Chapter 20

I headed back to Bon Temps and stopped at Whiskey's to get myself a drink. My hands were shaking so badly, I knew the clerk would think that I was an alcoholic. I bought a few tiny bottles of gin and took out one of my two bottles of water. I cracked open the water and drank half of it. I poured the gin in and shook it gently. I drank the bottle down quickly and felt myself calming down a little. But just as quickly, I felt it coming back up. I hung my head out the window and threw up. I began regretting taking Eric's blood earlier. It was just after noon and I still didn't know where to find Dermot.

I turned down Hummingbird Road, and pulled up to Gran's house. I would take a shower and make some phone calls. None of my vampire friends would be awake at this hour, and they would all owe fealty to Eric, not one of them would keep my location a secret if I told them where I was. I pulled out my cell phone and called Alcide Herveaux. He answered on the third ring.

"Sookie Stackhouse, how are you?"

"Hey, Alcide. How are things?" I didn't really feel like making chit-chat with him, but I hadn't talked to him in months and it wouldn't be polite to just blurt out what I wanted. I tried to maintain some semblance of propriety, even though I just tried to kill a man.

"I hear things are great for you, you're engaged, to Eric, right?"

"We got married over a month ago, actually. I just got back from my honeymoon. My brother, Jason was murdered, so we came home early."

"What? Oh, Sookie. I'm so sorry to hear that. What happened?"

"I can't really talk about it right now. I'm really having a hard time with it. I just need to ask you if you know anything at all about the fae. Or, do you know who might?"

"God, Sookie, that's really hard to say. I don't know much about them. They're very secretive and keep to themselves. I don't know anyone who has ever actually met a fairy. Why do you ask?"

"I'm looking for someone with fairy ties and I need some information." I didn't think it would be wise to tell him about my own connection to the fae. I couldn't let myself be targeted by any other creatures.

"Hang on a second, I've got another call." I could hear him clicking over to the other line as I let myself into my old house. Jason's friends were gone, and I was grateful that I didn't have to run into any of them while I tried to figure out my next move.

I went into the laundry room and found a box of clothes that had been too big for me when I moved to Ravenwood. I slipped the shorts on and had a quick thought that the shorts fit a little snug now. I'd gained back the weight and a little bit more.

"Thanks for waiting. I'm buying an interest in a quarry outside Dallas. Now, let me think about this. I really don't know who you could talk to about them. But you know who might know? There's a doctor that my father knows. She has helped our family from time to time. Her name is Dr. Ludwig."

"I know Dr. Ludwig, I have her number. Thank you for reminding me about her."

"You sound shaky, do you need any help?" He sounded so distracted that I didn't want to press further.

"I'm okay. I'm trying to keep myself together. Thanks for asking. Alcide, I'll get back to you, soon. Take care." I hung up before he could ask me anything else. I didn't want to think about Jason or I would lose my focus and run home to Ravenwood and not get this finished. I needed this to be finished tonight, before Eric woke up, found me and yelled at me for being impetuous. He would be very, very angry with me, and I was deeply sorry to hurt him, but Dermot had destroyed the only part of my human family that I had left. He wasn't going to stop until he destroyed me, so I had to get to him first.

I sat down at the kitchen table and looked over my body. My wrist was healed, but it still hurt. I had purple bruises on my knees from falling to the floor, and my ribs caused a sharp pain when I breathed in. It was taking my ribs a lot longer to heal than my wrist had. I'd reached a point where Eric's blood was wearing off, and I wasn't healing as quickly as I had been. I thought about Eric, sleeping fitfully under our bed, worried about me. I thought long and hard about going home and coming up with a plan to get to Dermot that didn't involve me running off on my own. I wouldn't feel safe until I had figured out what he wanted from me, or killed him. I walked over to the counter where I kept my grocery list and coupon clippings. There was a sliver envelope with my name written on it in dark swirling letters. I tore it open and saw that the handwriting was frenzied and I could sense the mania in the short demands.

"You will see me. Stop ignoring me. Dermot." He had included a cell phone number. I could have saved myself so much trouble if I'd read this the night of the benefit. I dialed the number and waited. It rang for a long time and I reached to hang it up, but Dermot picked up the phone.

