A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed the prologue, I plan to write all week and then post whatever I finish on Sunday evenings. I still need a beta, anyone interested please pm me, so all my mistakes are my own. I do not own True Blood or any of the characters, I just enjoy letting my mind wander into what ifs and thought some of you might enjoy my ramblings. Thank you so much for reading!

Chapter 1

Tara POV

Alcide pulled the truck over along the side of the road, and hopped out heading into the trees. Tara sighed deeply before getting out of the truck and circling around the back to check on Sookie. The heavy metal door was latched and Tara briefly entertained the thought of opening the door and watching Bill fry like a hot cake before rapping sharply.

"Sook, you alright in there?" She could hear nothing but the irritating whine of insects swarming nearby. Her heart dropped into her stomach. "Shit Sook!" Tara pounded on the door. "Sookie!" Her trembling fingers fumbled at the latch.

"Tara!" Alcide was suddenly beside her stopping her hand with his own. "Bill's in there if you open that door. . ."

"Like I give a fuck! Sookie's not answering. Something's wrong! If that vampire hurt her. . ." Tara struggle to breath just at the thought. "Sookie's my family." She mumbled weakly hating a stranger seeing her so vulnerable.

"I get it." His voice was gentle as he moved his hand away releasing hers. "We'll just crack it a bit so we can see. Sookie'll loose it if we burn up her vamp for no reason." Tara gingerly rolled the door back about an inch, but as she leaned down to look inside Alcide shoved her aside.

"What the Hell!" Tara shouted indignantly.

"There's fresh blood. A lot of it." Tara froze rooted to the spot, her heart damn near exploding out of her chest.

"Open it" she haltingly whispered. Alcide remained still, looking at her as if to ask if she was sure. In reality she didn't think she wanted to see what was on the other side, but her best friend was in there so she had to know. Dammit Sook, I knew that vamp was no good. She pulled her anger around her like a shield. "Open the goddamn door." She growled. The door rolled opened with a loud bang as the base struck the top, and Tara jumped at the sound. She'd kept her eyes on the doors movement, knowingly avoiding looking at the interior of the truck. Slowly she lowered her eyes scanning everything, but the floor of the truck where she was certain her friend was lying. Every part of her body stiffened as she prepared herself, but as her eyes met the sight of her friend she knew there was no preparing ones self for seeing something like this. Sookie was indeed laying on the floor of the truck, her once pretty purple sundress saturated with blood. Her lifeless limbs were contorted with one arm cradled against her chest, the other flopped off to the side, and her legs sprawled open obscenely as if. . . Tara's eyes squeezed shut, remembering her own violation. "Oh Sook." The vampire was lying beside her snuggled up like they were merely enjoying a peaceful nap together. Tara's vision focused solely on the dead to the world vampire, her hands clenching and unclenching. Before she was aware of what she was doing she was inside the truck, kicking and shoving Bill. "Fucking asshole!" She raged, she wanted him to hurt, to bleed, to fucking die! Her tirade was having little effect on the vampire however. She bellowed a roar, and with strength she didn't know she possessed she flung the still sleeping vampire out into the noonday sun. He landed in a satisfying cloud of dust on the dirt road. Tara watched with rapt anticipation for the vampire to burst into flames, and yet it didn't happen. He began to stir, his eyes snapping open, and his pale blood covered hand rising up to shield his eyes. Tara took a protective stance in front of Sookie, in case the vampire had any thoughts of getting anywhere near her.

"Get the fuck out of here before I stake you, you undead piece of shit!" Alcide growled his voice low and deadly as his eyes changed into a glaring yellow. He snatched a random scrap of wood from the truck, snapping the end off into a jagged point. Tara scooped Sookie up into her arms, as if protecting her from the scene in front of them. Bill snarled, his fangs running down, before he vamped off into the forest. Tara gently rocked her friend, her own tears, that she hadn't even been aware she was shedding, falling down. They coursed down Sookie's face, making it appear as though the blonde was sharing in Tara's grief and crying as well.

