Chapter 11

SPOV

"Gran, I'm pretty sure Daddy and Pam didn't give you their blood just so you could go and break your back chopping wood." I said, unloading the bags of groceries from my car.

She almost died two months ago, but you wouldn't know it from looking at her. Vampire blood apparently did more than heal injuries. Gran was seventy-one years old but she had as much strength and stamina as someone half her age. Daddy wasn't sure how it affected her heart, so he told her to take it easy because she might just give herself a heart attack. Oh she listened alright, for about two days. Then she discovered she didn't tire as easily anymore and had been running around like she was superwoman ever since.

She swung the axe down, splitting the wood into two pieces. "Hush child, I haven't felt this spry in decades. Let me enjoy feeling useful again."

"You're plenty useful!" I said, exasperated. "You do more around the house in a day than most women in this town do in a week."

"That's because everyone's out making a living," Gran admonished. "Used to be, one paycheck was enough to run a household and put good food on the table. Mothers had the luxury of staying home with their babies. Now, even with two paychecks, you have to pinch pennies to get by." She finished, shaking her head.

I shifted the bags. "Women also like being self sufficient now, don't forget. We have different priorities too." Deciding to test the waters, I added nonchalantly, "Some women don't even want children."

She placed another piece of wood on the stump and swung. "Nonsense, motherhood was the best thing to ever happen to me. You'll love it too."

"Gran," I said softly, "I'm happy that you enjoyed that part of your life with Daddy and Aunt Linda, but not everyone's cut out for it."

She put the axe down and walked over to me. "You'll be a wonderful mother when the time comes, dear."

"Oh, I don't doubt that one bit. But I don't plan on having children. Ever. I would hate to pass my disability onto another person, especially an itty bitty one that I loved more than anything."

Gran looked at me, regret wriitten all over her face. "If I'd known drinking that glass of wine all those years ago would sentence you to a lifetime of unhappiness, I'd never have even looked at it."

Being descendants of the fae weren't the only secrets my grandmother kept from us. The night after Daddy came back to us two years ago, Gran sat us down and told us a story about a demon who befriended a fae prince and who, with a thimble of his blood in an unsuspecting young woman's wine, bestowed upon the fae's human descendants a gift. After I calmed down enough for her to explain that demons weren't exclusive to Christianity, she guiltily explained something else. Gran said the gift was supposed to give Fintan's line an advantage over other humans, but only those with an essential spark would receive the gift. Out of everyone in my family, I drew the short straw and ended up with the prize. It wasn't an exact science, the spark, so as far as I knew, any hypothetical children I would have had a fifty percent chance of inheriting my disability.

While I wanted to tell Gran that I wasn't upset with her, a tiny little part of me, the part that longed for normalcy, was still bitter that one single action on her part changed my life forever. So, I simply nodded, readjusted the bags for a better grip, and went inside.

Gran came inside a short while later and began helping me put the groceries away.

"What time are you heading out?"

"Five. I'm supposed to be there at six to look over the contract and I figured I'd get there about half an hour early to familiarize myself with the bar and staff."

She nodded. "Then we'll have an early supper before you leave."

I paused, butter halfway to the fridge, and frowned. She offered to inconvenience herself for me even though I'd acted like an ass towards her. I felt horrible for being so dismissive of her earlier apology when she'd been nothing but kind and accepting of me all these years.

"Gran?"

"Yes, dear."

"I'm sorry I made you feel bad about something you had no control over." Because my disability didn't come from her affair, and even though she did drink the wine, she had no idea there was magic in it. No, my disability came from that rotund and cheerful demon named Cat-a-whatever his name was. So if I were the type to place blame on someone, it'd be on Fintan or the Cat.

Gran turned to study my face. I guess she saw my sincerity, because she nodded and said, "We're having chicken fried steak with mashed and gravy for supper."

"Sounds good, Gran." I replied, with a little smile. Gran's chicken fried steak was my favorite.

I spent the rest of the day lying out in the sun in between putting in loads of laundry. Call me vain, but I wanted to look good when I saw Eric later that night, and nothing looked better than the natural glow of a new tan.

