"No."
"Come on, Sammy, please?" Sookie pleaded with me. "I don't know how long I'll be gone, and at least you'll be able to get out of the house."
"I don't want to. Too many people Sookie. Everyone's souls are just so.." I trailed off. "It's uncomfortable."
"I'll be right there with you hun. If you need to, you can wear your contacts and ear buds the whole time. I won't make a fuss." Sookie hated it when I wore my white out contacts. "And we can have drinks on the flight over."
"...Okay." It was hard to tell her no, with her soul so green, looking like a flowering meadow in spring. I watched her smile brightly, already regretting my decision. "Is Bill coming, too?" I watched her nod, and my mood suddenly dropped. I hadn't officially met him, but I didn't like the way his soul looked. Maybe it was that he was a Vampire, Maybe he was just untrustworthy. Either way, His mirky soul set me on edge. I knew from experience that people who had unwholesome intentions that they were hiding, had mirky souls, like a dark film over the usually colorful mass that was their soul. I couldn't call it an orb since everyone's soul took a different shape.
Some peoples souls were complete abstract, not looking like anything in particular. Others like Sookie, had a soul that's splotches of color are reminiscent of a scene of some sort. I wasn't sure why, but I could see a person's emotions and personality through their soul. But that wasn't what bothered me when I went out. Everyone had muted, washed out colors, so it hardly ever bothered me. It was the little details in someone's mannerisms that caught m attention. This person twitched, that person's breathing pattern went off-kilter when a subject was brought up. And the noise. It was enough to cause sensory overload.
"Unfortunately, you'll have to meet Eric. I'm sorry about that." Sookie prattled on as I packed my bag of clothes. Black cargo pants, a pair of form fitting black jeans, and soft black cotton pajama bottoms. Necessary underwear. A few shirts that had some design or other on them... I set a few pairs of socks in, and frowned. Lately my soul felt weary, but I wasn't sure why.
"I'm sure he isn't so bad." I commented absently. She frowned down at me as I continued to check my list of essentials: Clothes, toiletries, hair brush, etc...
"You might need a dress at some point, you know." I glared up at my beautiful cousin and found myself comparing us once again. She was tall, blond, and had the perfect proportions without looking top-heavy. I was on the shorter side, with reddish brown hair, and I had larger than average breasts. I felt like a living anime character, and I hated it.
"You know as well as I do, that dresses don't agree with me. They always wind up really loose and unflattering or too tight across the chest." I zipped up my bag with a finality that Sookie couldn't argue with.
"Maybe that knit one?" Sookie pointed at a dark purple knit dress that I hadn't seen in a while.
"I suppose." I dragged it off the hook, and stuffed it, and a pair of black leggings into my bag.
"You can't wear tennis shoes with that." She put her hands on her hips. I huffed and dragged out black knee high pleather boots that had two and a half inch heels and stuffed them in with the rest of my things. Sookie sighed.
Grabbing my zip up hoody that depicted cat eyes, with a crescent moon smile, and the words "Some of the best people are mad" and securing my shoes on my feet, I settled by the door to wait for our ride to pick us up for the flight to Dallas.
"Are you excited to meet Vampires for the first time?" Sookie looked down at me. I knew she couldn't read my mind so I always used that to my advantage.
"Thrilled." My voice dripped with sarcasm. I inserted one of my many pairs of contacts that hindered my vision enough for me to only see the bare minimum, which helped me avoid an overload my senses, and hid how completely blown my pupils always were.
"Come on... You haven't even wanted to meet Bill yet, and everyone else already met him." Because I don't like him.
"I'll meet him tonight, so it isn't that big a deal." I hugged my knees to my chest as I looked over at her with white out contacts. I watched her slightly blurry form shudder under my stare.
We were picked up to go to the airport, and I kept my bulky headphones over my ears the entire time we were up in the air. It wasn't until we got through bagging that I realized we'd be walking by coffins until the Vampires were safe to come out. I frowned. The second coffin had a woman's outline in their soul. Didn't Sookie say something about a male named Eric? Sookie still didn't know my gift, but that was just because I preferred to keep my business MY business. Besides, I didn't want people thinking I was high on something.
