Dance, dance

We're falling apart to half time

Dance, dance

And these are the lives you'd love to lead

Dance, this is the way they'd love

If they knew how misery loved me – Fall Out Boy

Sookie POV

I slowly start to pull my arm out of the hidden compartment, all the while rubbing whatever is in my hand with my thumb. I don't exactly know why I feel compelled to but doing so is causing a warm feeling to creep up my arm. Again, I am confused on why I suddenly feel comforted by it.

I jump when a hand encloses around my arm, quickly turning around to see that it is only Eric who slowly starts to pull on my arm, bringing it out. "I can do it," I tell him, feeling confusion at why he feels the need to do so.

"You been 'doing it' for about two minutes already," he tells me and I can hear the worry in his voice. "You just stopped pulling your arm out and have kept it still for minutes," he explains as my hand comes free of the compartment.

I stare at him in shock at hearing this. I could have sworn my hand was in there for mere seconds. How could I have lost two minutes of time? Eric, probably seeing the concern on my face presses a kiss to my forehead. "You were calm," he whispers, pulling away. "That is the only reason your hand stayed in there as long as it did."

I nod to him and try to give him a bit of a smile. I think I fail at that though, unnerved that two minutes have passed and I recall nothing of it. I look down to what is in my hand and I am again surprised at what I see. It's a locket, the charm without the chain. I would say it's a simple locket, but the way it vibrates in my hand makes me think it is anything but simple.

"Do you recognize it," Eric asks and his voice causes me to look at the charm and up at him. His eyes are focused on me however, instead of the charm in my hand. If what he says is true and I lost those minutes though, I can't say that I blame him.

At his question, my first response is to shake my head no, when a memory suddenly enters my mind. It wasn't too long after my parents died. I was playing outside with Jason when a man I had never seen before seemed to suddenly appear next to my Gran as she was hanging up some sheets to dry. She didn't seem frightened by the stranger or his sudden appearance at all. He started talking but she shook her head and sent Jason and I to go play in the backyard.

I looked back as Jason was dragging me into the back, eager to throw me in some mud back there and saw Gran's hand's move to her face, obviously upset at whatever the stranger had told her. He takes her into his arms as his gaze moves to me over Gran's shoulder. His gaze is full of emotion as he sees me right as Jason manages to pull me around the corner of the house.

Gran was pretty upset the rest of the afternoon and night. I had stayed away from her knowing that she didn't want to think about what was wrong in my presence. I didn't want to make her even more upset by hearing what she obviously did not want me to hear. After my bath though, I went to her room to tell her goodnight, planning to spend the rest of the night in my room. As I got to her doorway I saw her standing in front of her mirror, quiet tears slipping down her face. She held the charm on her necklace, the same that is currently in my hand, in her hands before quietly slipping it over her head. I tiptoed back to my room not wanting to bother her any more.

"I haven't seen it again since that night," I tell Eric after explaining what I remember to him. I suddenly feel a hand come over mine, and Eric's finger start to move with mine. It's only then that I realize that I have been stroking the locket the whole time. Not understanding what I am feeling from the jewelry, I shove it into Eric's open hand. I watch him roll it around in his hand, but his attention never leaves my face, which leaves me wondering even more what the hell this tiny little charm really is.

"You don't feel that," I ask him. He shakes his head and I don't miss that he puts it down on the dresser rather than back in my hand.

"What do you feel," he asks me.

I try to put what I feel from it into words. "It feels alive," I tell him, explaining the warmth and vibrations I feel from it. "It feels like it's mine," I tell him. He picks it up and again moves it around his hand.

He shakes his head and says, "It feels room temperature to me. Nothing special just a simple locket." He places it back in my hand and suddenly the warm feeling is back.

"You get nothing from it?"

"Nothing," he confirms.

"That's weird," I tell him, putting it on the desk.

"Not really," Eric says. I look at him, not understanding what he is getting at. "If this is a Fae trinket it would not be weird for you to feel something, for you to feel like this is yours, and for me to feel nothing."

That gets me thinking. He could very well be right. It's not like I've had any fairy relative to explain this kind of stuff to me. The thought that I have one trying to see me crosses my mind but I send it on its way. Not the best time to deal with that thought with everything else currently going on.

Like a charm that is seemingly trying to mesmerize me.

I am just about to ask Eric if he knows any fairies so that we can test his theory when the front door opens downstairs. My protective vampire doesn't seem too concerned about it and I understand why as Jason calls up the stairs, "Sorry Sook, but I forgot my leftovers. Wanted to come by and get them for lunch tomorrow."

My eyes go to Eric's as I realize something that he probably has already thought of. Jason, like me, has some fairy blood in him. If this was a Fae trinket, as Eric put it, he should feel something too.

"It's fine Jason. But could you come up here for a minute. I want to show you something."

