Marie scrubbed the dried blood from her fingernails and glanced at Sookie. She was wearing a dark leather dress and Marie let out a bark of laughter. Sookie glowered at her and walked towards her, squeaking loudly.
"Very nice, you-" Marie began but Sookie smacked her lightly and Marie didn't finish.
Pam came in a few seconds later and surveyed them. "Eric is finished with your boyfriend."
Sookie nodded quickly and followed the vampire out. Marie glanced into the mirror quickly and then hurried after them. As they exited Ginger walked up to them, smiling. "Hey ya'll! I'm Ginger it's real nice to meet you."
Marie exchanged a look with Sookie and they both nodded at the woman uncomfortably. Marie was starting to get a better picture of what glamouring was. After they shook hands, Sookie beamed, spotting Bill exiting from some sort of office. Behind him was the tall vampire, Eric, who towered over the lesser vampire.
His eyes swept over Marie briefly and a little shiver passed through her.
"Can we go now?" Sookie asked, linking her hand in Bill's. Bill nodded and they turned to leave.
Eric's deep voice stopped them. "Don't forget what we talked about Bill." He strode closer to them and stopped directly in front of Marie. "It was wonderful to see you Sookie." Sookie only glared at him in return.
His blue eyes slid to catch Marie's. "And you're welcome any time, little Marie. I deeply hope I'll see you again soon."
Marie nodded shakily and followed Sookie and Bill out, Eric's deep crooning voice echoing in her ears.
They exited the car and Marie led the way inside the house. Sookie and Bill were chatting quietly behind her. She opened the door, and turned the light on, starting to shrug out of her jacket. She blinked adjusting to the light and saw Bill stiffen out of the corner of her eye. "Don't look u-" He began, causing both girls to look up at the fan.
Swinging around, hanging from the fan was Tina, Sookie's cat. Marie's hand went to her mouth and Sookie opened her mouth to scream just as blood splattered her. Sookie stood shocked for several seconds, and Marie took several steadying breaths. "Bill will you take Sookie upstairs? I'll clean this up."
Bill caught her eyes and then took Sookie's arm. She leaned into him, looking numb and allowed him to guide her upstairs. Marie stared down at the floor, her eyes focusing on a spot where three little drops of blood were grouped. She didn't know how long she stared at those spots, until she finally blinked and set to the task of cleaning up.
Marie looked up from her ferocious scrubbing and surveyed Bill. He looked at her wordlessly and then picked up the garbage bag that contained the dead cat. She hadn't been able to make herself move it past that. She forced herself to speak.
"Will you bury her near that one tree? The one with the unusual leaves?"
Bill nodded stonily and whisked away, causing her to feel slightly dizzy. She reached up and wiped her sweating brow, surprisingly calm.
She dumped her rag into the bucket and surveyed the surrounding area. It was spotless, and Marie wondered what other incidents in this house had been hidden by a rag and cleaning solution.
Her knees were rather sore, and as she got up they ached in protest. Marie grabbed her little bucket and slowly went into the kitchen, definitely ready to sleep.
She showered before collapsing into her bed, deciding not to check in on Sookie. She could hear quiet whispering from her bedroom, and she decided to give the couple their alone time.
Marie woke up the next morning, for the first time not wanting to go to work. She could hear Sookie in the bathroom nearby, getting ready.
Mumbling incoherently, Marie rolled out of bed, exhausted. She put her hair in a simple ponytail and didn't bother to put makeup on. She didn't really need it anyways.
When they arrived at work, Marie had learned it was probably a bad idea to talk to Sookie. It was the first time Marie had really seen her cousin in a bad mood. She was snappy and irritable and Marie was glad to get out of the car and away from her.
Sam gave them a cheerful hello, which Sookie ignored and walked away from. Sam shot Marie a questioning look and Marie shook her head warning him it was better not to ask.
The rest of the staff also learned to avoid Sookie and the rest of the morning passed peacefully, if tensely. Amy, Jason's girlfriend, was working that morning, and Marie found herself increasingly liking her. They spent their spare time chatting about traveling, and Marie discovered Amy was a very intellectual individual.
Arlene was still giddy about her engagement and Marie avoided her too. She'd heard enough about what kind of flowers she was going to have at the wedding.
Tara seemed just as grouchy as before and Marie wondered if she would ever say anything polite to her.
Anytime she went over to get a drink she needed, smiling a huge smile, Tara would only grunt and hand them to her, seemingly oblivious to her show of friendliness.
The one person Marie genuinely enjoyed being around was in his office, looking over finances or something, so Marie's mood increasingly worsened.
