A Better Tomorrow

Chapter 11- Don't Lose Your Nerves

Sookie's head was about to explode with all the thoughts that were hitting her mental shields. In a moment of panic, she looked through the crowd hoping for a relief. There he was, standing on the opposite side of the her, staring at Dawn. Eric had made his way to the middle of the crowd to assess Dawn but Sookie did not care. Of course she was sad by the news of Dawn's death. No matter how much death she had witnessed, how much corpses she had watched, it did not make death any easier. An end to a life was always a sad thing and while she tried to cling to the little humanity she was feeling inside for her dead friend, she did not cared at that exact moment because she felt her head couldn't take the hits anymore. So she focused on Eric as he was placing his hand on Dawn's body. She focused on the void, the silence that his mind was offering her and she smiled as her body relaxed. She wasn't really paying attention to what was going on until Eric was leaving the crowd. He smiled at her and walked away. She tried to follow him but Sam had grabbed her shoulder as she was no longer able to keep her shields up.

She froze as she felt the fears, the panic and the worries of the crowd. She wanted to block them but just couldn't anymore. She felt her knees giving in and Sam caught her in time before she hit the ground. He slowly brought her down safely worried that something was wrong. Her eyes were bulging out of her head while the sweat was dripping down her forehead.

"Sookie! What's wrong!"

She did not look at him but instead closed her eyes. She felt so tired and weak.

When she reopened them, Alcide's face and Sam's face were hovering over hers. She blinked a couple of times before realizing she had passed out. She sat up quickly almost hitting their face in the process while looking around her. She was in her bed and her grandmother was sitting in the rocking chair beside her offering her a cup of tea. She smiled and took it thanking her in the process.

"What happened Sookie?" asked Alcide looking worried.

"I don't know, it never really happened before I guess"

The three of them was staring at her awaiting an answer which she did not have. All she knew was that her mind got overwhelmed by the thoughts but something else had happened. She had felt their fears and their worries. Normally, she would only hear their thoughts but this time she felt it. She thought to herself that she now truly knew what walking in someone's else's shoes was. She sighed at the weirdness of the event.

"Where's Eric?" she asked instead of providing them with the answer they were waiting for.

" He is sleeping, it's noon" Sam replied.

"He will be gone tonight" Alcide growled "how convenient"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sookie replied

"You must admit it is strange that a couple days after Eric has joined us, someone dies from draining and conveniently he is summoned by his queen which we had no knowledge of until tonight"

"I do not appreciate your allegations which, I don't need to remind you, are unfounded."

"True but you must admit, it is all weird coincidences"

"There are no coincidences in the world" Sam murmured loud enough for all of us to hear.

"That's enough" Adele said before Sookie could reply. "You can speculate all you want; the gentleman is innocent until proven guilty. Until then, I hope there will be an investigation?"

"Of course" Alcide confirmed. "We will let you rest Sookie. Later tonight, I would like to discuss certain things with you about what happened. Do you think you will be up for it? I could also use your talents for the investigation"

Sookie knew exactly what he meant. Other than the supes in the community, no one knew of her abilities. She was crazy Sookie to them but since the plague it had seemed that she wasn't so crazy anymore. A world full of corpses walking the street had proven itself crazier.

"Sure" she said before drinking the rest of her tea.

"Alright, I won't be far if you need me." Sam stated while giving her a kiss on the forehead.

Her grandmother stayed with her, rocking back and forth while staring at the floor. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.

Sookie tried to get up but quickly fell back in her bed afflicted by a horrible headache.

"You should really sleep Sookie, your mind need some rest"

"Will you stay here for a little while?"

Sookie always slept better when she had someone in her room. She felt safer with a presence.

"Of course, now sleep child"

So did Sookie who did not take long before falling into dreamland.

Sookie saw him again in her dream. The shadow, the pale skin, the red lips, the long blond hair tied in the back by a leather string; his piercing blue eyes staring at her very soul. She then saw him standing in a big room. She couldn't distinguish faces that were surrounding him as they were all blurry with the exception of one, a face just as pale as his with short dark hair. His face was peaceful and radiant. He was smiling.

Sookie awoke in silence in the same position she had fallen asleep. Her grandmother was gone as expected. She looked out of the window into the darkness. Some members of the community were walking down the main street with torches in hands. They looked worried and fearsome. Sookie knew the community was most likely restless after what had happened to Dawn.

