This chapter is much longer than the last, but it's a lot of talking. Blah, blah, blah, talking. Somewhat boring, I know, but eh... what are you gonna do?

Enjoy.

The phone at Merlotte's was ringing off the hook, and it was starting to get on Sam's nerves. He had heard the faint chirping from his office and the fact that it hadn't been answered yet frustrated him. Sookie, Tara, Lafayette, Terry, and Arlene should all be on the clock by now, and at 11:00 in the morning, the restaurant couldn't have been that busy. More confused than annoyed, he got up from his desk and headed into the dining area only to stop when he saw Arlene and Terry standing in the hallway.

Arlene looked worried. Her cell phone was glued to her ear as she stared into space trying to listen to the person on the other end of the line. Terry was rubbing her back, attempting to comfort her, but that was never really his department so the whole situation looked slightly awkward.

"What's wr—" Sam attempted to say, but the phone behind the bar began ringing again. "Oh, goddamn it!" He temporarily left Terry and Arlene to their business and walked behind the bar, scanning the restaurant for the rest of his staff. Lafayette and Tara were over by the pool table, deep in conversation about something. Sookie was nowhere to be found.

"Would it kill one of you to answer the phone?" Sam directed at the two cousins. Tara took her pool stick and placed it firmly on the ground, getting into a defensive pose with her free hand on her hip.

"Why they callin' so early in the morning? That ain't my problem they too lazy to come in here." Lafayette chuckled in agreement as he set up the pool balls for another round.

"What if it's important?" Sam defended, although he really thought it was then he would've answered it by now.

"Shoot, Sam, they can call back. Apparently they know the damn number; they've been calling for a while now." She and her cousin went back to their game. Sam rolled his eyes, but picked up the headset.

"Hello?" he asked, but only got the dial tone. "Goddamn it." He repeated, slamming the phone on the base.

"Mmmmm… someone seems a little upset dis fine mornin'," Lafayette grinned at his cousin who snickered in response. Sam frowned.

"Guys, the phone was ringing for a long ass time, why the hell didn't you answer it? And why aren't you in the kitchen, Lafayette?"

"Sam, look around you. Do you see anyone here? We dead, motherfucker," Tara answered, lining up the Q-ball. Sam scoffed again and headed back into his office, ignoring Arlene and Terry on his way back.

Not even a minute later, the front door opened and Sookie stumbled in. She was fumbling with a seemingly heavy box while trying to get a grip on her apron and work shoes. Tara looked up from her stance, raising a brow, before eventually ditching her game to help out her friend. They placed the box on the bar's counter before Tara started rummaging through it.

"What are all these for?" Tara asked, picking out a football trophy and eyeing it oddly. She read the plaque at the base. "Jason Stackhouse? Why do you have these?" Sookie sighed and blew a strand of blonde hair out of her face before irritation consumed her tiny body.

"Why wouldn't you guys answer the phone? I felt like I was calling for half an hour."

"Aw, not this again…" Tara rolled her eyes. "First Sam, now you?"

"Where is Sam? I need to apologize for being so late."

"He's in his office, but he ain't gonna care. There ain't no one here to serve, Sook. I don't think he even noticed you hadn't showed up." Sookie sighed again and headed toward the back, leaving Tara to snoop through the box of Jason's stuff.

In the hallway to Sam's office, Arlene was sitting on a barrel, almost in tears. Terry stood awkwardly, shifting from foot-to-foot, occasionally muttering a "there, there" and "everything's gonna be fine, sweetie." The scene had caught Sookie's attention.

"What's the matter?" Sookie asked, her willingness to help people had shifted her priorities.

"Arlene's real good friend is in the hospital. It don't look too good. She wants to go see her, but Cody and Lisa have a recital tomorrow night an' there won't be no one to pick 'em up or watch 'em for the weekend." Terry seemed to be getting emotional about the ordeal too. He didn't like seeing Arlene upset in any way, shape, or form; especially when there was nothing to he could do to fix it. Sookie's eyebrows furrowed in sympathy.

"Can't you pick them up, Terry?" She asked and the man shook his head no.

"Her friend's up in Pennsylvania. It'd be a two day trip at least, and Arlene wants company cause there's a good chance that her friend'll…" he stopped himself, his lip trembling.

"Arlene, I'll pick Cody and Lisa up, okay? Go on up to see your friend." Arlene's face brightened.

"Are you sure, Sook? I need a sitter too. I-I-I'd be willing to pay you." Sookie smiled, but nodded.

"Yeah, it's no trouble at all. Go see your friend, okay?"

"Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Arlene jumped up and tackle-hugged Sookie, making Terry jump. He had not been expecting so much energy so quickly from the depressed redhead; it had caught him off guard.

