Hey everybody. Sorry it's been such a long time since my last update, but I had my last final today and in celebration of this long awaited occasion, I thought I would write a chapter or two.

Also since I last wrote to you, I had my first trip to Vegas with my boyfriend for the Marine Corps Ball so I feel a little more comfortable writing for the Vegas scenes.

When we last left, Eric was gathering up humans for a game of poker, using the humans as poker chips, and Sookie, wanting to surprise him, showed up in disguise. It was only shortly after Eric realized who she is that Victor began to lead her towards the casino.

Sookie POV:

I wasn't happy to see Victor at the door and even less happy to have him gripping my upper arm so tightly. I looked at Eric to see why he wasn't getting all possessive and he had the strangest look on his face. Vampire expressions are few and far between so it's either a really good thing or a really bad thing when you actually notice one.

In my tipsy state I didn't initially flash to the usual oh shit moment. The Malibu rum that I had been consuming had left me warm and being near Eric had put me an even better mood. I was positively giddy, though Victor's grasp on me was starting to hurt a little.

"Where are we going?"

"Oh we have set up a special room for this occasion since the prize is going to be so big."

"Oh really, what's the jackpot going to be?"

"Oh I think we're up to about one-hundred and seven. Of course it's all being chipped in by several people."

"That's a pretty sizable pot."

"You can thank Northman for the majority of it." Eric had been following close behind, though Victor was travelling at a very brisk pace. The dimly lit casino full of slot machines whirled by.

"Stephanie, I recall you mentioning you needed to desperately use the facilities. Perhaps you should do that now. I don't believe you'll get the chance to once we're in the room."

"Oh that hadn't even occurred to me." I looked around for the nearest restroom sign. "Please excuse me."

"I'll wait right here," Eric responded.

Eric POV:

I couldn't think of a better alternative than to send Sookie into the ladies room. It was becoming damn near impossible to see Victor clutching her. The leer he made while watching her walk away made me want to stake him then and there.

"She will be a fine addition to the jackpot Northman. I hope the king will share his winnings."

"What do you mean?"

"Felipe de Castro does NOT lose at any game, especially not in his own casino."

I caught the underlying message. As his subjects, we were expected to make sure he won.

"Of course."

Victor looked off to the left hand side to see another vampire nod slightly.

"I must go finish the preparations. As soon as the last one comes out, bring her to the room." I inwardly sighed in relief. "On second thought, perhaps we will leave Charles out here to collect her? I'm sure the King would much rather play against you Northman."

"I know how much his majesty prefers Charles when it comes to games. Perhaps Compton would be a more suitable replacement for such a menial task." Bill was summoned for. He came out looking just as eager as he had at the beginning of the night. Victor gave him the order and then we both walked away towards the reserved room.

I tried to hint, to warn Bill of what was happening, but he didn't understand. How could he?

I came out of the restroom looking for how to get back to Eric and the group when somebody took hold of my arm once again. This was starting to get old.

"Excuse me, you don't need to hold onto me like that. I'm more than capable of just following you." I turned my head to see who it was that had me in a death grip (ha-ha) when I saw the familiar jet black hair and narrow face. "Bill?"

He did a double take of my outfit. "Sookie? What are you doing here and why are you in disguise?"

"I wanted to surprise Eric." I said that sentence with a slight shrug of my shoulders since it was becoming obvious that Eric just didn't want to see me. He was busy and I was just getting in the way. At least Bill was here. Even though Bill had been poisoned by silver less than a half a year ago, he was looking rather healthy tonight. He looked handsome and a little part of my heart, warmed at the sight of him being in such jovial spirits.

However, my contentment was cut short by the look on Bill's face. He looked upset, probably annoyed with me as well since he was now stuck with the task of babysitting me while Eric attended his party.

"Why isn't anybody happy to see me? What the hell did I do to deserve this Bill?"

"Sookie, it's not that I'm not thrilled to see you, but you shouldn't be here. Not tonight."

"I know" I sniffled while looking down at the new heels Pam had bought for me. "I'm just getting in the way of you all having a good time at your party."

With vampiric speed, Bill stepped closer and tilted my chin up so that I was looking directly into his eyes. "This self pity is unbecoming to a woman with your natural grace and beauty. I don't have time to explain the situation, but you need to snap out of it because you're going to get yourself killed if you stay here."

That got my attention. "What? What is it? Is Eric in some kind of trouble?"