I started getting ready around three. After a nice warm bath where I even used some of the moisturizing milk beads I bought from Walmart, I shaved all my parts that needed shaving, swept my hair into a messy chignon, pulled some pieces of hair out of the pins to frame my face, and stood in front of my admittedly unimpressive closet. I ran my fingers over a white sundress with pretty red flowers but decided against it. The symbolism of the colors weren't lost on me, and I definitely wasn't down with playing those type of mind games with Eric. It was never a good idea to tease vampires. Next, I decided against a black dress that I'd only worn to funerals. Black was the unofficial color of Fangtasia's clientele; I wasn't there for pleasure so, to avoid any unnecessary confusion, I forwent that little number. I skipped over two pastel colored Sunday dresses, and grabbed a dress that I'd worn only once before.

It was a royal blue ruched jersey dress that I'd ordered from the Victoria's Secret Catalogue. They named it, The Convertible Dress. I thought Transformer Dress would've been more fitting, seeing as how it could literally be worn over a dozen ways. It cost me a pretty penny, including taxes and shipping and handling, it came out to a little over a hundred dollars. It was the most expensive thing I'd ever purchased for myself, but since I really was paying for twelve dresses, I thought it was a steal.

After adjusting it every which way, I decided on the one shoulder version that covered most of my chest. All the other options of wearing the dress seemed to emphasize my girls and while I was proud of my body, I didn't want my breasts to be the focal point of tonight's meeting. Truth be told, I wanted to make a good impression on Eric. I would never be the smartest woman in the room or the most beautiful, but I sure as hell could try for interesting.

The doorbell rang as I was stepping into my shoes. Gran didn't mention anyone was dropping by, so I opened my shields to see who was at the door. I started at what I heard, then quickly went to greet our visitors.

"Are you lost, dear?" Gran asked.

A man was standing outside of our door holding a toddler in his arms. The boy looked exhausted and had noticeable dark circles under his eyes.

"I sure hope not, are you Hadley's kin?" Said the man,

Hi, I'm Sookie. What's your name?, I thought.

The boy looked confused. Did the pretty lady just say that out loud?

"I'm her grandmother. And you are?" Gran's question sounded almost hopeful.

I grinned. Nope, I'm projecting my thoughts to you.

The boy's eyes widened in surprise. You're like me!

"Her husband, and this here's our son, Hunter."

I smiled. Seems that way, doesn't it, Hunter?

Gran looked positively giddy as she ushered them inside. "Come in, come in!"

She led them to the living room while I hurried to the kitchen to prepare some snacks and drinks.

I grabbed a pitcher of sweet tea from the fridge, placed it and four cups on a tray, and plated some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies from the cookie jar.

Hey Hunter, you want milk or sweet tea with your cookies?

Milk, please! He responded automatically.

After pouring Hunter his milk, I hefted the tray in both hands and went to join everyone in the living room.

"Alright, now that everyone who can be here is here right now, why don't you tell us what's going on, Remy."

Remy took a glass from me gratefully and took a long swig. It was the middle of June and hot enough to fry eggs on the pavement. Thankfully, Daddy installed central air for us two Christmases ago so our living room was at a comfortable 72 degrees.

My mommy left us. He said while nibbling on a cookie.

She did what?!

"Hadley upped and left 'bout four months ago. Didn't say where she was headed or nothin', just packed her bags one night and took off."

Gran looked mad enough to spit nails. "Why, of all the selfish and irresponsible things she's ever done in her life... to leave her baby behind? Did she try contacting you afterwards?"

I dipped into Remy's head. Hadley was yelling about how she was going crazy. She said she couldn't do it anymore, that she tried but being a mother was too hard for her. Especially since Hunter wasn't a normal kid and needed special care. Remy asked her what she expected him to do, he was as lost as she was. Hadley told him to find her "crazy cousin Sookie, she got the same problem as Hunter."

Good God, that woman was vile. I slammed my shield down on Remy's thoughts but not before one slipped through. He was terrified of his own son.

Hunter frowned as he chewed his cookie. Daddy been thinking 'bout it more and more since mommy left. I got real scared when I heard him thinking we was coming today... But I'm not anymore!

Because I'm a telepath too?

A tele-what?! He asked, eyes wide.

I refrained from chuckling and replied, Telepath, it means mind reader.

He shook his head. Oh! Naw, that's not why.

You gonna tell me why or you gonna make me guess? I asked, eyes narrowed in mock annoyance.

He cackled. You're not gonna guess! You'd just get it from my head!

"She is like him." Remy said, slack-jawed.

Oops, I guess our secret's out. I thought.

"Hunter can read minds too?" Gran asked, clutching her hands over her heart.

Remy nodded. "Hadley said she had a cousin who was like our boy. But like everything else she says, I took that with a grain of salt."