"Sook, you gotta wake up. Please, please Sookie." Sookie's head lulled back and forth with the motion of the rocking, but she didn't stir. Tara's hand fluttered stupidly around the carnage of the blonde's neck, unsure where to even begin looking for a pulse. When Tara's useless fumbling ceased her hand came away painted in her best friends blood. Tara hugged Sookie tightly to her chest sobs shaking her entire body. She held her there unwilling to let her go, "Sookie come back, I swear I'll lose it if you die." then she felt the slightest little flutter of a breath on her cheek. Tara held her own breath and waited to feel it again. She whispered please over and over, pleading to anyone or thing that might be listening. Finally, finally there it was, that tiny little gust. A warmth flooded her. "Alcide she's breathing, she's breathing! Get us to the nearest hospital as quick as you can!"

Tara counted each puff of air leaving Sookie's body until they reached the small hospital in Ruston. It only took about fifteen minutes to get there, but Tara worried the entire time that each faint breath would be Sookie's last. Alcide pulled the truck up to where the ambulances usually parked, and opened the door. A security guard stepped out of the doors, presumably to tell them to move when he spotted the two girls in the back. He hurried back inside, quickly returning with a host of hospital staff. They eased Sookie from Tara's aching arms, and carefully placed her on a gurney. One of the nurses asked Tara if she needed assistance as well, but Tara quickly shooed her away back toward her friend. Tara's body was trembling fiercely, but she somehow managed to make her way down and out of the truck, before following the group of professionals into the hospital and down a long hallway. As they walked there was a flurry of activity as they assessed Sookie's condition. About a quarter of the way down the hall, one of the nurses turned and stopped Tara, before returning to the group and following as they turned the gurney into a nearby room. Tara's quiet tears turned to full on sobbing as she stood there wondering if she would ever see the girl she had grown up with alive again. She startled at the feeling of a warm hand on her shoulder, and noticed Alcide had returned from parking the truck. There were no words, nothing she felt worth saying, so they stood together silently and waited.

Seconds or hours had ticked by, Tara couldn't be sure, when they heard wailing sirens irrupt from the room and someone's voice call out "She's seizing!" Tara's legs gave out and Alcide, half-carried half-drug her into a near by waiting room. He lowered her onto one of the couches, before sitting beside her and taking her hands into his massive ones.

"Sookie's a fighter I know she'll come out of this, just have faith." She nodded dumbly, praying he was right. Again an indeterminable amount of time passed when Tara found herself pacing manically, and the doctor finally came into the room.

"Miss Thornton?"

"How is she?" The doctor paused as though collecting her thoughts.

"Well, your friend has some broken bones, her arm was practically crushed, but thankfully we believe those will heal in time without any permanent damage. The real issues she is currently facing are the trauma she sustained in the sexual assault, and the blood loss. I assume it was a vampire that did this to her?"

"Yes." Tara murmured trying to take in what the doctor had said.

"I thought so, the blood loss alone. . . but the brutality of her assault." The doctor shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, I'm getting off track. We sutured her up as best we can for now, but when we tried to give her a transfusion for the blood loss. . . something happened. It takes awhile for blood testing to come back, and your friend was in such bad condition, I didn't feel we could wait. I ordered O- which is the universal donor, but your friends body had a . . . reaction. When the blood work finally came back. . . I don't know how it's possible but your friend has no known blood type."

"That's not possible." Alcide interrupted. "Everyone has a blood type." His eyebrows drew together, as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'm sorry sir, we just don't know. We ran the test several times to make sure it wasn't a mistake." She took in a deep breath before continuing. "Unfortunately, Miss Stackhouse has fallen into a coma, and without a transfusion, we're unsure if she will come out of it."

"Isn't there anything you can do?" Tara sobbed.

"There is a chance, maybe a relative might have the same anomaly, but honestly your friend doesn't have much time left." The doctor placed her hand on Tara's arm. "If she has any family you should notify them, so they can have a chance to say goodbye. I'm sorry." She finished, giving Tara and Alcide a pained look, before turning and heading back from the way she came.

