After her break was over, Marie waited table after table, eventually losing track. Finally Sookie walked over to her, gently tapping her shoulder. "It's five, sweetie, your shift is over."
Marie smiled at her, looking tired. "Alright." She was about to leave when she stopped. "How should I get home?"
Sookie brushed a lock of hair out of her face, "Arlene said she'd give you a ride after work. Until we can figure out a different way."
Marie nodded in agreement. "I'll see you later tonight then?"
"Oh, actually I might stay over at Bill's." She glanced up at Marie's face to measure her reaction.
Marie was studying Sam, absently. Sookie cleared her throat and Marie looked at her. "Huh? Oh yeah, that's fine."
Arlene walked over to the pair, hand rummaging around in her purse. She and Sookie seemed somewhat at odds. The redhead gave Marie a reassuring smile and asked briskly, "You ready to go?"
Marie nodded silently. They headed out the door, Arlene finally managing to get her keys out of her enormous purse.
The ride back was silent, the awkward kind, not like the comfortable ones with Logan. Marie stared out the window, rubbing her sore ankle. She had slipped earlier that day and twisted it uncomfortably. Arlene kept tapping her long fingernails onto the steering wheel, making an irritating, repetitive sound. When they finally reached the road to Sookie's house, Marie held back a sigh of relief.
"Thanks for the ride, Arlene. Have a great night." Marie said, as she got out.
Arlene nodded her acknowledgment.
She immediately pulled her hair out of her tight ponytail as soon as she entered the house. She shut the door behind her, and walked into the living room. After collapsing onto the couch, Marie lay there for a long moment, enjoying the silence. She finally had time to collect her thoughts. She'd gotten through her first day of work. Was this what she wanted? Almost her entire being screamed yes, but a tiny part of her said something was missing.
After changing into comfortable shorts and a red tank top, and heating up a frozen burrito, Marie ended up back on the couch, reading one of Sookie's romance novels. Once it hit eleven, Marie assumed that Sookie had decided to stay over at Bill's. She was excited because they both had tomorrow off, and had talked about possibly going shopping. She hadn't really gotten to know her cousin and was excited at the opportunity. Plus...clothes!
Once midnight hit, yawning fiercely, Marie called it a night and clambered into bed.
She woke up with the sun streaming into her open window. It had been a warm summer night and she enjoyed having the soft breeze drift in. She glanced at the alarm clock on her nightstand and rubbed her eyes upon seeing it. It was already eleven. Groaning, Marie sat up, smoothing down her messy hair.
After eating breakfast, Marie decided to take a quick shower because Sookie wasn't back yet. She took a twenty minute shower, and was fixing some spaghetti for later that night when Sookie walked in.
She looked drained, and immediately Marie sensed something was wrong.
"Hey. Is everything okay?" Marie asked, glancing up from the stove.
Sookie stared blankly at her for a long time and then said, "Bill's...he-"
She broke down and Marie rushed over to help her to the sit down.
Sniffling and wiping tears, Sookie explained everything to her. Apparently vampires had shown up at the bar and Bill had gone with them. It was difficult to make everything out, because Sookie was trying not to cry the entire time. But then a bunch of guys had gone and set fire to the house Bill had been in, and they found four dead bodies inside coffins when they got to the crime scene. Well they weren't exactly bodies.
Marie did her best to comfort Sookie, and let her cry. After she'd exhausted all of her tears, she blew her nose and said shakily, "I'm not going to sit here crying all day. There's no use in it. We don't even know for sure if it was him."
Marie nodded encouragingly, but found it very doubtful that it was just a coincidence. She and Sookie both changed into comfortable clothing and viciously started cleaning the house.
It distracted Sookie to an extent and Marie felt somewhat relieved. She found that cleaning the house was actually a really good remedy to the upset. After they'd scrubbed every inch of the floor, Sookie sat up brushing her hair out of her face. "I think I'll go take a shower."
Marie nodded, studying her face. "Okay." Her brow furrowed. "Just...lemme know if you need anything, kay?"
Sookie smiled weakly, and stood up, dusting herself off.
Marie spent the entire time worrying about Sookie. Her bottom lip was ragged by the time Sookie finally reentered. Her hair was still slightly wet, but she was dressed nicely. She glanced at Marie and said quietly, "I'm going out for a bit. I'll be back soon."
"Ummm, okay. Just promise me you're not going to do anything stupid."
After Sookie had reassured Marie, she left, carrying flowers. Marie watched TV, and then finished the spaghetti, glad to have something to offer Sookie when she got home. One thing Marie was proud of, were her cooking skills. Mostly she'd gotten her praise from Logan, which wasn't saying much because that guy ate everything. He was always hungry. She smiled, tenderly touching the dog tags around her neck. She missed Logan more than she cared to admit to herself.
She was folding laundry in the living room when the door started to open. She glanced over at it and said, "Hey. I have some spaghetti ready if you're hungry. You haven't eaten anything all day-"
The shirt she was folding flew into the air when Bill walked through the door. Sookie walked in behind her, looking drained, but overjoyed.
Pressing a hand to her mouth, Marie raised her eyebrows questioningly.
"He got my voice mails!" Sookie said beaming.
Sookie explained everything, clutching Bill's hand and occasionally glancing up at him with lovesick eyes. He'd gotten her messages that men were coming to burn down the house and had left. He'd slept in the ground and when Sookie went to the graveyard he'd found her. Marie was happy for her cousin, but wasn't sure she was particularly fond of Bill. She found him boring, but maybe Sookie saw another side of him.