I can hear that he moves to the foot of the stairs. "Uh, Sook," he calls up. "If Eric is up there with you, I'm not sure I want to see what you have to show me."

I groan and yell, "Like I would call you up here to see that. Jason just get your ass up here."

I can hear him muttering to himself as I hear his footsteps on the stairs. I can't make out what he is saying under his breath but judging from the chuckle Eric lets out he does.

I don't think I want to know.

Part of me wishes I could just be honest with Jason about everything and just tell him the truth about Gran and the fairies. But now isn't the time. So instead, ignoring the look of relief on Jason's face on seeing Eric and I fully clothed, I hand him the locket and ask if he remembers it.

He looks at it for a few seconds before saying, "Yeah. Gran wore it when we were younger." I listen into his thoughts to see what he feels with it in his hand but he, like Eric, feels nothing. I don't know what to do with that and I can tell with the look on his face neither does Eric. He takes the charm out of Jason's hand.

Jason looks confused and I don't blame him. "Thanks," I tell him. "I thought it looked familiar but I couldn't remember where I had seen it before."

Jason looks around the room and sees that I am packing some things up. "Do you need any help, Sook," he asks and this time, unlike when he asked in the kitchen, he means it.

"Thanks for the offer Jase," I tell him. "But I got it. Just going through jewelry now. You are welcome to stay though."

He looks around the room and I see his eyes get a bit watery before he turns around and says that he'll let me get back to work so I can get to home sooner. He never turns back around but he does say that he loves me over his shoulder before leaving. Eric wraps his arms around me from behind and rests his head on mine. He doesn't need to say anything. Just him being here is enough. I'm not used to seeing an emotional Jason but he, like I was earlier, was thinking about all the people who should still be here.

Eric's phone rings and shatters the silence and he looks confused as he sees who's calling. "Pam," he tells me before answering. That is odd. She and Thalia were going to be going to Fangtasia to make sure the closing of the bar went smoothly. There had been a few fights at closing recently so everyone working was taking extra care that they didn't bring any unwanted attention. Pam should have been able to handle anything tonight. The fact that she feels the need to bring anything to Eric's attention is not a good thing.

The look on Eric's face as he hangs up, unfortunately proves my thinking correct. "We need to get to Fangtasia," he tells me as he gently starts to pull me down the stairs and out of the house.

"What's wrong," I ask, getting into the car.

"Octavia called right before Pam and Thalia got to the bar. The protection wards she put up detected something."

"Danger," I asked wondering about the vagueness of that statement. 'Something' could mean a lot of things.

"I do not know," Eric says as he goes speeding down the driveway. I can feel the worry in his voice and I'm sure he can sense it coming off of me. We are quiet during the rest of the car ride. I know Eric is worried and thinking about ways to ensure everyone's safety.

I'm just thinking about how I hope my family is okay.

Eric POV

I have so many thoughts running through my head as I drive to Fangtasia, the most pressing is that I wish there was a safer option than taking Sookie with me. However, this breach could mean all hands on deck will be needed, which would not leave me with anyone I would trust with her safety. This is why she is safely buckled into the passenger seat driving toward the unknown danger with me.

She is quiet on the ride, knowing that I would need this time to plot and plan many different options that could counteract whatever will be waiting for us at the bar. But with her actions while she was holding that pendant, my thoughts are not as focused on the potential threat than they should be. Sure, I have some plans working through my mind and am not ignoring the danger, but behind my plans I cannot hide my worry of what her reaction could mean we were dealing with, on top of everything else.

I did not lie when I told her she had her arm in that desk for two minutes. The only reason why I did not simply yank her arm out of there was what I told her – she remained calm and did not seem to be in pain, quite the opposite actually. The last time I had felt that from her was when she agreed to speak to someone about her past abuse. She had not even known at the time how much she was craving the ability to talk with someone for the help she so desperately needed.

And that was something that I too was all too familiar with.

During those impossibly long minutes, the calm feeling that was filling her was the only thing that kept me from destroying that desk if I needed to, to get her arm out. Her reaction to the pendant is a bit worrisome. Even if Jason did not feel anything from it, I am not convinced that it is not something Fae. That alone bothers me, knowing the kind of things fairies can create.

Problem is, I do not know any trustworthy Fae to ask to find out if my worries are correct. But that is not where my focus should be tonight.

I pull up to Fangtasia and can see Pam and Thalia standing a few feet back from the doors. I get out and am over at Sookie's door before mine is even closed. I do not need to be reminded of the ambush that happened here not too long ago. We may have killed that shooter, but that does not mean there would not be others. Pam, knowing what I am thinking tells me that there are already patrols around the outside of the bar to ensure that this is not an ambush.

That just leaves whatever the wards picked up still inside the bar.

"Have we spoke to someone inside," I ask Pam.