"No, but you will be if you're discovered. You know the king is curious about you." He looked over at the door and started hauling me in the opposite direction, towards the casino floor. "He wants you for his own and I can't have you endangering yourself like this. I also cannot stay out here with you. Did you come here alone?"

"No, Pam brought me." His countenance (word of the day) changed to a wash of relief then determination as he whipped out his cell phone and hit the speed dial number three. I could hear Pam bitching at Bill over the phone.

"There is no time for questions. Sookie is here at the casino and you must come get her. Eric placed me in charge of her, but the poker games have started and they will notice that I am missing soon." Another series of low murmurs came from the phone and Bill looked extremely un-amused.

"She wants to talk to you." He handed me the phone like it was a snake.

"Pam?"

"Sookie, I'm coming to get you. Go to the information desk on the right side of the casino. If anybody asks who you are, do not mention your real name. Once you get there, stay put."

I nodded to the telephone with wide eyes. "OK." I didn't know what the hell was going on, but obviously the friendly game of poker that Victor had been mentioning might be a little more sinister than I originally imagined. I handed the phone back to Bill and started looking for the way to the information desk.

Even with all the signs, it was sort of difficult to find it. The smells of cigarettes and "lady luck" permeated every surface. After working in a bar for a good portion of my life, I was used to the odor and the drunks stumbling about. The low lighting was reminiscent to what they have at Fangtasia. I started to see some other reasons why a vampire would enjoy owning a casino; there was a constant supply of drunks that would be easy to glamour and plenty of rooms to bring them back to. The security was also tight and it would take a very skilled group of zealots to try to pull a stunt like the Rhodes disaster.

Regretfully, the inebriated minds of the masses present were broadcasting load and clear. My head was pounding angrily with all their thoughts. I hope Pam gets here soon.

I wonder whether I should buy that lady a drink. Goddamnit, I've already spent fifty bucks just on these slot machines in an hour. I don't feel so good. One more roulette game, then I'll go back upstairs. Oh screw it, I'll sleep when the sun comes up. Shit, I hope this fake ID gets me into that vamp club. Looks like somebody's getting laid tonight and that somebody is me.

I was starting to feel sort of woosy from the alcohol and the mixture of thoughts swirling in my head. I'm pretty sure I'm going in circles at this point. I know I've passed that Amazing Race slot machine before. In visions from the thoughts of the people surrounding me, I saw myself, just as intoxicated and lonely as the rest, with nowhere to go and nothing to do but spend my life being a burden and a health risk to the individuals around me.

I get people killed. That's just the sad plain truth. I am a danger magnet that makes it dangerous for anybody to care about me. I don't want anybody else to get killed because of me. I don't want the last friends I have in this world to give up their lives for me, but what can I do? I looked up to see Pam at the information desk and for some reason I hid behind the nearest slot machine. Maybe I was being just some lunatic drunk woman, but something deep inside couldn't argue with the idea that people would just be better off without me. Some of them might be sad to see me go, but as far as I could see they would be happier without my presence threatening their existence.

I have a little saved up that I could use to just get away. A silly image of me living in some little shack made of silver made me inwardly giggle. I could go somewhere like the Bahamas or Costa Rica where the sun is warm and the days are long. That close to the equator I would get a nice tan. I could find a house and fix it up and never leave it during the night. I could stay away from all supes and try to find the humanity within myself again. I could leave Eric to find somebody who was worthy of him. He wouldn't have to feel obligated to take care of me, just because I'm his bonded.

With the conclusion of these thoughts, I started to form a plan. Though it made me ache, I put one foot in front of the other and started to walk around the casino, slipped past Pam when she wasn't looking and walked out the double doors saying goodbye to my old life and love forever.

A/N: I have to admit the reason this chapter didn't go how I thought it would can be blamed on my not wanting to research how to play poker. My original thought was that Eric would have to win the jackpot to keep de Castro from discovering Sookie. Sookie would see all the girls fawning over Eric and then try to secretly set him up on blind dates when they got back to Bon Temps. In her effort to try to better the lives of others by taking herself out of the equation, I think Sookie is starting to act like herself again instead of some depressed little girl. She's a woman on a mission and nothing's going to stop her now.

As always, I love to hear feedback on my stories. Just because I sometimes neglect my stories and readers doesn't mean that they aren't meaningful to me. Now I'm going to try to get another update done tonight while I've still got the ideas in my head.

Love,

PIP