She went outside in search of Alcide. She had promised him to help with the investigation. She headed for the main room in the church where the community usually gathered. Indeed he was sitting on one of the benches, alone, lost in his thoughts.

"Hi" she whispered as she sat beside him.

"Oh hey Sook, I didn't hear you come in"

"Oh I am sure you did you were just not paying attention. Any news?"

"No not really. We only know that she has been drained. We are burning her body tonight to be on the safe side"

"What is it you need my help with?"

"I thought you might be able to listen in and see if maybe you could find some clues on to what had happened? I don't think a vampire alone could have pulled that off. We do have a ward to protect us and even if it is limited, how could a vampire simply drain Dawn and then bring her in the middle of the town without anyone seeing anything?"

"I see what you mean… I'll do my best but I can't promise much. I think I passed out last night because of people's thoughts"

"It overwhelmed you?"

"I guess you can say that"

"mmmm" Alcide was back to his thoughts. He took a couple of minutes before adding "Just be careful and don't push yourself too hard"

Sookie agreed and left the church. The evening air was cooler and caressed her face gently as she walked down the main street. She was off guard duty that evening but she knew she wasn't going to get any rest.

She quickly grabbed a bite to eat while peeking into the couple minds that were in the kitchen. After listening to various thoughts, it was starting to be clear to her that no one knew anything and that the vast majority of the community was terrified.

She decided to head back to her room in order to clear her mind off. Once she reached the entrance, Pam and Bill were standing in the hallway not addressing each other. Pam looked her way and smiled

"Sookie! We were waiting for you. Heard anything interesting?"

Sookie looked at them suspiciously.

"No not really… Did Eric leave already?"

"Yes he has'' she replied.

Bill wasn't looking at her and if she did not know him better, she would think he was avoiding her eyes.

"I don't supposed you guys know anything else either?"

"Unfortunately no, the community is awfully tense and on guard it seems" Pam had exclaimed. "You would swear they think we had something to do with that human's death"

"You mean Dawn. "

"yes of course, Dawn"

"Well you can't blame them can you? She was drained and you guys are the two vampires of the community"

"Indeed" Pam affirmed.

Sookie caught herself staring at Bill who was still not looking at her. He didn't even acknowledge her presence. She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. She had no wish to ask what his problem was as she knew it would give him a chance to talk about Eric again.

"Alright, well if there is nothing else then…" Sookie walked to her door and opened it hoping they would leave.

"You know we didn't do it right?" Bill said in one breath

Sookie turned around to face him

"Of course, we just need to figure out who did.. Alcide thinks the vampire had helped, maybe from the inside?"

"That's plausible" Pam said "goodnight Sookie" she added before they left her in silence.

...

A couple days went by without much more advancements in the investigation. It had seemed that as the hours past, the community grew weary and worried. Sometimes accusing each other while at other times, crying together. Dawn's ashes' burial went without a hitch. The whole community had gathered to say their goodbyes except two of its members; Bill and Pam. There were a lot of speculations to why they would not attend the funeral but as far as Sookie was concerned, they had their reasons and it was probably really good reasons. The community, however, did not share her thoughts. She could hear their thoughts and their suspicions which most time had given her a headache.

As time went by, she got worried about the vampires. No one had seen them since the burial. She brushed off the bad worries which had made their way to her head. If there was anyone in the community who could defend themselves; it was the vampires.

Sookie was heading down to her Grandmother's room when she noticed something was off. There were no cats to greet her. She pushed the door open to find an empty room which looked perfectly normal except for the messy bed.

She decided to head over to the church to look for Adele but her search was unsuccessful. She spent most of the day asking everyone around her where her grandmother was. The less people knew, the more worried she grew. When the sun went down, Sookie knew something was wrong. Her grandmother would never ever leave the community without telling anyone and she sure would not want to be outside at dark.

On her way to the kitchen, she heard a cat miauling behind the main building. She headed in that direction to find Stephen beside the big garbage bin in the alley. It was dark and she couldn't really tell what he was doing. He turned rapidly in her direction in order to face her. His eyes kept looking between Sookie and something on the ground.

"Hi Stephen! Have you seen my grandmother by any chance?"

She smiled at him not sure if it was to reassure him or herself when her eyes venture to look down at his hands.

She realized that Stephen wasn't looking at the ground but at his own hands which were holding a knife covered in blood.

Thank you for reading!

Xox

Z