"I'll go ask Sam if we can go. Thank you, Sookie!" And with that, she grabbed Terry's hand and dragged him down the hall.

Although Sam's office was Sookie's original destination, she didn't want to intrude on the conversation. Apologizing could wait. Turning on her heel, she headed back towards the bar.

Tara had five of the golden sport trophies displayed in a line on the bar as she continued to dig in the box for more.

"So you gonna tell me why you have a box full of Jason's trophies or what?" Tara asked.

"It's not just his trophies, it's some of his old stuff that he left at my house," she jumped up on the barstool and got herself comfortable before continuing. "He called me this morning begging for me to get it. I was already running late, but he sounded like he really wanted it, so I grabbed as much as I could before coming here. I figured we'd be slow, but I thought I'd call anyway. Only no one would answer the phone…" she gave her friend a teasing glare. Tara smiled sheepishly.

"Don't blame me. I don't answer the phone. If it's really important then they'll call Sam's extension. I'm surprised you didn't, it's much easier that way."

Attention was drawn to the restaurant door as the 'ping' above it rang. Two boys walked slyly, their movements reeked of suspicions. If it wasn't daylight outside, Sookie would've been convinced that these two were vampires. Both of their skins were ridiculously pale and the bags that hung deep under their eyes outlined and emphasized them. One of them was crack-head skinny while the other was borderline obese. When standing next to each other, they looked like a really odd pair.

The two of them walked towards the booth in the far corner, ignoring the stares they were getting from the staff.

Lafayette looked up from his pool table and grimaced in distaste. He put the pool stick back in the rack before walking behind the counter and back into the kitchen; avoiding eye contact with the newcomers. He was muttering something under his breath that both Tara and Sookie had missed as he passed by them.

"You're up, Sook," Tara nudged her friend and the perky blond jumped down from the barstool and walked over towards the customers.

"Hello, guys! Welcome to Merlotte's! My name is Sookie, I'll be your waitress this aftern—"

"Great. I'll take two cheeseburgers, extra fries and a Coke," The fat one handed Sookie the menu without even looking at her. The telepath blinked.

"Uh… um… okay… and for you, sir?" She turned her attention to the thinner man who looked at her with sunken eyes.

"Water." He dully stated before handing his menu over as well and turning to face his companion. Sookie's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, and she figured that was the most she was getting out of them. Awkwardly, she headed to the pickup area.

Lafayette stood on the other side of the window; his eyes were locked on the only two customers in Merlotte's; the look of disgust on his face was evident. Sookie walked up to the window and placed the slip of paper with their order on the windowsill.

"Dose two got a lot of guts to be showin' der face up in dis place," he scoffed. "Dem knows I work here, and dem knows I knows who dey iz." Sookie looked confused. She turned to look at the two seemingly harmless freaks at their table.

"You know them?" She asked, turning back to the chef. Lafayette nodded.

"Mmmmhmmm… dem dealers of sorts. Specialize in V. Apparently dey got de best shit in town, but I ain't entirely sure dat dey get it from… willing participants. If you know what I mean."

Sookie's eyes widened, "They kidnap vampires for their blood?"

Lafayette shushed her. He lowered his head and his voice before nodding.

"Dat's what I heard, girl. Don't talk so loud. I don't knows if iz entirely true. Wouldn't surprise me dough, dat's how most dealers get der blood. But dey do some weird shit to it—supposed to only be a good high, never bad. I never tried it, so I wouldn't know. Don't plan on it neither; dose greasy motherfuckers ain't worth getting mixed up in. Dey crafty." He took the piece of paper Sookie had placed on the windowsill and backed up next to the grill.

"Watch your back with dem, girl. Don't fuck with dem," he fired up the grill and the entire kitchen soon roared to life. Sookie went back to the bar, to complete their order.

"Can you get me water and a Coke, Tara, that's all that guy ordered."

"Pssh… cheap bastard. No wonder he's so damn skinny, he looks like he could slip through a crack in the floorboard." She grabbed two glasses from the bar and threw some ice into it before turning on the sink and running one through it. When the glass was full, she repeated the process with Coca-Cola, and handed both glasses to her friend.

"Don't expect a tip from them, girl. They look like broke as hell."

Sookie rolled her eyes, knowing that was probably true, but took the glasses from her friend, and headed back over to the table. She handed the two their beverages.

"Your food will be out shortly," she forced a smile, before returning to the barstool she was sitting on before.

Arlene came running out and down the hall, stopping in the dining room and hugging Sookie, almost knocking her off the stool.

"Thank you, so much, Sook! You have no idea how much this means to me," she was practically in tears. "And I'm sorry to leave you two by yourselves on a Saturday night. I'll make it up to you, I promise!" She hurried out the door, Terry was right behind her.