"Well, I guess I finally got your attention."

"Why are you doing this? What is it that you want from me?"

"We'll talk in person. Where are you?"

"Why did you kill Jason?"

"I will discuss this with you in person. Tell me where you are, Sookie"

"Come to my home at Hummingbird Road." I remembered that my great-grandfather had told me that there was powerful magic at my Gran's house. I believed him because I was able to fight Quinn off, and no one had been able to harm me at the Bon Temps house ever since I met Niall.

"Sookie, I'm looking forward to meeting you."

"I can't say the same about you. I don't understand what you want with me and why you felt the need to kill my only living relative."

"I'm your family too, girl. Don't forget that." He hung up the phone and I thought I might work on getting a few weapons around the house to protect myself.

I got the bag of almonds from the front zipper pocket of my bag and ate some quickly. I was hungry, yet nauseous at the same time. I had to have something to settle my stomach. All I could figure was that my nerves were getting the best of me. I went to the bathroom to pee and noticed that I was spotting. This would be a horrible time to get my period, but it was just my luck. I called Tara while I waited for Dermot to show up. She was knee deep in summer sales, and couldn't really talk for long. I told her about Jason and she offered to drop what she was doing and come to Gran's. I didn't want her involved in the Dermot mess, so I told her I wasn't staying. At least someone would know where I was if something should happen to me.

The steps on the porch creaked and I went to the door. I had armed myself with a knife, but as easily as Quinn had taken it from me, I worried about trying to use it against him. My heart pounded in my chest. This man murdered my brother without any remorse and was probably coming here to do the same to me. I felt my fangs pressing against my gums, but they didn't click into place as they had earlier. I had lost a little of the strength that I'd gained. I threw the door open to put him on the defensive and he jumped a little at the suddenness.

"Why? Why would you kill him?" I threw myself at him and swung the knife at him blindly. He backed away from the doorway and put his arms up to protect himself. I slashed at his arms and cut him. I smelled his blood and immediately, my fangs slid into place. I was actually relieved. I didn't wait for him to answer, I kept slashing, but I couldn't understand why he was laughing at me.

"Why are you laughing? Why did you kill my brother?" I screamed and felt my throat getting hoarse.

"Stop." He held his hands up, and there was a flash of light from his palms. We were under my oak tree and I couldn't move my arms suddenly. It was as if I was bound by invisible ropes. "You have something I want, and I'm taking it from you today. Your brother got in the way. That big vampire of yours got in the way."

I looked at him closely for the first time since he'd arrived. He leered at me, like a disgusting version of Jason; his mouth twisted into a horrible grin. His eyes were narrowed into slits of madness. He was unwashed and there was leaf debris in his hair. I could smell wild animal on his breath and clothes as if he'd slept side by side with wild boar. His face was covered in a blond beard that had streaks of red that made him look like a demon. Except for the wrinkling around his eyes, he could pass for Jason, if Jason was insane. Dermot licked his lips, and grunted a little when he spoke and I wondered why Niall hadn't warned me about him.

"You invite me into that house of yours. Do it, or I'll slit your throat."

"You can't go in, can you? That's why you need me. If you kill me, you'll never get in that house."

"Niall's a fool for entrusting our sacred rite to someone so foolish."

"I don't know what the Hell you're talking about, and I don't care. What do you want with me?"

"You have something that I need and I mean to get it from you today." He wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He got into my face, but I couldn't move. He breathed his rancid breath into my face, and I felt the almonds rise into my throat. He waved his arms over me, and I was able to move my arms again. I collapsed onto the dirt and took a deep breath. I knew I had to run for the house. I was only about 15 feet from the door, but that was a long way if he knew I was going for it. I tried to appear weaker than I was. I rolled over onto my side so that he could get a look at my bruised legs and my purple wrist.

"Please, Dermot, whatever it is that you think I have, can we just talk about this? I don't have the strength to fight you. I'm so weak." I looked up out of the corner of my eye to see if he was buying my act. He leaned down over me and sized up my injuries.