I'm a good boy. I eat my ve-ge-ta-bles he thought slowly, sounding the word out in his head. I can almost tie my shoes. And I almost never wet the bed anymore.

Well, sir, if that's not a good boy then I don't know what is.

He gave me a smile that stretched across his entire face. Then you'll keep me?

Wait, what?

"Look, I'm real sorry to spring this on you, but I got no other choice. Hunter ain't sleeping at night, says my thoughts are too loud. And he's scared off three of our sitters and a couple'a our neighbors. I can't keep taking off to watch him... I been seeing a real good woman for a while now. She wants to get married, have our own kids and..." He looked at Hunter apologetically, "first time she met Hunt, he scared her off and now she's afraid to come over again."

I felt my face turning red with anger, but Gran beat me to the punch.

"Stackhouses take care of our own, don't you worry about it, Mr. Savoy. When can you move Hunter's belongings over?"

He's scared of me. Hunter thought sadly.

I sighed internally. My mom was scared of me too, but Gran's tough as nails. Nothing ever scares her.

Nothing? He asked doubtfully

Nope, not even my vampire daddy.

His eyed were wide as saucers. Your daddy's a vampire?!

I grinned. Yup, and so's my friend, Pam. And the guy who's gonna be my boss in a few hours, I added to myself. But of course Hunter heard it too.

Three?! You know three vampires?!

And you will too. Well, you'll get to meet two of them at least. My daddy's probably gonna come over later tonight if he knows you're here. Your grandma was his baby sister, ya know.

I stood up, walked over to Hunter and held my hand out. Wanna pick out your new room?

Yeah!

In the end, we decided to give him my room because it just didn't make sense for a two and a half year old to sleep on a separate floor from the adults in the house.

Gran was feeling mighty angry because she waited for Remy to leave before starting supper. It was unheard of in our household, for her to not invite a guest to stay for a meal. But he made an enemy out of Adele Stackhouse by not even pretending to want to take Hunter home with him for one last night together.

I had a feeling Hadley wasn't fairing much better in Gran's mind either.

It was a little after five when we finished dinner. By the time I did the dishes, I had just enough time to make it to Fangtasia on time for my... It wasn't a job interview, nor was it my first night on the job. I settled for "contract negotiation" as I quickly applied a thin layer of clear lipgloss on my lips and grabbed the matching clutch to my nude colored pumps.

I slipped on the thin gold bangles that Pam gifted me last Christmas and put on a pair of gold stud earrings in the shape of a knot ."You gonna call Daddy later when he wakes up, or should I tell him the good news at work?"

"This is the kind of news you tell in person, dear."

I nodded, gave Gran and Hunter a hug, and left for Shreveport.

I pulled into Fangtasia's parking lot with five minutes to spare. It was still too early for customers and, other than a handful of cars, the parking lot was empty so I went in through the employee entrance in the back.

I stood in the hallway and took everything in. It was my first time in Fangtasia and I could honestly say, if I wasn't paid to be there, I'd never have willingly step foot into the place otherwise. Whoever decorated the bar needed to be fired. Immediately. Only one word came to mind in terms of description, "cheesy." Dark greys, blacks, and reds; walls lined with framed pictures of every single silver screen vampire to have helmed a vampire movie, with one notable exception - Max Schreck who starred in Nosferatu. To be fair though, Nosferatu was ugly as all get out. I sure wouldn't have wanted all humans to be associated with a falsified and extremely hideous depiction of us. Like that caveman guy in the Geico commercials.

A woman with long strawberry blonde hair that desperately needed a good conditioner and comb, was sitting on a bar stool. She wore a long black gown, a cheaply made Elvira knockoff that displayed every single one of the fang marks on her neck, and had cleavage bolstered by the hardest working push-up bra in creation. No one's boobs were, nor should they ever be, up to their collarbone.

An itty bitty woman with bleached blonde hair, self tanner two shades too dark, an assload of baby blue eyeshadow and frosting pink lipstick, was wearing a denim belt as a skirt and a mid drift baring silver tube top. She was sweeping the floor and seemed a bit too jumpy for someone performing such a mundane task. Her wrists, neck, and from what I glimpsed of her thighs, were all covered in fang marks. The saying, "afraid of her own shadow", came to mind and I was curious enough to dip into her thoughts.

