A/N. Still don't own. First of all, thank you for your lovely reviews! I'm glad you guys think it starts in an interesting place and hope to keep you with me. Again, hugs, chocolates and naughty Askars dreams go to Kristen, my dear beta. Here is chapter 2.
~oOo~
I screamed until there was no air left in my lungs to power it and then took a breath and screamed some more. Dermot, or the ghost of Dermot, or the vision of Dermot was standing still near my vanity, exhibiting literally angelic patience.
I finally realized that I was getting a little ridiculous with my over-the-top reaction and stopped punishing my vocal chords.
"Dermot?" The question was stupid, but how else would you start a conversation such as this?
"Sookie. I'm sorry I've frightened you," he answered in that sweet, vulnerable voice I had come to really like
I immediately thought that he was dead and it would be the last time I'd see him. I welled up.
"Are you dead?" Another stupid question.
"Yes, I am. Apparently, I'm more of a fairy than even Niall thought, since I'm standing here now."
Wait just a second. I shook my head, trying to clear it up.
"Why didn't you… make an apparition to Niall? Isn't he your oldest living relative?" I asked, confused[k1] .
"Spirits cannot traverse between worlds, Sookie."
"Claude, then? Claude is still here, isn't he?" For a moment, a sharp feeling of dread seized me like a vise, and I almost choked. If Dermot didn't go to Claude, then Claude was… Oh God. Oh God, no. I gasped and covered my mouth with my hand.
"No, no, Sookie! Claude is fine!" Dermot's transparent face contorted with pain. He hated hurting people. "Claude is fine, don't worry. I came to you because even though I'm dead, I'm not… really dead."
For a second there, he looked like he was about to tell me he borrowed a million dollars from bad guys, died and passed his debt to me.
Not really dead. I didn't like the sound of it.
"What do you mean, not really dead? Are you in… the state of clinical death or something?"
I watched a documentary on Discovery a few months ago about people who, after their heart stopped for a few minutes and they actually died, saw things. They said their spirits left their bodies at that time.
"No, unfortunately not. I did die, good and proper." He made a helpless gesture with his hands. "But I will start a new life. Tomorrow night, I think."
And then it hit me. I felt the way my mouth opened in astonishment and words got stuck in there for a second.
"Did someone make you a vampire?"
"I think so, yes." Dermot looked rather clueless.
"And you decided to come to me?"
"I think I was given a choice who to go to, because I'm not going to Summerland, I'm going back. And I don't know anyone who would… know more about vampires than you do and be… kind enough to help me." Dermot looked at me in a soft, proud way a mother looks at her child when he wins a ribbon. Not for the first place, or even the third… just a ribbon for participation they give out to all the other kids so that no one gets upset.
He was making such a big mistake here. I loved vampires and hated some. I had sex with them, had their blood (voluntarily and involuntarily), and gave mine. I participated in their petty intrigues and big-scale wars. I saved them and I killed them. But I still thought I knew shit about them, most of the times.
"Oh," I managed to utter, smitten with how much trust he was putting in me. "Oh, Dermot. Thank you, but… why didn't you go to your maker? Who is your maker anyway? For all I know, you don't have to worry, when you wake up he or she will be there waiting for you. They will help you out and walk you through this." I was aiming this inspirational little speech more at myself than at Dermot. "I'm sure you'll love your new life. Lots of them… you… do." The smile I plastered on my face at these words felt sour.
"I don't know who my maker is, Sookie. And I feel they won't come for me." Dermot said frighteningly matter-of-factly.
"How do you feel something like this?" I asked.
"How do vampires feel when the sun is coming up?"
Ok, touché.
But still. Some harebrained, cruel-ass idiot of a vampire killed one of my family. Drained him, given him their blood and left him to pick up the pieces. Unprotected, unguided. Helpless. I felt my anger bubbling to the surface. I would not leave it at that. I may not know many things about vampires, but I knew they took seriously to protecting their young.
"Dermot," I said in no-nonsense tone. "Tell me everything."
And he did.
