Chapter 6

2002

SPOV

"Start talking."

Pamela's eyes were on the hands that she was wringing in front of her, but she didn't really seem to be seeing them. I lowered my shields and studied her mind. It was the same size and shape as it was all those years ago, but something was off. It wasn't any lighter because it was still the pitch black nothingness I remembered it being, but something was different about it.

My scrutinization was halted when she seemed to have made up her mind. She shored up her shoulders, looked straight at Gran, and said, "I found your son-"

"I'm afraid I'm not the only one here who's owed this explanation," Gran interrupted. "You will include both Sookie and I in your recollection of the events please, Ms. Ravenscroft."

If I didn't know any better, I'd have sworn I heard a bite in the way my name was spoken, but I knew I was imagining things because Gran had the temperament of a saint. And other than cussing out her current guest, I'd done nothing to upset her.

Pamela arched one perfect eyebrow at Gran's interruption and said, "I was hunting fairies-"

Gran gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I spat, "Are you being purposely cruel by making shit up or are you getting a kick out of dragging this out?"

Completely ignoring me, Pamela turned towards daddy, and said, "My patience is wearing thin."

He nodded once in acquiescence and looked at me. "Q&A after. Promise, baby girl."

I narrowed my eyes at him but kept my mouth shut. I was fuming inside that he became evil incarnate's bitch. What the hell happened to him?

"My maker informed me that two of the most deranged and vicious fairies were in his area, leaving trails of magically mutilated supe corpses faster than he could get rid of them. They needed to die, and fast. We were too close to the Great Revelation to let those incestuous little fucks ruin everything for us."

She made a disgusted face when she mentioned that lovely little tidbit about the incest. I tried to imagine Tinkerbell doing what she described and her story became that much more incredulous. And what the hell were soup corpses? Some kind of zombie mush? I made a mental note to ask about that later as well.

"I tracked them to your one horse town but lost them about five miles from the river. When I reached the collapsed bridge, I looked over and must have seen what I assumed were Neave and Lachlan because I jumped into the river but pulled you out instead." she shrugged at me.

Daddy gave her a look that said she was full of shit and I wondered just how much of her story she was embellishing.

"After you vomited the contents of your stomach, you begged and pleaded with me to save your father." That wasn't how I remembered it and I gave her a nasty look but she turned to look at Gran instead. "I fished your son out of the water and drained him. After I'd had my fill, I threw them both back into the river." She left out a whole chunk of story here. "My maker, the vampire who sired me, arrived in time to save your granddaughter and I was forced to turn your son."

I looked at Gran, expecting her to ask Pamela for the whole story because the one we were given had bigger holes than the Grand Canyon. She looked ashen instead. I immediately felt like the biggest shit. This was all too much for her to take. No mother wanted to relive their son's murder.

Daddy must've noticed too, because he got out of his chair and knelt down in front of her. "Ought to go lie down, momma. We'll visit tomorrow night, yeah?"

Gran stroked his face tenderly and, slowly, shook her head. White hair framing a face marked by far too much sorrow, she was the most beautiful woman I'd ever known.

"No," she sighed. "This family has been hurt by its own secrets long enough."

That's when I realized; I'd let her mourn for a son who was never truly dead. My God, what had I done? I was too busy keeping a promise I made, to someone I'd never meet again, to see how much my lie of omission would hurt my Gran. For the hundredth time that night, I felt like such a shit.

"Gran, I'm so sorry.. I didn't know if it actually worked, that daddy would really be a vampire. I didn't even know for sure if my mind wasn't just making it all up because I missed him. But I should've told you regardless instead of letting you think he was dead. I am such an inconsiderate, thoughtless, selfish-."

"Hush child, enough. That's all in the past. The only thing that matters now is we have him back. And we have Ms. Ravenscroft to thank for that."

I looked incredulously at my grandmother. She must've lost her mind when she found her son. Did she forget that he was murdered by the very same person she was so gratefully thanking?

"Now if you'll all humour an old woman and spare her a moment of your time... I have something that I need to get off my chest, and it's been a long time coming."

Daddy looked at her expectedly while I looked on in confusion. Gran kept secrets?

She held onto daddy's hands tightly, as if he'd slip away again if she released her hold. "Your daddy, Mitchell Stackhouse God bless his soul, was a wonderful husband and provider. I loved him dearly, but he couldn't give me the one thing I wanted more than anything in the world.." A queasy feeling stirred in the pit of my stomach. "I was out tending the yard one day when out came this beautiful creature from the woods. There was no question that he wasn't an ordinary human. I was immediately drawn to him. There was an ethereal quality to him that had me simply mesmerized, and quite simply, he shined as radiantly as the sun itself. He introduced himself as Fintan Brigant-"

If vampires could get sick, Pamela would've upchucked everything in her stomach at hearing that name. I made a note to repeat it as often, in her vicinity, as possible and wondered if my entire existence was somebody's idea of a sick joke. It became obvious at this point where Gran's story was headed and I just couldn't, for the life of me, ever see my Gran as an adulteress. She didn't have it in her to do something so.. So wrong!

