Chapter 5

After we got my stuff, Sookie brought me back to her place. She showed me her room, which she said would be mine since she's moving into her Gran's. I unpacked, which didn't take long considering my lack of possessions, and changed out of my uniform. I threw on a floral tank top, but kept the black shorts I'd worn to work on. When I was done, I went to meet Sookie in her new room.

Her back was turned away from me, but the sound of me opening the creaky door made her look over at me. I noticed something in her hands.

"What are you looking at?" I asked.

"Oh," she said as she quickly wiped the corner of her eye. "Uh, just this old picture of Gran." I walked over to her as she held out the frame for me to see. It was a beautiful photo of an elderly woman, presumably Gran, with two kids on her lap. The blonde girl was obviously Sookie. As for the dark-skinned girl…

"Is that Tara?" I asked, pointing at the other girl.

"Yeah," Sookie sighed. "Tara and I are practically family. Gran's death hit her pretty hard too. She made some bad mistakes after that, but she's on the right path now, I think. I just don't see her too much anymore because she's living out with that Maryann lady."

I stayed silent. I really didn't know what to say to that. Tara looked happy with Maryann, and I could tell Sookie thought it was for the best too, but she still missed her best friend.

"Your Gran was beautiful," I commented, trying to change the subject.

"She was," Sookie smiled. She put the picture back on the shelf before turning back to me. "The sun's just about set. We should head on over to Bill's."

She lead me on a short walk through the cemetery to where Bill lived. His house looked pretty big, but it was also run down, as if it had been sitting vacant for decades. The paint was chipped and there was a good amount of dead ivy clinging to the outside walls. Sookie let herself right on in, holding the door opening and gesturing for me to follow.

I had to admit was nervous. Since Alaska had few vampires, I had no experience with any and no idea what to expect. I hesitated, scared, but took a deep breath and followed Sookie in. I just hoped would walk out in one piece.

"Hello?" Sookie called.

Immediately a girl entered the room, answering to Sookie's call. She wasn't any girl, though. She was the redheaded vampire from my vision.

"I just saw my parents on TV," she said sadly.

"Oh, no. I'm sorry," Sookie told her.

I finally get why they never wanted me to watch it in the first place. It's horrible," the girl said before noticing me. "Who's she?"

"Jessica, this is Lissa," Sookie said as the girl stared at me almost hungrily. Yeesh. "Um, where's Bill?"

"I have no idea," Jessica complained, finally taking her eyes off me. "All he told me was, 'Jessica, I have errands to run. Errands which do not require your presence. So remain here and do your best to stay out of trouble while I'm gone.'" She shook her head angrily. "And I hate it here. I hate it so much," she sniffled. She ran into the next room and threw herself on the couch, sobbing.

"Jessica," Sookie said, running after her. I followed behind her cautiously.

"I, um…" Jessica sniffled as Sookie sat next to her, "I think I miss them." I felt incredibly awkward standing in the doorway, listening to their conversation. But was else was I supposed to do?

"Your parents?" Sookie asked.

"And my little sister. I was always totally horrible to her. I was just such a brat-" She sat up suddenly, wiping her eyes frantically. I was startled when she pulled her hands away and blood stained her face.

"Oh my god," I said, scared and disgusted at the same time.

"Hey, what's wrong with me?" Jessica said.

"Relax, Lissa," Sookie told me and then turned back to Jessica. "Sweetie, vampires don't cry regular tears. So when you cry, you're gonna cry blood from now on." Ew.

"Well, why do you know that and I don't?" the baby vampire wondered. "I mean, don't you think I should know this about myself?"

"Bill probably should have told you," Sookie agreed.

"Jeez, you think?"

I felt a wave of sympathy come over me. This poor girl had no idea what she was or why. Everything she knew was taken away from her, and she was struggling to learn her new way of life. I couldn't help but feel bad for her. I walked over to her and reached into my purse.

"Here's some tissue," I said as I held them out, offering them to her. She took them and did her best to wipe the blood off her face.

"Look," Sookie consoled her. "I don't know if it helps at all, but I think I kind of know how you feel. At least a little.

"No, you don't," Jessica stated.

"I'm not saying it's the same," she explained, "but I lost my gran a few weeks ago, and she was everything to me. Everything I knew, and now she's gone." I bit my lip. That was exactly how I felt when my mom passed.

"But grandparents are supposed to die, and you're still alive," Jessica interjected. "I mean, with me, I'm the one that's dead."

"It doesn't really matter who's dead. When people love each other, and then suddenly one of them isn't there anymore, it's the distance that hurts. And the distance is the same no matter who's doing the leaving." Sookie's words hit home for me and I willed myself not to cry.

"What do you do when you feel so far away you can't stand it? asked Jessica.

Sookie replied, "Well, sometimes I'll go into her room and just sit there a spell."

"That helps?"

"I don't know why, but just being someplace, where she's been… it makes me feel better, at least a little bit."

"It gets better, after a while, I mean," I offered in a soft voice. "The heartache- it doesn't leave you… but you learn how to live with it…" Jessica looked at me for a second, taking in my words. She glanced down in thought before turning back to Sookie.

"You think maybe you could drive me to my parents' so that I could-" Uh-oh.

Sookie stopped her right there. "Okay, I did not mean to- you know I can't do that!"

"Please," Jessica pleaded. "I- I would just sit in the car. I-I swear… All I'm asking is to sit across the street and catch a glimpse of them through the window. J-Just so I can say goodbye."

"I'm sorry," Sookie apologized. "It's just not my place. But if you explained it to Bill the same way you just explained it to me, I'm sure he'd take you.

Jessica looked at her in disbelief. "Are you really sure about that? 'Cause I'm not so sure he would," she cried, her voice breaking on the last sentence. Sookie stared at her, contemplating. I could tell she was giving in.

"Sookie…" I warned.

She gave me an apologetic glance, then said to Jessica, "Okay." My heart sank.

"Really?" Jessica sniffed.

"Yes. But we're just driving by and that's it," said Sookie sternly. "And we should swing by my place first and get you a change of clothes, because I am not taking you out in public dressed like that." I noticed what she was wearing for the first time, and Sookie was not wrong for making her change. Her short skirt barely covered her crotch.

"Well, thank you, Sookie. Thank you so, so, much," Jessica said.

"Oh don't mention it." Sookie turned toward the doorway, but stopped abruptly to look back at Jessica. "To Bill. Ever." Jessica nodded.

"Sookie," I whispered, grabbing her arm. "Do you really think this is good idea? Honestly, you know this girl about as much as I do, and I just met her a few minutes ago! We have no idea how much or how little handle she has on her vampire impulses!"

"I am fine!" Jessica spat at me angry. I shut my mouth and decided not to provoke a baby vampire.

"I wish I'd have had the chance to say goodbye to Gran," Sookie sadly told me. "Don't you wish the same about your mother?" She was right, I would've given anything to say goodbye to my mother. I never thought she would be gone like that, dead in an instance, with my goodbyes hanging on my lips.

Sookie read my expression and could tell I agreed. "Ugh, fine," I groaned.

Author's Note: Things should be picking up a bit from here, hopefully. We aren't too the good, Eric related stuff yet, but the whole drama with Jess's family is coming up, which I think is more interesting than reading about Lissa and Sookie trying to get their lives together. Hope there's not too many mistakes!