Thanks for everyone's continuous support for this story especially murgatroid for beta'ing. She saved a really embarrassing error on the settings of Dallas.
"Have you lost your fucking mind, Jerome?"
Bobby, a vampire who looked even younger than Jerome, hadn't stopped talking since we landed. We were at a house somewhere near Dallas. I had to half carry the almost legless Jerome to the door. Not that I wanted to go into a house presumably full of vampires, but running into the countryside with no idea how to get back to civilization was an even worse idea. Also, I really needed to pee. Damn pregnancy.
It was Bobby who answered the door when I knocked. At first he was surprised at the sight of a human stranger carrying his nest mate, then pissed. He launched straight into a barrage of insults toward Jerome.
Another vampire, a female, came to the door. When she saw the state of Jerome she immediately sat him down to look at his wounds. Then she whisked him into the bathroom and set to work getting silver fragments out of his knees so he could heal. His screams of agony were interspersed with the loud scolding from Bobby. It really fit into the theme of a house full of vampires—I was only glad that, for once, I wasn't part of any of the suffering.
No one had taken notice of me since I entered the house. It wasn't very big, but somebody had managed to divide it into three rooms. No one had even said "thanks for bringing our nest mate back to us". I thought that was kind of rude but, considering the nest mate was in trouble, I was willing to overlook it. However, with all his yelling and hollering, my patience with Bobby was running thin.
I sat in a corner and waited until things calmed down so I could ask somebody where the telephone was. I zero reception on my cell phone.
"What the fuck did you think you were doing? I didn't think that letting you do one simple thing could go wrong, but you managed to fuck it up anyway. How fucking stupid are you?" Bobby just kept at it, even when the female vampire shut the door in his face to keep him out of the bathroom. He was really working himself into a lather; this could last all night.
"Excuse me. Bobby is it? I'm sorry to disturb you, but can you direct me to your telephone? I'll just call my ride and get out of your hair."
Bobby looked at me like he saw a dog talk. Wow, this guy's attitude was archaic.
"What makes you think you're going anywhere? Go back and sit down until we decide what to do with you." He then turned away and yelled, "Get out here Rachel, it's talking to me. I'm not dealing with Jerome's mistake."
I was indignant to say the least, but I really couldn't afford to go and piss off ancient vampires either. So I did the only thing I could do; I stood my ground right next to Bobby and waited.
Bobby looked down at me with his nose slightly crinkled and his lips downturned like I was a bad smell and walked off. A few seconds later, Rachel opened the door.
Rachel had flaming red hair (dye job?), her eyes weren't big, but a sharp piercing blue. She had a serious scowl that looked natural on her, not unlike the girls in those model competition shows. Who knows? I'm sure a vampire version will be coming out soon. "I'm sorry if my nest mate was rude to you." She said it like she didn't mean it but manners dictated her to say something along the lines of an apology. This was already something big for a vampire.
"He was and I'm sorry, too." I looked at her trying to establish eye contact, but Rachel didn't bother. Damn, proud vampires. "If you can tell me where the phone is…"
"I'm sorry I can't do that," she said matter-of-factly, "You see, it was a terrible mistake for Jerome to bring you here. Now I don't think we can let you go." Rachel's fangs popped out as she smiled, like I just turned into a pop tart. "It's been so long since we had a fresh meal…"
Holy shit.
"Wait! I know your king! I worked for Stan Davis a few years ago and he owes me - big-time!"
"Why should I give a shit about our king? He doesn't give a shit about us now…"
I didn't know what that meant, but Rachel was backing me into a corner with a sly smile on her face. It's so Goddamn rude to play with your food. Literally.
"I'm…" Shit I forgot I didn't belong to any vampire now, so the thinly observed "Thou shalt not eat thy neighbor's human" rule didn't apply. "I'm an asset of Louisiana Area Five Sheriff Pam Ravenscroft. You will be kicking up an interstate war if anything happens to me!" I really and truly suck at this. I have a new reverence for how Pam and Eric could make politics and power part of their everyday routine with their job as sheriff.
Regardless, Rachel didn't bother bantering with me anymore. Judging by her expression she just wanted to sink her teeth into me right then.