Did I forget to turn off the stove? I think I remember I did, but what if I didn't? When did I last use it? Oh right, when I heated up some spaghetti-o's for Harry and Charlaine for lunch. They're not home now but what if the house blows up when Sue-Anne drops my babies off in the morning? Oh God, oh God, oh God! I don't wanna lose my babies!

Her brain had more holes than Swiss cheese. Someone was glamouring her on a regular basis and if they didn't stop soon, the woman was sure to end up in a padded cell somewhere for the rest of her life.

Three other women, two more blondes and one brunette, were in varying colors of the same outfit. Necks full of fang bites, plunging v-neck halter dresses and slinky heels; I wondered if they coordinated before leaving the house or if this was their uniform. The blonde wearing the red dress was behind the bar cutting up garnishes while the blonde in the black dress was wiping down the tables. The last of the trio, the dark haired waitress, was emptying out the garbage cans in the two bathrooms.

Since everyone was busy except for the Mistress of the Dark perched on the bar stool, I sidled up next to her and extended my hand to introduce myself then thought better of it and quickly withdrew my hand. Her nails were chewed to the quick and yet she still somehow managed to find more real estate to nibble on in between taking drags from a cigarette. The woman was either high as a kite or as nervous as a whore in a church. I really didn't want to do it, because I felt dirty just looking at her, but I slipped into her mind anyway and quickly found the cause of her nerves.

"Hi, I'm Sookie Stackhouse, Mr. Northman's financial consultant."

"Why umm.. Why are you here?"

Shit, he knows! First the accountant, and now her. I wished I'd listened to my gut and gotten on the first greyhound to Ricky's when I had the chance. Maybe if I tell Eric what I know about the money, he'll let me live. But if I do, hewill kill me.

No matter how hard I dug, I couldn't seem to find the "he" in question. It was almost as if his picture was erased or, the more likely explanation, she was glamoured to forget.

"Oh, I'm just here to go through some papers and verify some things for Mr. Northman."

I'm so screwed! Maybe the master will protect me. She looked at her watch, Maybe I still have time to catch the next bus to Tennessee.

I stood and walled her in. "So, what's your name-"

She backed up and hissed, "Get the fuck away from me!"

I held my hands up, "I was just trying to make conversation, sorry if I offended."

She relaxed slightly, but her eyes kept glancing at the hallway. Just when she was about to bolt again, the back door swung open and Eric waltzed into the bar, followed shortly by my Daddy and Pam, and another vampire I'd never met before. From shooting the shit with Daddy in the past, I knew the vampire was Long Shadow, a Native American who got turned before our country was even established. He was also one fourth of Fangtasia's four owners; Daddy, Eric and Pam being the other three.

At seeing the arrival of reinforcements, I sighed a breath of relief. First things first, I nodded to all four vampires. Pam gave me an appreciative once over that made me feel as if she was stripping me naked with her perusal. Eric nodded back but I was otherwise invisible to him. Okay, then. Long Shadow ogled me as if I was a piece of candy and he, a fat kid in the candy shop. I shuddered. His fangs clicked into place. Fucking creep.

Daddy side eyed the shit out of Long Shadow, and gave me a lopsided grin. "Beautiful,"

"Don't tell me, I know." Pam deadpanned.

I wanted to tell Daddy about the newest addition to our household, but Elvira was filled with so much anxiety, I was close to bursting.

"Mr. Northman, may I have a word with you in private?"

He nodded once and turned to head back down the hallway. I didn't know what I expected from him this night, but it sure as hell wasn't the "I, king; you, peasant," attitude he had going on. I shrugged it off and followed like a good little worker bee. We weren't friends, barely even acquaintances. I was stupid for expecting more.

He sat in the chair behind his desk and gestured to one of the two chairs facing him. Remembering what I'd gleamed from Dawn's memories, I pulled the chair further away from the desk and perched gingerly on the edge of the seat with my legs crossed. God, I wished I had some Purell.

"You may speak."

Well la-dee-fucking-da. I barely controlled the urge to roll my eyes. "Elvira knows what happened to the money."

"There is no one named Elvira on the staff." His face was beginning to look like most of the people in town who questioned my disability or my sanity.

I hated to admit it, that I let him affect me so much, but it hurt to see that look on his face. I put a bandaid on my wounded pride, swallowed the lump forming in my throat, and replied, "Elvira, the Mistress of the Damned? The movie character?"

"Which waitress?" He asked, ignoring my pop culture reference. I decided right then and there that I hated Fangtasia Eric.