"Cody and Lisa's recital will be over at 10 tomorrow night. It's at their school. The sitter should get 'em tonight though, so your off the hook 'til then. Thanks again, Sookie," he informed. Sookie nodded and understood.

"Be careful, okay?" She smiled sweetly. The war vet nodded, before following his girlfriend out the door. Only to run into a guy walking in.

"Hey, Terry, sorry man. That's my bad," the newcomer apologized, even though it was technically Terry's fault.

"Can't talk, Jason, I'm in a hurry," the man squeezed past the jock, leaving Jason partially confused. Jason glanced around the restaurant before spotting his sister. A smile spread across his face.

"Did you bring the stuff I asked for?" He asked, excitement dancing in his eyes.

"Yeah, I brought it. You made me late today because you needed it so bad," she rolled her eyes, trying to show that he had inconvenienced her, but Jason didn't seem to mind. His face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning at the site of the box.

"Thanks, Sook! It means a lot!"

"What did you need it for anyway?" Tara asked. Jason seemed a little caught off guard that she was the one who had asked. Wasn't she mad with him about the whole shooting Eggs thing?

"Oh, um… I'm making a mural-like thing in my house of all my greatest achievements. It's gonna be great, I'm so excited." Tara snorted at the idea and chuckled at the sight of Sookie's mouth dropping.

"That's why you wanted me to grab it all? You made it sound like it was an emergency!"

"It was. I needed it, and I didn't feel like running over to your house to come get it."

Sookie scrunched her face irritation, "Jason Stackhouse, I could—"

"Order up!" Lafayette called from the kitchen. Sookie cursed under her breath. The argument she was going to have with her brother was going to have to wait.

Eric sat at his desk; arms crossed and concern on his face. In front of him laid a wrinkled map straightened out to the best of his ability. It was a map of his area—Area 5. He rarely used it. He never really had to. His area was up kept rather well when it came to vampire authority, but that was partially due to the fact that he was older than everyone else in the area, the queen included.

He pulled out a box of pushpins and began placing them in various locations until the map was decorated in assorted colors. The Viking frowned, slightly more concerned than when he started.

A knock at the door broke his concentration, and he blinked himself back into reality. Lazily, he walked over to the door.

It was Pam. Her arms were crossed and annoyance radiated off of her posture. Behind her stood a small, frail, frightened man.

Eric cocked an eyebrow.

"We don't open for another half hour," he informed his progeny, but he didn't seem angry about her disturbing him. Pam glanced at the man behind her.

"He insisted. Something about his girlfriend and how he can't find her anywhere."

Eric narrowed his eyes, clearly annoyed.

"This is why you interrupted me?" he asked. Pam cocked her head to the side as the man behind her whimpered. Eric's eyes darted over toward the terrified human.

"Don't bother me with these stupid human problems, Pam. Get him out of my site." He ended the conversation by slamming his office door in both of their faces.

Pam sighed dramatically and turned around to face the man.

"I told you he wasn't going to give a crap," she informed, grabbing the man's arm and began walking him out the door.

"No, wait! You don't understand!" He tried to fight against Pam's grip, but to no avail. "My girlfriend—she's a vampire!"

Eric's office door burst open, and the Viking was instantly in front of the two. The man squealed and recoiled back at the distance the 1000-year-old vampire had enclosed so quickly, not entirely expecting the vampire to act. Pam was slightly surprised too. Why would that little bit of information change Eric's mind on the subject?

"When's the last time you saw her?" he demanded.

"Two-two days ago—nights! Two nights ago. I was going to pick her up at her place, but when I got there, her door was busted and her place was trashed. I couldn't find her anywhere. The only thing I could find was this."

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small necklace with a tiny purple orb swinging from the end of it. Eric reached out for it.

"It isn't hers?" he asked, about to grab the chain.

"Don't," the man pulled it away. "It's silver."

"So it isn't hers," Eric answered his own question. The man shook his head and bit his lip, praying that the Sheriff wouldn't simply overlook him again.

The vampire looked away, pondering something. Finally, he reverted his attention back to the man.

"What's her name and where did she live?"

"Stacy, sir. Stacy Kane and uh… just right up the road from here."

Eric walked back into his office, leaving the door open. Pam and the man both shared a confused look before following the Sheriff. The Viking picked up another pushpin from the small box and pushed it into his desk, and onto the map right next to a handwritten Fangtasia. He then reached into one of the drawers and pulled out a yellow notepad with a list of at least seven names.

"Stacy Kane?" he asked the man, not looking up from the notepad. The man nodded and watched in horror and Eric added his girlfriend's name to the list.