"Thank God! I thought we were never going to get around to eating her. Are we starting now?" Bobby chimed and almost instantly Rachel hissed at him, fangs out and fingers clawed, ready to rip him to shreds. Though I noticed that Rachel's left hand was at a funny angle, it didn't make it any less menacing. Bobby retaliated with a ruthless growl and bared his teeth and fangs at Rachel. The lions were going to fight tonight.
The stand down was blocking the door so I had no other option but to run into one of rooms. I knew which one was the bathroom and I couldn't risk going in there with Jerome recovering. I know now more than ever that recovering vampires always wanted blood. I had to get into a room that would have a window for me to climb out of, so I ran to the door at the end of the hallway. I managed to close the door before I heard a crash of wood splintering and a raucous fight broke out.
Inside the room was dark and had a strange smell of rotting wood and flesh at the same time. It reminded me of the smell in my woods when the odd dead animal thawed out amongst the dead leaves in spring; but not exactly… it was strange. With the house full of vampires, I'm sure the windows were light tight. I just hoped to hell they weren't boarded up. I waited for my eyes to adjust but next to nothing happened. I could only faintly make out contours of a bed in the room, so at the price of stealth, I turned on the light switch.
"Sookie?"
Now that wasn't a response I was expecting. I barely recognized the figure on the bed. I hadn't seen him since I was last in Dallas and he was one of the furthest vampires from my mind. Also, he was deathly pale. Vampires were pale, like the shade of someone gravely ill but without the sickness. The thin, sickly figure in front of me was more than pale; he was the color of sun-bleached driftwood and devoid of any life. If it wasn't for his cowboy hat and boots by the bed, combined with the fact that I was in Dallas, I wouldn't have put two and two together.
"Hi, Farrell. What are you doing here?"
"I would ask you the same question, lil' lady." Farrell flinched a little as he tried to sit up on the bed. Then I saw that his arm – his whole left arm looked petrified. It was stiff like an old fashioned wooden artificial limb like you see at the civil war museums. Then suddenly in an epiphany, the synapses in my brain fired the sparks that brought everything together. Why Rachel said the king had forgotten them, and why nobody cared what they did out here. This house was where they came; all the ones in Dallas who got the mysterious vampire disease C.O.D. Their location had to be a secret because none of the kingdoms wanted anybody to know how many of them were sick. I also understood the bad joke at the Red Ladies about the sheriff sleeping with the fishes. Farrell, Jerome and the others were all out here to be quarantined, segregated, and conveniently forgotten.
"Are you okay there, Farrell?" To be honest, the jury was still out on Farrell's character last time I saw him at Stan's party, but this sickly creature didn't look like he could do me much harm.
"As good as a man on his deathbed can be. I don't have long, Sookie." All I could do was nod in acknowledgement. I knew nothing about this disease but I knew death when I saw it. Farrell's eyes had that glaze that the dead have and the undead shouldn't. "So how the hell did you get here?" Farrell attempted being cheerful by ignoring his imminent death with idle chit chat.
"Long story."
"Then I guess I won't be able to hear it." Farrell tried to move again and this time, an expression of pure pain flashed across his face.
"Are you alright?" I was afraid to touch him, in case I accidentally made it worse, but my human reflex moved me closer so I could help him.
"Well you could give me some…" My self preservation reflexes kicked in and I leaped to the wall at the other end of the room as soon as I saw Farrell's fangs pop out. Apparently even in his deteriorated state, his fangs worked fine.
"I can't let you do that," was all I could say.
"You can't blame an old vampire for trying," Farrell said, like he didn't just try to eat me.
Suddenly there was a shuffling sound and then a BAM! There was a small explosion of splinters and a large hole in the bedroom door.
"I have to get out of here Farrell. You have to help me."
"Are those two fighting over you, too?"
"What do you think?"
"Yeah, Stan hasn't sent any donors our way for a while now."
Since Farrell had no inclination of helping me find a way out, I started to peel back the layers of curtains and blankets covering the bedroom window. I just hoped it wasn't sealed permanently with cement or something like that.
"How the hell is Stan keeping you guys here anyway? What's stopping you from just running out there and draining the first human you see?"