She nods and tells me Felicia is inside. "We are lucky it was already so close to closing," she says. "Many humans had already left and the ones that are inside are under glamour so they do not panic and potentially make the situation worse." She continues to list the vampires that are inside. I nod and am happy there are so many inside. Their numbers may be needed.

"What exactly did Octavia say," I ask.

"That the wards have picked up something odd."

"How come they did not go off here then to alert us of the danger?"

"She did not know. Her answer to that was that the wards may have been tampered with, they may need to be strengthened, or whatever set them off does not have an immediate intent to harm."

I curse and take two steps towards the door. "How can they not have found what set off the wards? Is it dangerous to cross them?"

"If they have been tampered with, there is no way of knowing. If something simply set them off, Octavia says there should be no danger. Felicia didn't want anyone leaving or anyone new in until you got here. She didn't want to chance the perpetrator escaping or more coming in."

I do not like not knowing where the danger lies. It makes no sense that the wards were set off but what set them off was not in the bar. It also makes no sense that the vampires in the bar have not been able to locate the potential threat. Thinking through my few options to get this situation under control, I make the only decision I can and decide to go inside.

I am not surprised when I see the looks on Pam and Sookie's face when I tell them that I will be going inside to find out what has been going on. Nor am I surprised when Thalia says she is coming in with me. I would rather her stay out here, safer with the others but the look on her face matches the look that is probably also on mine – determination and I know I won't be able to talk her out of it.

I press a kiss to Sookie's head before turning and walking to the entrance, never once letting my senses to what is going on outside the bar dull. Just as I am getting to the door it opens and immediately Thalia and I react. We both relax our stance when we see it is only Felicia, but we are both still ready to pounce if the situation calls for it. "We found her," Felicia says to me.

"Is she restrained," I ask her starting to make my way into the bar.

"Yes," she tells me. "But I'm not sure it was necessary," she adds, confusing me. I am not sure why she would not think it was necessary to restrain a threat.

"Where is she," I say stopping when I get to the main area. I do not see anything out of place.

"In the basement."

"It is good you brought her down there," I tell her heading over to the hallway that will lead to the entrance to the basement.

"We didn't," Felicia says causing me to stop and turn around to face her. "She was just down there, sitting like she was waiting for us. That's why it took us so long to find her. That was the last place we thought anyone would go."

I hear Pam move behind me, seeing that we crossed the wards safely and hearing the confusing words that Felicia said. "Well, what are we waiting for," she says, with a hand on her waist. "Let's go down there and see what the little bitch wants."

Sookie POV

I follow Eric, Pam, and Thalia down the stairs into the dungeon area. I can tell that none of them are happy that I am here but I also know that none of them would be happy if I wasn't with them with the threat still unknown. Sure it appears the only threat has neutralized but not everything is at it appears.

Eric toyed with the idea of leaving me outside, but with not knowing any of the Weres well that Tray had been able to send over to help tonight, I know he was not going to be happy with me out of his sight. Sure he would trust his vampires to my safety but the unknown Weres threw him off.

I don't think Tray would send anyone untrustworthy, and I know Eric doesn't either but with everything going on right now and knowing very little about it, he wants me with him.

And I am not complaining about that – even if he is leading me down to his dungeon.

I can't say that being down here is the best part of being with Eric, but it's one that I understand is necessary in his line of work. Would it be great if vampires and other Supes could all solve problems nicely? Absolutely, but it would also be great if humans could too.

The vampire in question is sitting sideways on the ground. There are chains around her but I don't see smoke coming off of her so they don't appear to be silver. Judging by her appearance however, it doesn't look like silver is needed. She's pale, even pale for a vampire. She must have been almost drained as she has deep cuts all over and they are not healing. It's hard to make out that her hair is actually blond when I first see her because of all the red that is running through it. I am just thinking that with her hair and profile she looks similar to Pam, when Eric and Pam run toward the vampire.

But I am shocked when I see the looks on their faces when they get to her. They're not a look of anger, like I would expect from them given this situation. No, the look that is on both of their faces is one of concern and panic.

Not something I expected.

Eric quickly rips the chains off of her and gently picks her up so she is eye to eye with him. Pam stops and stays behind the now upright vampire and I think I see a tear coming out of her eye. "Eric, is it," she asks with a shaky voice.

"No it is not," Eric says. "But someone sure as hell wanted us to think it was."

I look to Thalia who shrugs clearly confused at what we just saw. I look back to Pam and Eric, whose faces now contain some of the anger I expected before but none of it is aimed at the unknown vampire. I'm not sure what exactly is going on but I think our lives just got a bit more complicated.

Hello dear readers. I do hope that you have enjoyed this last chapter. Most of you have guessed what was found in the drawer, but it will be a few chapters before Sookie and Eric know what was found due to a change in how it was found in this story. As always, thanks for reading. All the reviews and alerts are much appreciated.