There wasn't much to tell, as it turned out. He was walking through the woods near my home. Just patrolling, he said. It was peaceful and quite. He liked my woods. They reminded him of good things in his life. Next thing he knew, he was on the ground, face down, dirt and last year's leaves stuffing his mouth as he tried to scream. It was over very soon. He felt life ebbing away from him with each deep draught of blood the vampire took from his neck. And then the world lost all color and dimmed to black. Before he lost track of, well… everything, he was made to swallow something. Something that was thick and tepid, and was life and death, he said. Then he was floating somewhere that was both timeless and spaceless. At some point he understood that he needed to come to me. That was how he found himself standing in front of my vanity.
But there were a few things he knew without having seen them, too. Like home truths.
For instance, he knew that he was buried and where he was buried. I was shocked to learn that it was only about half a mile from my house. He also knew that he would rise the following night.
"So, what can I do for you?" I asked, feeling lost.
"I want you to come get me tomorrow, Sookie. I… don't know if I can… I'm afraid," he said with the frankness which was absolutely disarming. Robbing me of any reasons I may have considered for saying no, actually.
Tears sprung to my eyes at the thought that someone could come to rely on me so much. It was truly a powerful feeling. I jumped off the bed to give Dermot a necessary 'it'll-be-alright' hug, but checked my impulse when I remembered he was a ghost. Well, sort of. My arms would probably go right through him.
"Of course, I'll come and get you, Dermot. I'll bring True Blood so you can… feed, and I'll bring Eric or Pam or even Bill. They can even give you some initiation counseling or whatever it is you guys need when you wake up."
"Alright. Thank you Sookie. Oh, and… I know I am supposed to pass my legacy right now, but I think… since I'll still be here I might be in need of the little I got." Dermot looked heart-breakingly ashamed.
"Dermot, of course you will need it! Don't even think about it." I didn't really know what to say to make him feel better. I was at a total loss.
"Can you pass on to Claude that I love him very much? He's been like a brother to me these last couple of months, and since I'll be a vampire, I don't think I'll be able to see much of him now," he said in a shaky voice. I saw a couple of silvery tears leave his eyes and roll down his translucent cheeks and my heart broke again. The sight would have been breathtaking if it wasn't so tragic.
"Sure I will, Dermot. Claude loves you a load, too." Claude would be devastated when he found out.
"Okay. Thank you, Sookie. I think I need to go now," he said, as he started to get thinner and thinner, and not in form, but in substance.
I watched helplessly as the last few whiffs of my uncle Dermot's ghost dissipated. I was so shocked that I actually felt calm. Right now, Felipe's plans for me and the loss of my job seemed so insignificant and far away. All that mattered was that yet another one of my family had fallen victim to the damn vampire feuds. I simply had to find who was behind this and why.
I reached for my watch, which was lying on the nightstand by the bed. 4.30 – Fangtasia would be long closed, but it was still over an hour before dawn, so Eric should be up.
Grabbing my cell phone, I dialed his number and waited. The first time, the call went to voicemail again. Damn it, Eric, where are you? I was beyond being polite and dialed again. This time, after three rings Eric picked up.
"Sookie? I'm a little busy here," he said in a voice full of tired tenderness.
"Eric, I'm sorry to bother you, but something has happened, and I need help." I sounded hurt and a little bitter.
"Dear one, can it wait for tomorrow night?"
Eric had never been so dismissive of me before. It cut to the quick.
"Yes, fine. I'll cope," I said coldly and hung up without saying good bye.
I knew that if I had said no, he'd listen and help out. I didn't know what made my pride flare up with such bad timing. Well, to be honest, I did. It was how things between me and Eric stood after Appius's death. I was sure it was not a wise thing to let my pride and hurt take this one over, but… so many buts. Eric must be seriously busy. I'd better not interrupt a meeting with Victor or someone even more important.
A part of me hoped he'd call back. That he'd feel my anxiety through the bond and land on my porch fifteen minutes from now, hold me for half an hour up until dawn made it impossible and go to sleep in my light-tight hole under the closet in my old bedroom.