"Stan said that if he finds anyone of us who are infected near the city he'll stake us on sight. He keeps us stocked up on the bottled stuff, but we're allowed anything fresh that comes our way."
"Is that why are they so hard up for me?" I had finally pulled down the last blanket covering the window and opened it, only to find that the shutters were sealed shut. I pushed and I pushed, but it must've been boarded up from the outside. Damn!
"That's been boarded up tight from the outside. You're not going to be able to get out from that window."
Well thanks for telling me now and not before I started to tear shit up! It was at this moment I realized that Farrell had had no reaction to me tearing up his room at all. I wouldn't assume all vampires were neat and orderly like the ones I knew, but sunlight was going to leak into that room after what I did to the windows. Either Farrell didn't expect to live past dawn, or he didn't care. This was one dejected vampire. If there were a blood equivalent of a Xanex, Farrell would sure need one right now.
There was another crash from the living room and I heard the sound of tearing flesh. I just hoped Bobby and Rachel killed each other before they decided to share dinner. Just when I was about to panic and make a run for the door while two vampires were ripping each other apart, a screeching noise came from outside. I tried to peak through the gaps in the boarded up shutters, but all I saw was blackness.
"Occupants of Nest 26 of Dallas Area Four, this is the Sheriff of Louisiana Area Five. We believe you have in your possession our asset and friend, Ms. Sookie Stackhouse. By the decree of your king Stan Davis, you should return her to us unharmed and intact. Should you have already caused any depletion of her form, your king has promised us reimbursement for any indiscretions on your part, and hence you should have no fear of retaliation. However, heed this as your one and only chance to return her to us. Should we encounter any resistance in the next ten minutes, your nest will be stormed, and all consequences have also been approved by your king. Your ten minutes start now."
"Sounds like your ride's here," Farrell said, but not before he started the most wretched cough. His whole body shook like a leaf as he gasped and sputtered in pain. It progressed into almost a convulsion when I saw a helpless look in Farrell's hollow eyes and it stopped. All was quiet for about for maybe a fraction of a second, but I will remember the look on Farrell's face forever. He froze as the last color of life was drained from his white face. A crack slowly etched across his cheek and his jaw fell away as the rest of him disintegrated into ash.
I was so shocked that I had witnessed the worst of this debilitating sickness. The Farrell I knew, though not without his questionable sexual preferences, was strong, vibrant, and full of life. I still remembered how his sweet-talking about how my bruises made me more beautiful after I had been battered beyond recognition thanks to the Fellowship of the Sun. Now, this immortal being was dead by no other reason than he was ravaged by some virus that he was unlucky enough to contract.
"Oh you're in here. C'mon let's go."
It was Jerome, legs all healed apparently. I turned back to look as the ashes that were once Farrell collapsed into an unrecognizable heap on the bed.
"Farrell… he…"
Jerome cast his eyes down, trying to shield the pain in his eyes from me. "He has been close to it for days. Won't be the last of us…" Jerome trailed off while the muscles around his jaw slightly bunched and his Adam's apple bobbed up as he swallowed what must've been his despair over Farrell's final death, because after that he looked up at me and asked, "Do you want to get out of here or not?"
As Jerome led me into the living room I saw a very sulky Rachel holding her obviously ripped off arm to her shoulder, and an indignant Bobby standing, arms crossed, by the door. "Don't you think we can't get to you human!" Bobby snarled when I crossed the threshold.
"Just ignore him, he's not going anywhere as long as he's got the fish like us," Jerome reassured me as he escorted me outside.
I expected Pam to be waiting for me outside, but all I saw was empty darkness.
"They've retreated back to the hillside," Jerome pointed to what looked like a few twinkly lights in the distance. "They won't come near us here. Just keep walking straight and you'll get there."
I said my thanks to Jerome and kissed him on the cheek. I wasn't prepared for the surprised look on his face, but I guess he hadn't had a lot of contact from humans or otherwise since he was diagnosed with C.O.D. I figured if I was able to catch the virus from vampires, I would've gotten it from Farrell already.