"There are more vampires missing?" He asked, dumbfounded. His eyes kept darting from the list on the desk to the map right next to it. "How could you let so many go missing? Stacy told me that you were a great Sheriff—that you were probably the best one she has ever had! And now all these vamps are missing and you can't find a single one of them?"

"Pam, escort our guest here out of my bar, and please be sure to glamour him while doing so. I don't need this getting out." Pam was in just about as much awe as the man next to her, but she agreed.

"Come on, nutcase," she grabbed the man's arm again, but he wiggled out of her grip.

"I'm not going anywhere until I get some answers!" He held a good defense; however, he had made the mistake in making eye contact with Pam. He was glamoured in under a second.

"Let's go outside for a bit, okay?" She asked. He nodded, and let her lead him out.

Eric sighed, trying to piece all this crap together. He had been on this case for almost a month now, and the fact that he still had no answers was starting to get under his skin. He had a feeling that whoever was doing these kidnappings were human. Possibly drainers. Kidnapping a vampire wasn't exactly an easy task. One had to know exactly what to do to get one to submit. That's what concerned Eric the most.

All the vamps that were missing were female, attractive, and were around 50-100 years old in age. Stacy Kane was the only exception, being closer to 200 than everyone else. Eric racked his fingers through his hair, trying to think.

Pam walked back into the office. Her posture told him that she wanted answers, but honestly, he didn't have many.

"Why didn't you tell me vampires were missing in your area?" she asked, almost offended he hadn't mentioned it to her.

"Because I'm the Sheriff and it's my problem. Because you have been a little on edge lately; I didn't see a need to bother you with my stresses."

Pam took more offense to this, "I have not been on edge! And you can tell me what's bothering you, Eric. I can help with a level head." Eric looked at her and grinned.

"Oh? Was last night your way of proving this to me?" Pam scoffed.

"I told you I could've handled it," she put her hands on the desk and leaned in closer, trying to emphasize her point. "What happened last night, isn't anything new, okay? I get hit on all the time, I get threatened all the time, and I get attacked… occasionally. But I can always handle it. Always."

Eric smirked. He knew that she could. He never once doubted her, but he did like getting on her nerves sometimes.

"So what's going on exactly?" Pam asked; her eyes dropped down to look at the map. When she actually got a good look at it, she swallowed in surprise. That was a lot of pushpins…

Eric sighed, "A couple weeks ago, a vampire by the name of Amber Maxx disappeared here," he pointed to the blue pushpin.

"Two days later, another vamp vanished here," he pointed to the green one.

"And then I lost track and this happened," he threw out his hands to indicate he meant the whole map. "All the disappearances happened within a thirty mile radius of Bon Temps, all of the victims are female, and all of them vary in ages."

"Do you think it may be drainers?" She asked. Eric shrugged.

"It's possible, but not set in stone. It's hard to catch a vampire, let alone move one from one location to another. I really have no idea what's going on and if I don't figure it out soon, someone else will begin to notice." Pam's eyes widened.

That "someone else" was a higher authority. If the queen or someone higher got involved, Eric could lose his job… or worse. The vampire authority has been known to accuse the one in charge for the unsolved crimes they couldn't figure out. He take the blame for the kidnappings… along with the punishmen. Pam swallowed.

"Why don't you ask a daywalker to help?" She offered, trying to hide the panic in her voice. "That way, we have more time to figure it out."

"It's my problem, Pam. I'll deal with it."

"Eric, you can't just—"

"Pam, listen to me—"

"No, you listen!" She snapped, her anger and frustration from the past few days finally catching up with her and being released on her maker. Eric understood this, but his progeny still caught him off guard.

"I am not going to sit here and let you get in trouble again. Do you understand? Now go get Lafayette or Sookie—"

"Sookie wants absolutely nothing to do with us anymore, Pam," Eric interrupted coolly as opposed to his child's outburst.

"I can talk to her; I'll make her change her mind," Pam was determined, but Eric saw desperateness in her eyes. She was so tired of being knee deep in authority issues, the sooner they got this case over with the better. Eric sighed in defeat, but nodded.

"Fine, fine…" He mumbled, and Pam felt a warm bubble in her chest from triumph.

"Summon Sookie here. Tell her I'll pay her for her services and afterwards, she'll never have to hear from us again."

Pam tried to stop the smile that insisted on spreading across her face.

"Oh, but Pam," Eric warned. "If she says no, this is my problem, not yours. Got it?" Pam nodded in understanding, before hurrying out of Eric's office. The Sheriff looked at the time and moaned in irritation.

It was time to open up Fangtasia.

I appologize for any poor grammer/boring storyness you may have encountered while reading this fic. I'm shooting for tomorrow for the next update. If it works out, I'll see you then :P

-Redd