"You get on your feet." He yanked me up into the air by my arm, but he was at least careful not to grab my healed, but purple wrist. "On your feet, and into that house. Invite me in, give me the sacred rite and then we'll talk."

"I –I don't know what you're talking about." I genuinely didn't know what he meant. I didn't have anything that could be considered a sacred rite to anyone. The fanciest thing that I owned was jewelry that I'd already taken to Ravenwood. "Dermot, I don't know anything about any sacred rite. But I'm not letting you into my house."

"Then I'll kill you, just as I killed your brother and wait for those men to return and have them invite me in."

"Dermot, tell me what you think it is that I have. I don't have anything that belongs to you. Niall didn't leave anything here, and I can't believe you killed Jason for no reason." I looked out of the corner of my eye at the porch and I closed my eyes tightly.

He reached into his pockets and I took advantage of his distraction and ran vampire fast to the porch. I slammed the door shut and locked it. My great grandfather told me that he'd put strong magic on my house to protect me, but I didn't know if that would hold up to an onslaught from another fairy. I didn't have the slightest idea what Dermot could be looking for. What would be in my house that would be worth killing Jason over?

I heard Dermot banging on the screen door. He was very angry, and I felt panic rising in my chest. I ran into the spare bedroom where I had boxed all of Gran's things. After she'd died, I packed things away and put them in here. I hadn't thought a thing about her stuff. I threw the door open and realized that this room was being used by one of Jason's friends. I pulled boxes from the closet and began tearing through them, looking for anything that Dermot might consider a sacred rite. I hadn't kept much that belonged to her. I had photo albums, jewelry and a few quilts that she'd made for Jason and me. Beyond that, I couldn't think of anything else in the house that was hers.

Dermot stopped banging on the door and it got quiet. I ran out into the living room, worried that he was trying some other tactic to get into the house. I looked around for something to defend myself and spotted my Gran's fairy statue. It was as if a light bulb went off in my head and I ran over to it. I lifted it up off the mantel and wiped it on my t-shirt. It was grimy with age, but a beautiful figurine nonetheless. I rushed into the kitchen and grabbed my backpack. I shoved the statue in my bag, and zipped it, looking for my car keys. I got my key ready because I was going to have to sprint, vampire fast to the Spyker and get going before Dermot realized that I was leaving.

I ran for the back door, and threw myself towards the car. Dermot was trying to see into the window alongside the house. He saw me climb into the car and ran towards me. I locked the door and got it started. Dermot ran for his own vehicle as I hurried out towards Hummingbird Road. I pulled the car out onto the main road and raced toward the highway. Dermot was in a short station wagon. He pulled up right behind me and I sped the car up. He wouldn't be able to keep up with me at all considering how fast the Spyker was, but he didn't need to keep up with me, he only needed to know where I was and as long as he kept me in sight, he would be able to follow me.

I had to slow down at the entrance to the highway, because there were two cars in the lane I was trying to enter. Dermot slammed his car into the back of mine, and I was shoved forward. The car didn't move quite so quickly and I knew that back end must be pretty damaged. I pulled out into the lane and put the car into fourth gear. I shot across two more lanes and stepped on the gas. He was behind me in the rear view mirror. I got caught behind a school bus traveling north and Dermot pushed his car into the passenger side of mine. I lost control of the car for a moment and felt the car skid into the sidewall. Sparks shot out from the car as metal scraped concrete.

I straightened the wheel and slammed the car into fifth gear. The car shot up to 135 miles per hour and I pulled far ahead of Dermot. I weaved in and out of traffic, and got off at the next exit. I drove fast, down a residential street and up into an open garage. I couldn't believe that someone would leave their garage door up, but it would suit my purposes.

I got out of the car, and pulled the garage door down and climbed back into the car. I didn't think that I'd been seen, but I crouched down in the driver's seat of the car and waited in the dark. It was hot and I began to sweat. I took my phone out to see the time. It was after four. I wondered if there was anyone that I could call that would be able to help me, but I realized that I was alone. I wiped my forehead on the tail of my t-shirt and tried to breathe. I sat there for nearly an hour and I felt myself getting tired. I'd had so much adrenaline in the last 24 hours that I was exhausted. I closed my eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.