I lagged behind, not sure how I felt about being this close to anybody. I kept my hands in my pockets of my hoody, and hunched my shoulders. I watched a man try to usher Sookie from the coffins and into a waiting car. I lunged forward and gripped this guy by the shoulders, jerking him away from my cousin. This gave Sookie the chance to shriek. It wasn't long before the Vampires roused and took care of the man.
The blurry image of Bill and a red head was what I was dealing with in the rear view mirror, since there wasn't enough room for four in back. Sookie kept giving this Jessica a strange look. I assumed it was jealousy.
It turned out the guy was sent by the Fellowship of the Sun to kidnap Sookie, but didn't count on me being there. Bill glamoured him into completely forgetting what happened. We made it to the hotel Carmilla, with Bill and Sookie using one room, Jessica using another, and I getting my own room as well. I stared at my room, looking down at my key. I quickly slid it into my grey dyed jeans, and quickly took out my contacts. I set my contact case as well as my headphones on the nearest horizontal surface and prepared myself to meet this 'Eric'. According to Sookie, he was a major ass. I figured his soul wouldn't look too pretty either. I opened my door, only to see a chest in my direct field of vision. I turned slightly to see Sookie glaring at the face attached to said chest. I looked up, and analyzed the tall blond Vampire in front of me. He looked down at me boredly.
"All set to go, kid?" His smooth voice reached me, causing me to frown.
"She's not a kid, Eric, she's twenty one." Sookie piped up angrily. Eric turned to Sookie, and flicked his gaze back at me in a calculating manner.
"Not what's important now. Somebody is missing, Sookie. My age hardly matters at the moment." I scolded, in a foul mood. Her eyes widened at me.
"But you hate when people say anything about your height or how young you look." She muttered at me as we made our way to the elevator.
"It's a common mistake. It's fine." I grumble. I pulled my hood over my head, effectively hiding my face.
"I apologize if I insulted you." Eric murmured as we got into the car. Luckily the red head stayed behind, but unluckily, it seemed that Eric wanted me up front with him. My eyes found their way to his form, and I saw a beautiful sight. My voice stuck in my throat as I looked at crystal clear blues, and purples and reds with smatterings of white and pale blues and reds and purples and greens. His soul looked like its own galaxy in crystal clear definition. I blinked rapidly as I tried to focus away from his soul. I stared at his smirking face and shifted uncomfortably.
"No need for apologies. You're more worried about the missing Vampire are you not?" I spoke evenly, if not breathlessly.
"How very considerate of you to put my friend as a top priority." It sounded like he found something amusing.
"I'm just trying to stay on task. You brought us here for a reason, so the faster we get this done, the faster I can go home." I turned back to the road.
"Not very friendly, are you? Are you afraid? You don't have to worry. I don't bite unless you want me to." I could hear the sexual undertones in his voice.
"I'm not afraid of you. There's no need to be. I haven't done anything to wrong you, and I'm even helping you. And as for that last statement, sex doesn't hold any appeal to me, so you're just wasting your time. But I won't stop you from trying, since it'll prove amusing to me." I kept facing directly ahead.
"Hmmm... I'll have to change that attitude." He flashed a grin. I blushed.
I watched detachedly, as Vampires I never met argued over just about everything concerning this case. I continued to glean information when I could. So how does a two thousand plus Vampire just up and vanish? And how did the Fellowship know about Sookie? Something doesn't sit right with me.
"...I'll go into the Fellowship to see what I can figure out." My eyes zeroed in on her, and my eyebrows drew together in irritation. I glared at Sookie as they continued to set up the plan.
"May I borrow my cousin? Good." I dragged her into a far corner. "You're putting yourself in danger. You hate when I do dangerous things, but when you do something dangerous, you expect me to just roll with it?" I hissed at her, fully aware that every vampire in the room could hear me.
"Would you just sit back i someone was kidnapped and you could help?" I paused. I dragged her back by the wrist.
"Am I to assume I'm back up?"