But he didn't. And it was a bitter gall to swallow. Fine then. I petulantly decided that I wouldn't call on him tomorrow night. I asked for help, he asked if I could wait. I could. He knew I needed him; the ball was fielding his court now.
Having settled that in my head, I picked a change of fresh clothes and went to the shower[k2] . It was no use getting back to bed anyway.
A good shower had always been like a first aid kit to me. First, scrub myself clean using every single beauty product I owned. Then condition my hair, shave, towel dry, slap on some body lotion and brush. Of course, the perfect topping to a perfect shower would be if Eric brushed my hair for me. And we would get carried away and end up needing another shower. But I never did mind that.
Thinking of Eric, I felt another pang of sadness, and then it hit me. There was an elusive 'wrong!' sign I kept noticing as if out of the corner of my eye, but I could never peg it down. When we were on the phone less than half an hour ago, he didn't call me 'lover'. When I started thinking about it, I realized that he hadn't called me 'lover' for a longer period than I cared to remember.
I felt something heavy, icy and painful wrap around my heart, squeeze it, tug it down. It was a familiar feeling. The last time I experienced it was two years ago when Bill's ever so important computer database started taking over my place in his life.
I hated it.
Screwing my eyes shut, I firmly pushed the feeling aside till I could afford time and strength to deal with it and got dressed. Summers in Northern Louisiana are hot and humid. They frizz up your hair and make your fingers stick together. I put on skimpy shorts and a white tank top that covered as little skin as I could safely get away with, grabbed my purse and went out. I had a lot of things to do.
The first thing on my list was visiting Claude's apartment in Monroe. I had to be the one to tell him. I drove with my radio off and windows down. The air, rushing into the car from doing eighty on the highway, whipped my hair into a very pretty, natural do. One that Eric so loved. Whenever I drove to Shreveport to see him, I left with my hair still wet and drove this way. I usually loved feeling pretty, but today I just needed the air and wind about me, screw the hair.
It turned out Claude was not home. It was still early, not even eight, so I figured he might be sleeping over at whatever lover's house he took last night. Leaving a note on his door that it was imperative that we see each other ASAP, I drove back to Bon Temps. I got out at the liquor store and bought a few cases of blood. I didn't know Dermot's preference (hell, he didn't know his preference yet), so I made sure all types were there. Then I drove to Wal-Mart and bought a nicer mattress, sheets, pillows and pillowcases. I knew vampires don't get affected by weather temperature, but I bought a warm blanket nonetheless.
I also picked a few issues of Vampire Health and V, the new vampire lifestyle magazine. Not sure why I got those, but I thought it was an appropriate thing to give to a new vampire.
Doing chores made me feel needed, and feeling needed made me feel better, so I drove home with a feeling that I could shoulder whatever was coming my way.
Claude was sitting at the table in the kitchen, an untouched mug of tea long gone cold between his hands. He looked like the soggiest, saddest, most beautiful leaden rain cloud.
I stopped at the doorway and felt my eyes getting wet around the rims.
"Hey, Claude," I said, in a disgustingly bright voice. "How was your night?"
He jerked, as if startled from a daze, and looked at me in surprise.
"Sookie. I just… I had this feeling yesterday and needed air. I went to the portal to maybe talk to someone from back there. But I guess they have sealed it for good." Well, for once I was wrong about Claude fixing all his problems with a quick screw.
Claude looked lost, and it was a disconcerting look for the arrogant, blunt fairy I knew, who usually had the tact and the self-confidence of a rampaging rhino.
"Did something happen, Sookie?" Claude asked. "I feel like something has happened and—"
"It's Dermot," I interrupted him and willed myself not to cry. Quite uselessly, as usual. "Someone made him a vampire. He came to me last night as a… as, you know, like you guys do when you die. He'll rise tonight [k3] and need my help. That's why he came to me, because he's not really dead."
The last time I saw Claude so conflicted and in so much pain was when he came to talk to me after his sister Claudine died, and I spent all twenty minutes of our struggled conversation waiting for him to strike out and deliver the final blow.
