sookie's mind. They see food, they eat. They want to bite, they bite. Eric stepped in closer to the Dhampir, almost cautiously, if Northman could do such a thing.

"I told you that I would take you out hunting later."

He sounded more indulgent than reprimanding. The Dhampirs neck snapped around as she eyed up Eric. Honestly, in that moment, she looked confused, unable to discern what she had done wrong, why they were all so weary of her. Perhaps she really, truly, didn't and couldn't understand what she had done. No impulse control meant no idea of repercussions or consequences. Bundle that in with a creature that could match a vampire and well…

"You said not to drain the blonde or the brunette… That one's ginger. You never said anything about the ginger."

Hell's gate was opening up right underneath Sookie's feet.


So, one of Harry's weakness's have made an appearance! I thought having a creature, especially one like a Dhampir, with little to no impulse control would be fascinating to write about. Vampire mythology especially, is all about those who give in to their 'impure' impulses. In Dhampir's, I've simply maxed that out to the extreme. I mean, can you imagine having no impulse control? Seeing something like an iron, hot, and wondering huh, how bad would that hurt? And then bam, you've gone and put your hand right on it. It makes them dangerous, infinitely so, but at the same time, it's completely detrimental too. I thought it would be a good balance to the creature, the type of Dhampir, I'm trying to create, and I hope you guys like this idea too!

On the first part of this chapter, Jessica's P.O.V, I really wanted to mirror classical vampire literature. In most vampire fables or legends, the most likely person to be attacked would be a disinterested and/or disenchanted woman/girl. One who wanted to be free, who was bored or too 'lively' for the times they lived in. Jessica fit that role perfectly, especially season 2 Jessica, in which this is placed just barely before. Of course, originally, these tales worked as a warning to women, who were often the victims of vampire attacks in legend, as a sort of, deal with your lot and be happy, or a, it's wrong to feel this way and if you do, a vampire's going to get you! Normally, the vampire would then tempt them out, goad them into following them, not because they often had to, but because, especially in gothic literature, vampires LOVED mind games. It was part of the hunt for them. I, personally, wanted Harry to begin to display those traits. Not only does it help bring Harry into the vampire fold further than she already is, but when the time comes for Harry to start dealing with what she is now to what she used to be, I think this will be a perfect problem she will have with herself because, in my mind, Harry would see this as something Tom Riddle would do, not her, and it will later bring in some self-reflection on what and who she is now and what that all means for her.

As for Sookie feeling a little jealous of Lily in the beginning of this chapter, I thought it fit her character well. Before Sookie knows Lorena is Bill's maker, she's incredibly jealous of her, and time and time again, Sookie has shown jealously to be one of her flaws. She's jealous of other people not being able to read minds. She's jealous of her friends for having 'normal' lives. She's jealous of Lorena and Bill and really, Bill with any other woman. However, Sookie is also compassionate, and I wanted that to show when she pushes that Jealously away to ask if Harry, a person she has never met, is well and safe.

In the end, I want to write complex characters, none of them are perfect and I thought highlighting Sookie's flaws before showing her strengths would lend to this theme.

Well, here's chapter three! I really hope you all like it!

THANK YOU for all the follows, favourites and of course, the reviews! As always, if you have a moment, please drop a review off, they keep my muses spinning on their heads.