She took a break around 3, to eat and she spent the time talking to Amy, in between bites of her hamburger. Amy mentioned Sookie and Andy having a bit of a spat, and Marie listened interestedly.
Sookie seemed to have calmed down a little, and was currently taking orders from a middle-aged couple, beaming.
"So how are you and Jason?" Marie asked.
Amy looked up under her eyelashes. "We're good. I really care about him. He has such an aura. I really think we have a connection."
Marie smiled. "I don't really know Jason that well, but you seem like you could be really good for him. And everyone I've talked to thinks you're the best girl Jason's ever been with."
"Ah, yes. The infamous others." Amy said.
Marie blushed. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that-"
Amy grinned. "I know. Thanks. I really hope that Jason and I mix well together."
They changed the subject to an event on the news and spent the rest of the time on meaningless topics. But after their break was up, Marie found herself thinking that she'd made a new friend.
"Mmmhmm. And do you want that with fries or a baked….potato?" Marie trailed off, staring at the door to Merlotte's. Four vampires had just entered, each looking familiar and intimidating. Except for one.
The entire bar went silent, staring at the encroaching unwanted individuals. Marie set down her order pad, smiling briefly at the people she was waiting on.
She saw Sookie approach the group, and Marie looked them over carefully.
Bill was standing near the doors with Eric, Pam, and another vampire Marie wasn't familiar with.
Eric and Pam were both looking around the bar with distasteful expressions on their beautiful faces. Bill grasped Sookie's shoulders. "I need to speak to Sam."
Sookie's brow furrowed in confusion and hurt but let Sam approach them. "Your office?" Bill inquired, and Sam nodded.
Marie watched them leave, and then glanced back at Sookie. The vampire Marie didn't know followed Sam and Bill into Sam's office; however, Eric and Pam had remained behind.
The bar was still completely silent, and Eric stepped forward purposefully. He began to speak loudly, and after a few sentences, Marie realized he was promoting Fangtasia, the bar he owned.
Her attention started to drift after that, and she instead studied her cousin. She seemed very confused and upset. Marie's attention snapped back to Eric when she heard him mention "wronging our kind." He seemed to be warning the patrons of Merlotte's of the omnipotence of vampires.
Pam began to hand out flyers, and Marie barely refrained from rolling her eyes at their unbelievable corporate-ness.
Eric's eyes caught hers and he strode over, his long strides silent and graceful.
His eyes held hers, unblinking and captivating. She couldn't have looked away if her life depended on it.
He stopped inches away from her, towering over her. She could smell him, he was that close, and her heart began to beat erratically. He reached out a hand, a small smirk on his perfect face. She tried to take slow normal breaths, but they came out heaving loud shudders, as she sucked in much needed air.
She jumped into the air when his hand brushed hers and she looked down to see he was handing her a flyer.
"You should come to Fangtasia. It would please me to see you there." He took his time with his words, they rolled off of his tongue and his throat vibrated with every syllable.
He was staring at her expectantly and she realized she had to reply. Her brain was fuzzy and warm and she couldn't feel her legs.
"I will." She said. Why had she said that? Her brain wasn't working properly, she couldn't breathe.
His mouth tilted up slightly. Was he amused? He had a perfect mouth. "When?"
Marie sucked in another breath. Shit. "I'm not sure."
His eyes were sparkling. "Soon?"
She nodded wordlessly wishing it wasn't so warm in the bar. His eyes flickered to her left and a wave of relief rushed through her.
Bill and Sam had returned from his office, followed by the mysterious vampire. Sookie practically ran over to Bill and Eric's gaze briefly returned to Marie. "It will have to wait until I get back."
He turned and followed Bill out of the bar, leaving a dizzy Marie behind.
Marie brushed back a stray hair and followed her cousin outside, severely confused.
Bill and Sookie were in the parking lot, talking in intense voices. Sookie's eyes were sparkling with tears, and Marie walked closer to try to hear what was being said. She only caught bits and pieces, but apparently Bill had to leave because he'd killed that vampire.
They embraced passionately, and Marie felt her heart soften towards Bill. He really did love Sookie, even if he was a boring traditional vampire.
"We have to go Bill." Eric said impatiently. Bill untangled himself from Sookie, and all four vampires disappeared at inhuman speed. Sookie let all of her tears go, and Marie went to comfort her. Surprisingly someone else got there first. Tara had her arms around Sookie, apologizing for some fight they'd had.
Marie let them talk for a minute before going to help, trying to reassure her cousin. Bon Temps was definitely more drama than Marie had thought it would be.