My eye twitched from suppressing all of the pent up emotions he incited by acting like a cold, uncaring ass. "She was sitting on the barstool."

A second later, Pam opened the door and asked, "Who am I killing?"

"Bring in Belinda."

Pam dropped her fangs, gave him a fangy grin, and said, "With pleasure."

The girl was shaking like a leaf by the time she sat down in a chair that Eric had moved to the center of the room. By then, all of the vampires in attendance had joined us in the room. I got down on my haunches in front of Belinda, and reached for her hands.

She flung my hands away, "Don't fucking touch me," she hissed.

It was said with such vitriol that all of the vampires tensed. The room was now brimming with energy, and being only one of two humans, I felt like a lamb on the chopping block.

"Pam," Eric said.

She immediately appeared behind Belinda and gripped her upper arms, holding her still for my questioning. Belinda struggled but Pam had an iron grip on her. She wasn't going anywhere without the vampire's say so.

My hands circled her skinny wrists. "Did you take the money?"

She cursed and called me every nasty name under the sun. I tightened my hold on her wrists and went spelunking in her mind. If I had to give a texture to people's thoughts, they're usually smooth, even the nasty ones. But Belinda's memories of Eric's missing money were so riddled with holes that I felt like I was exploring a cave or tiptoeing through a bombed site.

"She knows who took it," I said to Eric.

Even physical contact couldn't break the glamour. So I concentrated and pushed harder with my mind and tried to somehow slip into the gaps. I had no idea what I was doing, I'd never done it before, and could only hope I didn't fuck Belinda's head up anymore than it already was.

Belinda began screaming bloody murder. Wailing like a damned banshee.

"A man's involved and I'm pretty sure he's either a vampire or he's got one on his payroll, because she can't picture him in her head at all, like there's some sort of compulsion."

I pushed harder, going over one of the holes repeatedly, hoping to somehow fill it in or gleam something from it. Belatedly, I realized I was rubbing circles on her wrist, similar to what I was doing to the area of her missing memory. The hole was still in her mind but something was happening. I felt wetness over my upper lip but I ignored it, and kept pushing. Someone was speaking, no, yelling at me but I ignored that too. My head felt foggy, my eyes blurry, but still I pushed. Until, finally, I was there. I watched, transfixed, as the scene played out infront of me. And then, I knew.

I released Belinda and turned. Every vampire in the room was frozen, but their eyes were staring at something on my face. I reached my hand up and felt wetness under my nose. It was blood, I was bleeding from whatever I'd done to the girl. Then it hit me, Daddy's words from two years ago, "Never bleed around a vampire."

I was so fucked.

Eric, being the oldest, was the first to regain control. Everyone else seemed almost afraid to move, afraid to breathe. Not that they breathed.

"Pam," he said, hungry eyes on me. Great, after all the work I put into my appearance, the only time he bothered looking at me was when I really, really didn't want him to.

It took her a second, but she visibly reigned her hunger in and opened the door. "Ginger, Yvetta, and the other two, inside. Now."

I swallowed thickly, hoping I wasn't going to have to stay for the show. Then I remembered what I saw and my stupid, stupid eyes wandered over to Long Shadow.

Then he was on me.

In a desperate act of self preservation, I threw my arms up to cover my neck. And that's what he bit into savagely, tearing into my arm like a starved lion. I tried to scream but the impact from his lunge took all the air from my lungs. I kicked and punched with my other arm but realized in horror that it was doing nothing but exciting him even more. He pressed harder into me then, eyes widened in shock, his face began to wrinkle then cave in on itself. His hair fell in clumps onto my face, and suddenly, someone grabbed me.

The next thing I knew, I was outside of the bar in Eric's arms.

A/N: I think I like hot and cold Eric. Well, mostly cold, or more like freezing. He's interesting to write :D I think I might keep him for the rest of the story... No? Well, alright, maybe just for another couple of chapters then. :D :D

I took some liberties with Ginger and Belinda's characters. SVM Ginger is the strawberry blonde with shit for brains and a hardon for Eric. Belinda was the smart one. Neither are too bright here, but I absolutely LOVE True Blood Ginger! I remember watching a compilation of her scenes on YouTube and just kept replaying the one where she was riding Pam's coffin like a bull, and screaming bloody murder, over and over again. TB Ginger is a gem lol

I posted some links to pics of Sookie and Pam's outfits, and who I imagined Corbett as (ermahgawd droool!), in my profile. Feel free to click away :D