"I'll keep an eye on things here," Jerome said, with a spark that I didn't see in him a moment ago and, with the reassurance that he'd keep Bobby and Rachel in check, I walked into the dark and towards Pam.
I've never been known for my athletic prowess, but I was huffing and puffing my way across the field. It had rained either earlier that evening or when I was in the house because the grass was thick and muddy. Though my heels were only an inch high it was an exhausting task to try not to step too deep and pulling my heels out from the wet soil. I finally gave up and took off my shoes. After a good 45 minutes, I finally reached them. Pam was with an entourage of vampires I mostly didn't know. I spotted Indira, one of her best fighters at the back, but there were no other faces I recognized.
"Sookie, my dear friend! I'm so glad we got you back quite intact. Your husband should be quite pleased," Pam said as she nodded in my direction.
I returned her nod, but something didn't feel right. "I'm glad to see you too Pam. I can't wait to get a shower and cleaned up." Even if I didn't get hurt or involved in any kind of trouble, my feet were caked with mud and the short walk in the dewy grass had already caked my shoes with mud and ruined them. I never get to keep my clothes whenever I go on vampire errands - and not in a good way.
"We have organized someone to take you back to Bon Temps. I'm afraid it's too close to dawn for us to accompany you Sookie, I'll see you next time I pass by Bon Temps."
And with another nod, Pam and her minions jumped into their cars and streaked away, literally leaving me in the dust.
"Ma'am? If you're ready, I can take you back to Louisiana now." I didn't even notice the Lincoln parked behind me with a human driver, hat and all, holding the door open for me.
I was well on my way back on the 71, when Eric called the chauffeur's phone.
"Sookie! Are you unharmed?"
"I'm okay, Er – Oberon." I knew from a quick peek inside the driver's head that he knew nothing and that he was just hired to drive me back to Bon Temps, with a generous tip to ask no questions. But I wasn't going to let a little slip up potentially put us at risk.
"You don't sound fine." I was just relieved to hear Eric's voice. It was like slipping into a warm bath. I started to tell him the short version of what I learned and witnessed in that house about the new disease and how the infected were treated. When I got to the part where Farrell died, big fat drops of tears oozed uncontrollably from my eyes.
"I didn't know you cared for Farrell so…," Eric said amongst his other words of comfort.
"Well I don't, not in that way. It's just that he had such a flair for life last time I saw him, but then for no rhyme or reason he had to suffer so." It felt like someone had just cut a tiny Farrell size hole in fabric of my world. It may have been insignificant among the precious people I have lost but nonetheless it's a new hole and I grieved his loss.
"And to think, Jerome will wither away the same way, same as Rachel, Bobby and any other vampire we might know who we thought will live forever…"
"Jerome? Don't you worry about Jerome. He will be well compensated for his services and for his eventual death."
"I don't understand…"
"We'll talk more when you return to me. I've already said too much on the telephone already."
"Sure, talk to you when I get back. Love you."
"Likewise."
It was when I was dozing off in the back of the car, I had a dream that Jerome was surrounded by gold and other treasures and he looked so happy. However, when he looked in my direction, his eyes glazed over and his face crumbled into itself. I looked around to get help but I was trapped inside a bedroom, the very room where Andre killed Peter Threadgill in New Orleans. When I finally opened the door, into a hallway that would usually be filled with security and other vampires at the compound there were only mounds of ashes. As I walked past the mounds, I realized that clothes were imbedded amongst the ashes and these were the remains of what used to be vampires.
I woke with a start to see the breaking dawn over the horizon. I noticed that I had dried tears in the corner of my eyes and that I cried in my sleep. I didn't need Claude to help me decipher that dream to understand what I had just figured out. I thought about Eric's plan and how even though Jerome's family or whoever the beneficiaries of his fortune are, will benefit from his sacrifice and this plan will set in motion the exact revenge we wanted. But the whole idea of how we are going to achieve it is abominable. C.O.D. is such devastating disease, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Yes that meant Felipe and Victor, because they could end up giving it to someone I might know and care about. As I watched the sun inch higher over the horizon it was well and truly beautiful. Staring at this symbol of hope and new beginnings, it felt so out of place to feel that the world is one fucked up place.