Marie smiled at her cousin and said, "So... spaghetti?"
Sam wandered over to Marie when she entered the bar.
"Sorry I'm a little late." She said, assuming that was what he was going to talk to her about.
He waved a hand. "No, don't be." He glanced sideways at Sookie who was putting her hair up across the room. "How's she holding up?"
Marie bit her lip. "Why don't you ask her?"
He nodded solemnly and patted Marie in a friendly way. Then he made his way over to Sookie.
Marie hid a smile and went to grab her apron. From what she heard, Sam wasn't too fond of Bill either. That was mostly because he liked Sookie, though.
Marie glanced around the room and went to wait her first table of the day. It was a pair of guys, a couple years older than her. They ordered a pitcher of beer and a chicken basket. With a polite smile, Marie went to fetch it.
Sam was in an increasingly bad mood, and she assumed it was because he had learned Bill was still not dead. Well...dead dead.
About an hour later, her cousin Jason walked in. He was with a pretty girl, who seemed fascinated by the bar. He waved at Marie, and the couple walked over to her.
"This here's my little cousin, Marie. She just moved here. She's living with Sookie." He explained.
Marie smiled at the girl who he introduced as Amy. He seemed be really into her. Amy made polite conversation for a while, until Jason nudged her and said they should go say hi to Sookie.
After clearing off one of her table's Marie walked over to the bar to get a couple beers. A woman Marie didn't recognize was standing there, but Marie was able to guess who she was.
Smiling widely Marie said, "Hey! You must be Tara. I'm Marie, Sookie's cousin? She talks about you an awful lot-"
Tara gave her a sharp glare and said, "That's nice. You need something or you just come over here to talk my ear off?"
Taken aback, Marie smiled hesitantly and said "Um, I need two beers.."
Tara shoved them at her and then turned away briskly. Sighing, Marie went to go deliver them. That was a great way to start off with Sookie's best friend.
Soon they were swamped and Marie didn't have time to think any more.
She was tired by the end of her shift and Sookie seemed like she had lost some of her energy. They made small talk on the way home and Sookie casually mentioned that she had agreed to babysit for Arlene that night.
When they got home they watched reality TV together until Bill strolled in. Apparently knocking wasn't one of his favorite things. Marie found it annoying. The pair ended up wandering upstairs together and Marie was left alone in the living room. It was a little weird not being surrounded by people. She was used to the kids at the school always chattering and making noise.
The doorbell rang about two hours later, and Marie got up to answer the door. It was Arlene and Renee with two little kids. As she was greeting them, Sookie and Bill walked over to them. Arlene hesitantly let her kids stay after realizing that Bill was going to be there.
The kids were adorable and they ended up making sundaes in the dining room. Bill was surprisingly good with kids. After they ate, Marie took them into the living room and they started watching a movie.
They'd only gotten through the beginning of it when Arlene burst through the door squealing and showcasing her new ring. Everyone started to do their happy dances. Arlene was engaged!
The next couple of days went by quietly. Arlene was brimming with joy over her engagement and that was all she talked about at work. Sam was extremely grumpy so Marie just avoided him. She knew that he was upset about Sookie and she heard rumors about Tara. Marie felt bad for her good-looking boss. If she was Sookie she wouldn't hesitate to go for Sam. But he didn't even glance at Marie.
Marie settled into the routine of things and was starting to feel more comfortable with her new life.
She and Sookie were playing a game at home when Bill barged in, looking tense. "Eric requests your presence."
Marie cocked an eyebrow, extremely confused. Sookie looked confused too. "What? The big blond vampire? Right now?"
Bill sighed and said, "He wants you to come to Fantasia tonight. He told me yesterday. He needs help..." He glanced at Marie, looking cautious
Marie glanced back and forth at the two. Sookie made a face. "He can't just command me to come. He's not the boss of me. Can't I just tell him no?"
Bill shook his head slowly. Sookie sighed.
Rubbing her temples, Marie finally spoke up. "What are you guys talking about? Who is Eric? Why does he need Sookie?"
Bill glanced at Sookie and Sookie looked at Marie.
"I have to tell you something."
Marie furrowed her brow. "Okay..."
"I can read minds."
Marie's jaw dropped. Sookie was a mutant, just like her! Debating whether or not to reveal her own secret, Marie said simply. "Oh. Okay."
Sookie narrowed her eyes. "That's it?"
Marie shrugged. "I've been around a lot of mutants. I ...am a mutant."
Bill's eyes shot to her. It was Sookie's turn to looked shocked.
Marie continued. "Is Jason a mutant?"
Sookie shook her head. "I don't think so. You know, I've never really thought of myself as a mutant. But I guess I am." She studied Marie and then said, hesitantly, "Can I ask...what..."
Marie smiled, understanding. "Whenever I touched someone, it sucked the life out of them."
Sookie gave a little gasp, and covered her mouth. "Oh my god. How did you-"
"I got the cure. It worked."
Sookie nodded slowly. Bill interrupted. "This has been very enlightening, but you really need to get ready."
Sookie glanced up at him and stood, brushing a lock of her hair out of her face. "We can talk more when I get home, Marie."
Marie stood too. "I'm going."
Sookie shook her head. "Hell no. There's no way."
"I agree with Sookie. Eric is extremely dangerous and it would be better if he didn't even know you existed."
Marie stared them down. "I said I'm going."