I know, I know Matilda is not the sexiest name on the planet, but there's a method to my madness. I'm Dutch and it means "Strong in battle" in Dutch. I thought it was too perfect considering her genealogy. Thanks to everyone for the encouraging reviews. I'm flattered. It keeps me motivated!

I do not own any of the characters from Southern Vampire Mysteries. They all belong to Charlaine Harris. Bless her for sharing them with us. Mattie is my very own.

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Chapter 6

I inspected Bill's fang marks on my neck. "How in the world am I going to explain myself out of this one?" At least I hadn't lied to Sookie exactly. I didn't have to tell Bill, he had gone ahead and figured it out all on his own. More importantly, he was alright with the whole scenario. That was still amazing. In bed the night before, told me he began to suspect something was up the night we met. Heightened senses and an extraordinary sense of smell and taste are very obvious signs of my type of supernatural being. He knew I wasn't a vampire and that left him few options to explore. I jolted as my phone rang.

"It's about time she called me back."

"Hi mom. I guess you got my message. You got a minute to talk?"

I hung up the phone and felt 1000% percent better. There wasn't much my mother couldn't help me solve. She knew how I felt and was the perfect confidant. Mom was a bit concerned about my relationship with Bill though, but not in the mother-of-a-slayer sort of way. The last thing she told me before hung up was to make sure I was using protection.

OK, so maybe mom's just do that out of instinct. Not that it even mattered since Bill is a vampire. I snorted and shook my head. I surveyed myself in the mirror again. "OK Mattie, bite the bullet and just go to work. Sookie'll get over it." Unfortunately with short hair and a polo shirt I wasn't exactly concealing much. Make-up wouldn't work so I just gave up and walked out to the car.

I walked into Merlotte's a short while later and began prepping for the lunch rush. Sam stared at my neck when I walked past him, but said nothing. What the hell? He was always so obnoxiously protective of Sookie. What was I, chopped liver? I threw my purse in Sam's office and went out to refill ketchup bottles. Sookie was sitting at one of her tables filling up salt shakers. Before I could even speak, she bit my head off.

"Don't! Just don't even say it. Don't even bother. I thought we had a deal and you were going to take care of the situation?

"I did, I swear. Well, that is to say that Bill already knew. He apparently did some detective work before I even got the chance to talk to him about it. I was all ready to come clean with him and he didn't even give me the chance." I smiled a sideways smile remembering how he had distracted me from my task.

"Ugh. I don't want to know about that. Stop thinking about it"

" He does know though and it's OK. He knew before before we even.....well.... and we still did...twice... no, three times...he said he's OK with it. I know it's still dangerous, but I really like him Sook. Well, you know how he is. He's pretty hard to resist when he knows what he wants."

"Again with the smiling. Gross. I don't need to know details so just keep your mind closed will ya?"

"So you can see that? Really? You're ability is getting stronger. All right, fine. I'll try to keep my thoughts to myself then. I know I broadcast a strong brainwave." I shot another quick scene off in my mind, but Sookie had blocked me out already.

The rest of our shift went on as it normally would. It wasn't a terribly busy day and we had some time to talk and make plans for the evening. Both of us were scheduled until 6 and then we were going to hang out together for a change. A night of girl talk and sleep sounded really good.

"You ready to go Sook?"

"Give me one minute and I'm all set."

"Fine. I'm going to go change and call Bill so he knows where I am. I'll meet you at my car." I ran off the the ladies room to put on some jeans and a comfy sweatshirt. It was early October and the weather was starting to turn cool in the evening. I had just finished pulling on my boots when I smelled the weirdest smell. Where was that coming from and what the hell was it? I grabbed my bag, walked into the back hallway, and peeked out into the employee parking lot.

The smell was ten times worse out there. I didn't see anything, but heard a soft whimper followed by a low sinister laugh. It only took a second to register what that awful smell was. It was a vampire, and an unfamiliar one at that. It smelled even worse to me than Eric had. Maybe the creepier they are the more they stink? Bill doesn't really smell at all. At least not in a bad way.

I tried to block out the stench and crept around the corner trying not to be noticed. In a flash I saw everything I needed to. He looked like a greasy, scumbag. The stereotypical thug from every gangster movie I have ever seen. His shirt was unbuttoned and he was wearing a lot of gold chains that wound through his greasy chest hair. He had his hands all over Sookie and it took no time at all to figure out his intentions. She was already bleeding and swollen. He had grabbed her by the neck and was holding her up against a tree as he fumbled at his belt and unzipped his pants.

That was all it took for me to go on high alert and into a mode I wasn't aware my body still possessed. I ran across the lot with cheetah speed and slammed my body into him. He jumped up and lunged at me, but I ducked and sent a sweeping kick to the back of his legs. I was amazed my body was doing all of the things I asked it to as I smacked him in the face with a roundhouse kick. By now the vampire scumbag, as I was thinking of him, was plenty pissed. He flew through the air with his fangs out and landed on top of me knocking me flat on my back. He reached for my wrist, but only ripped my bracelet off sending beads flying into the air. " OK asshole! That was expensive. Now I'm mad!"

I rolled him over and smashed his head on the ground as he bit down and tore a hole in the flesh of my arm. That hurt like a bitch and I screamed out in pain from the burn while trying to break free of his grip. We struggled with each other for quite a while both of us gaining and losing the advantage again and again. There was dust and gravel flying through the parking lot and I heard a loud growl as another bite ripped through my shoulder. Then as if it were choreographed for an action film, Sookie handed me heavy, rough object. Before my mind registered what it was, my body had already done the work. I had plunged the branch down and finished the job.

It was silent in the lot as I dragged my battered body to lean against a nearby car. Racked with pain, I closed my eyes to block out the sensory overload. All I could think about was what I had done. It had felt so good to send that perverted fucker to meet his maker. It was a feeling I remembered well. Maybe too well. Block it out girl. You need to calm down. Tears were streaming down my face as I came to the realization of what had just happened. The smell was beginning to dissipate and I could only assume the vampire was flaking away and disintegrating.

Then my nostrils were filled by two new smells. This time they were familiar ones. One belonged to Bill. How had he gotten there so fast? I opened my eyes to see him kneeling by my side and cleaning my numerous wounds. The other smell came from above me. I looked up at the shadow looming above. It was Eric.