I closed my eyes and stood completely still, as if waiting for some kind of cosmic retribution to smack me in the head. Instead, I got wrapped in a big, warm fairy hug.
Claude cried like a baby. Neither I nor he had very many relatives to spare and both had already lost too many. It felt good not to cry alone, so I cried with him, for all I've lost, recently and in the past.
Some time later, after we both felt like empty tear vessels , had made each other drinks and fetched comfort food, sniffling and confused, my doorbell rang. Claude, who, unlike me, still looked gorgeous with puffy eyes, red nose-tip and tear streaks (if anything, I think it made women want to comfort him, preferably horizontally and sans clothes, even more), went to answer it while I ran to the bathroom to splash some water on my face.
"Sookie, it's someone for you!" I heard him yelling a minute later.
I hurried to the door and saw a tall, scrawny man standing on my porch. His reserved, expensively unremarkable suit screamed 'lawyer'. He had striking white skin and dark, thick hair that looked rather unmanageable. His eyes were bright yellow and his pupils were fiery feline slits. I would have thought he had put on a pair of those contacts they sell in Halloween stores, but then my eyes caught his feet. His two huge left feet. And I mean, literally left.
I forcibly stopped myself from staring like a rude five-year-old and felt my mouth stretch in a perfunctory smile.
"Hello, how may I help you?" I said to my demonic guest.
"Are you Miss Sookie Stackhouse?" he said in a deep, lilting voice which didn't go with his gangly frame.
"The very one."
"I'm Mr. Karahalios, Ma'am." His undoubtedly friendly smile revealed a set of sharp, dangerous-looking teeth.
"Pleased to meet you, sir, what can I do for you?" I said and wondered why all demon lawyers had Greek last names.[k4]
"I have a parcel for you, Miss Stackhouse." Mr. Karahalios produced a large, fat manila envelope and handed it to me.
My eyes couldn't help but slip and wander back to his left feet. He noticed and gave a chilling, shrill laugh, which somehow was still sincere and absolutely not unkind.
"Oh, that. I apologize, Ma'am. I don't get to deal with humans all that often," Mr. Karahalios said and did a strange kind of blurry feet shuffle, after which one of his feet became right. And thankfully, it was the correct one. I decided not to tell him he'd have to do more than that if he wanted to blend in.
Before I could demonstrate my shining southern hospitality and invite him in for a glass of iced tea, he gave me and Claude a gallant nod and said that he must get going.
I saw a black, sleek BMW, parked in my driveway, with its windows darkened within an inch of their lives. Mr. Karahalios waved us goodbye, jumped in the car with the same jaunty, catlike grace and drove off.
Claude was giving me strange looks.
"Some weird acquaintances you're keeping here, cousin," he said warily.
"It's the first time I've seen the man, didn't you hear him introducing himself?"
"Yes, but whoever hired him must be someone. Karahalios is an ancient demon family. This one is full-fledged demon. You don't get to hire someone like him if you're not some big bump on the road."
Oh, ok, well, it wasn't anything new for me. I've seen those big bumps enough to last me a lifetime.
We went inside to finish our iced teas. Claude kept eying the envelope with distaste and I felt it would be plain rude to go to my room to open it, since I didn't want him to see what was in there. So I decided that whoever sent it to me could tolerate to wait a few more hours, and Claude and I went about making my light-tight hidey-hole Bill had built back when he used to spend a lot of nights in my house more suitable as a permanent resting place.
First, we double-checked that it was indeed light-proof. Then we laid out the ground with a few pieces of cardboard and threw an old rug on top. I arranged the mattress, bed linens and pillows that I had bought earlier today, and even managed to make it look comfortable and somewhat inviting. Claude insisted on throwing an extension chord with a few sockets down and brought a nightlight and a cooler. After a few hours of labor, the place looked better than ever.
In a passing flash, I thought about how I wouldn't be able to house another vampire in my home now, but for all I knew, it looked like that other vampire was less than willing to spend time here. I sighed heavily and went to the kitchen to fix an early dinner for me and my helpful fairy cousin.
Nightfall was drawing near, and I had a newborn vampire to meet and introduce to his new life.