"Alcide, I'm going call Sookie's brother Jason and maybe he can contact some other family members, that might be willing to come." A slow solemn nod was his only reply. As she headed toward the nurses station, Tara wracked her brain other than Jason what family did Sookie have left? Her momma and daddy were gone, as well as her gran and granddaddy, her Aunt Linda too. Which left just Jason and Hadley, but lord only knew where that girl had gone off to. So then that really just left Jason. Maybe he might know of someone she was forgetting? She dialed and waited as it rang and rang and rang. "Come on Jason answer the damn phone, don't make me leave something like this on your fuckin' voicemail." She grumbled, causing the nurse to glance up from her paperwork. Tara ignored her pointed look.

"Hello?"

"It's me."

"Tara!"

"Yeah it's me, listen Jason something's happened, and Sookie's hurt real bad I need you to come to the hospital in Ruston."

"What? Wait, slow down, what happened to Sook? Is she gonna be alright?" He rambled anxiously. Tara dropped her head onto her free hand. She ignored the first part opting to explain that later and in person.

"I don't know Jason. The doctor says she needs blood, but she couldn't take the kind they gave her, they said that maybe they could find a match with someone in her family. Do you know your blood type?"

"I'm AB- will that work?" It was evident in Tara's voice that it wasn't when she responded.

"Jason is there anyone else in your family that we could try?"

"Only other person I can think of is Hadley, but I don't know where she is or how to reach her. I'll swing by Gran's, and grab the family bible just in case there's someone I'm forgettin'"

"Okay Jason, but please hurry the doctor said that she doesn't have a lot of time." He swore under his breath and disconnected. Tara stood at the nurses station for a bit longer, holding back her tears. She couldn't give up hope just yet.

An older nurse had escorted them into Sookie's room about an hour and a half ago. Tara sat in a chair by the bed watching Sookie's chest rise and fall with the help of a machine. Alcide on the other hand couldn't sit still, and alternated between pacing and bouncing his leg when he finally sat. The nurse checked in every half-hour or so and always she made sure to assure them that their friend was "holding her own." The nurse had just slipped out of the room for the second time when Jason swung around the corner nearly knocking her over.

"Sorry, sorry I'm here to see my sister Sookie?" Tara's legs wobbled, and felt like Jell-O from sitting for so long, as she rose and made her way to the door.

"In here Jason." Her voice was rough and cracked slightly on his name. Jason's eyes were only for Sookie as he entered the silent stillness of the room.

"Sook?" He stumbled to the bed, dropping to his knees with his head resting on Sookie's stomach. "What happened to ya' huh? Who did this to you?" Tears streamed unchecked down Jason's face as he wrapped his arms tightly around his little sister. Jason continued his one sided conversation as Lafayette entered the room.

"Sweet Lord!" he whispered, placing his hand over his heart, in an effort to stop the pain. Tara took in the sight of her cousin before wrapping her arms around him.

"I didn't think I wasn't ever gonna see you again." She muttered into his shoulder.

"Where was you? What happened, all of a sudden you was just gone." She kept her face pressed into him.

"Later LaLa I promise, it's just too much right now." Lafayette patted her back and squeezed her to him before they broke apart, and made their way over to Sookie's bed. Jason lifted his head.

"I damn near tore Gran's house apart looking for papers and such, but it was useless. It's just me left." Tara watched as he angrily scrubbed his hands across his face, and she felt the last of the hope she'd been harboring slip away. He looked at his sister laying there. "Ya know Sook's never really been sick before? Definitely never been in the hospital," he chuckled humorlessly "wasn't even born in one. Always so impatient huh Sook," Tara's eyes welled up as he squeezed Sookie's hand with a tiny smile "didn't help that momma was always puttin' things off 'til last minute, but Sookie decided she was comin' right then, daddy had to deliver her right on the dining room table. Saw more than I ever cared to." He shook his head sadly. "I was there when she entered this world, and now. . ." he sobbed. Tara and Lafayette sank to their knees on either side of him, and all three bowed their heads together crying. "She's all I got left. . . Goddammit Sook, don't to this to me. You can't leave me I fuckin' need you!" Jason wailed.