I dipped into her mind for the first time since learning how to shield thoughts, and saw the creature who had enticed my grandmother to commit a sin. Her memories took on a veiled, almost like there was a layer of fog covering it, quality and that just wasn't normal. Details of old memories that people couldn't remember too well appeared almost staticky, but only the parts they had trouble recalling. Gran's entire perception of what happened that day was covered in a layer of fog. Almost like it was a dream.

An idea quickly began forming in my head, and I didn't like what I pieced together one bit.

"-said I was the most beautiful creature his eyes had ever beheld. Of course I turned all shades of red and didn't believe a word he said. I was covered in dirt and pulled weeds, afterall." Gran stared at daddy's hand. "We talked for hours, stopping only when Mitchell came home. He visited a handful of times after that, and, " Gran squeezed her eyes shut as her face took on a pained expression. "Through our affair, he gave me the greatest gifts of all..." Her eyes searched daddy's face. She must've found what she was looking for, because she relaxed noticeably, and continued, "You and your sister were so very, very beautiful. Fintan warned me that the fae allure was a double-edged sword. That with each admiring look and opened door, came the jealousy and the enemies. I was foolish to assume he meant human enemies. But I was wrong, wasn't I? Your human life was taken from you because your vampire found you as alluring as all those girls you ran around with before Michelle."

Daddy shook his head. "Momma, don't. We gettin' a fresh start now. No good in thinkin' on the past. Finish your story, Sookie's gotta list of questions a mile long."

Gran nodded and held his hand tighter. "My Mitchell told me kindly, years later, that he had mumps as a boy and was sterile. He never blamed me for my transgressions, and in fact, loved you and your sister like you were his own."

The secret must've been eating away at her for years. And I was all too certain she wasn't acting out of sound mind all those years ago.

I looked at Pamela. "You know something."

She nodded but didn't elaborate.

"Fintan Brigant," I said, and felt a jolt of satisfaction when she winced at the name. "Fintan Brigant was..." I paused, waiting for her to fill in the blank. After several beats of loaded silence, I tried again. "Fintan Brigant wasn't human... Fintan Bri-"

"Oh will you stop saying that name, for fucks sake! He's a fairy. A fae prince of the Brigant line. Son of the crowned prince, Niall Brigant. Father of, apparently, your father and dead aunt. Grandfather of-"

"Alright, alright, I get it. So, fairies... They're evil?"

She looked at me as if I was stupid. "Because the entirety of any one race can be conveniently put into a box that's labeled by something as profound as your definition of one word."

I gritted my teeth. "In a general sense, are fairies malicious? Prone to acts of violence? Known to cause pain and suffering?"

She arched that goddamn eyebrow of hers and replied, "Some, yes."

"Cheese and rice! Is Fintan Brigant an evil bastard capable of rape?" I blurted, then immediately regretted it when Gran got up and left the table.

Surprisingly, Pamela actually waited until Gran was out of earshot before she replied softly, "If your grandmother was raped, she would have remembered it."

"You and that big blonde vampire tried to erase my memories. And before you try to deny it, I felt both of y'all poke my mind with that mind voodoo when y'all tried."

Daddy shook his head and took over. "Don't know much about 'em other than what I'd been told, but far as I know, the only glamour they can do is changing how others see them."

"Then why would Gran's memory of him be covered in a layer of fog?"

"Because he was protecting me." the woman in question replied as she walked back into the kitchen clutching an old photo album to her chest. "The fae allure is so magnificent that seeing one in their true form would drive a human mad. Consumed with nothing but thoughts of the fairy, the human would eventually wither away and die. Corbett was only a quarter fae but it seemed to be enough to affect Michelle."

The gravity of what she didn't say slapped me in the face. Was my grandmother somehow implying that my brother caused our mother to molest him? Simply by being born into this family? Did the same rules apply for what uncle Bartlett did to me, Hadley, and aunt Linda? Was it our fault, because we had the fae allure?

Horrified, I looked at Gran. "Uncle B-"

"No!" Gran shouted vehemently as she placed the album on the table and pulled me into a hug. "Don't you dare think what that monster did was your fault. You weren't the first, and you weren't the last. Bartlett was a sick man and I should've let Mitchell kill him when we found out what he did to Linda."

"My baby girl too?" Daddy whispered, his face twisted in anguish.

Before I could even formulate an answer, he was gone. Pamela cast one look at us, nodded that she'd look after daddy, then disappeared as well. If it weren't for the kitchen door swinging open and shut, I'd have thought they up and vanished into thin air.

A/N: Rest assured, Sookie's beef with Pam is far from over. There's a lot of shit still left to clear up and I have a feeling that more than a few of you still wanna stake Pam (and maybe even Gran. Lotsa hate for the Stackhouse matriarch there floating on the review page lol but trust me, please. All will be explained. Just give me a chapter [or two.])

Pam's POV is coming up next.

As usual, thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, followed, and favorited. Seeing the love/hate/suggestions the story's receiving after each update really encourages me to keep going. When I used to read this in other people's A/N's I thought they were just hustling for reviews but, swear to God, it's the truth.