Thank you again to everyone who has reviewed. I'd love to write everyone back, but since I am not quite done with the last couple of chapters, I thought all of you would appreciate it more if I kept writing. But don't worry I have a lot of chapters done between here and there.
Again, I don't own anything. Enjoy.
Chapter 6 Fairy Magic
Claudine was looking away, talking to a coworker as Sookie approached the customer service desk. Disguising her voice slightly she put the make-up on the counter and said, "Excuse me, a friend of mine bought this make-up for me here and I had a bad reaction."
Signaling the other woman that they would talk later, Claudine started speaking as she turned, "I'm so sorry, what type of reaction did you... Sookie!" Her face broke out into an even brighter smile than she usually wore. She leaned over the counter and hugged her. "What's up?"
"A lot, one of the Fangtasia vamps is missing and I'm helping Eric to try to find her and get her back from the drainers. I'm posing as a waitress there and Pam bought this make-up as part of my disguise." She held up one of the jars.
Claudine took the jar, and rolled her eyes at the label. "What kind of a reaction did you have?'
"I almost got raped and drained by a vampire." she said matter-of-factly. Sookie was surprised Claudine didn't have whiplash she looked up so fast.
"Eric?" her voice was fierce.
Sookie shook her head, "Pam, Eric saved me."
"And you think it was because of this?" She looked skeptical, Sookie knew Claudine was willing to think the worst of the vampires.
"Smell it." She suggested.
Slowly Claudine opened the jar and sniffed warily. Her eyes widened and she looked up at Sookie in horrified disbelief, "No."
"So Eric was right, it does have fairy blood in it?" Sookie confirmed quietly.
"Yes it does." Claudine was moving quickly from shock to anger and Sookie could feel tension building in the air. "This store is selling it?"
Sookie just nodded.
"Were you hurt in the attack?" Claudine was looking her up and down for any sign of injury.
"No, Eric got there in time. He had to break Pam's wrist and knock her out though. But later another girl was wearing this stuff and she was attacked by 3 vamps on the dance floor. Pam took them out and got the girl medical attention."
"Pam didn't attack her too?"
"No she was able to resist it. She said it was stronger on me for some reason." she tried not to change the tone in her voice when she asked, "Do you know why that would be?"
Claudine made a show of studying the label and shrugged, "There could be several reasons. You might have been wearing more. It might only cause a strong reaction in a vampire once. I couldn't say."
"Claudine," Sookie began in an urgent whisper. Her fairy godmother looked up. "The fairies aren't behind this are they? Trying to cause trouble for the vamps."
Claudine shook her head quickly, "I can't imagine it. We have no plans to go public and this is a huge risk of exposure."
"Do you know if any fairies have gone missing?"
"No, but I'll ask around. First things first, we have to get this off the shelves." She caught her coworker's attention, "Watch the counter for me, I have to run to cosmetics." The other woman looked disgruntled until Claudine flashed her smile, then she moved to the counter with a contented look on her face.
Claudine came out from behind the counter and indicated the direction they should go. Sookie had to walk fast to keep up with her long strides. "Do you have enough clout to get this stuff pulled?" she asked somewhat breathlessly.
"Not without a good reason. Come in here." She pulled Sookie into an employees' only area, "Hold still, I'm going to put a glamour on you."
"Can you? Vampires can't."
"No, not glamor you, put a glamour on you. It's a kind of illusion." Claudine concentrated and passed her hands over Sookie's face, not touching, but very close. Sookie felt a faint tingle.
When Claudine lowered her hands Sookie asked, "Did it work?"
"Do you have a mirror?" The fairy asked, looking very satisfied.
Sookie dug one out of her purse and looked at herself. She almost dropped the mirror in shock. Her face was puffy with hives and sores scattered about it. Her eyes looked almost swollen shut and when she tried to force them open they hardly moved at all. She brought her hand up to feel her face, but Claudine stopped her.
"Don't, it will spoil the illusion if your hand goes through to your real face. Now we'll go to cosmetics, just look miserable and angry."
Sookie nodded and followed her fairy godmother through the store. People who saw her looked horrified and tried to turn away quickly to hide their reaction. Sookie kept having to pull her hand away from her face, which she thought added to the effect, kind of like when you stop yourself from scratching poison ivy.
They got to the counter and found the display for "Vamp Bait". It looked like some of it had been sold, but not too much unless it had been restocked. Maybe they had priced themselves too high. Claudine spotted the sales clerk, "Sylvia" she called softly. When the clerk looked in their direction Sookie could see the revulsion that Sylvia tried to quickly mask.
"Hello Claudine, Miss." She nodded at Sookie and looked quickly away. She was a strong broadcaster and Sookie could here her chastising herself 'don't stare, don't stare, don't stare.'
"Sylvia, you've got to pull this stuff now." Claudine said in an urgent whisper. "This young lady used it and you can see what's happened." Sylvia's eyes flicked to Sookie's face and away again.
"This make-up did that?" She asked realizing too late how repulsed she sounded and blushed.
Sookie nodded, "That's what the ER doctor said, my dermatologist thinks so too." She barely moved her lips when she talked, like someone whose face was that swollen would.
"I'm so sorry, miss. I'll take down the display right away." She gestured to Claudine that she wanted to speak to her out of Sookie's earshot. They walked to the farside of the counter, but Sookie listened in on Sylvia's thoughts. The clerk wanted to make sure she didn't get in trouble for pulling an exclusive product. When Claudine insinuated that Sookie could sue, and at the price of that make-up any one else affected could afford an attorney, Sylvia agreed but wanted Claudine to be the one to tell the store manager. Claudine asked if Sylvia could try to track any purchases by credit card or check and Sylvia reluctantly agreed.
Satisfied, Claudine came back around and said solicitously to Sookie, "Please follow me miss."
Sookie gave a stiff nod and followed. Claudine then took her to the store manager and repeated the performance. The manager was not as good at hiding his revulsion, but much more eager to avoid a lawsuit and agreed to pull the product and contact the manufacturer. Sookie asked for the contact information, when the man seemed reluctant she implied her lawyer would contact him for it, he gave it up stressing how cooperative he was willing to be.
Sookie thanked him, trying to look somewhat appeased and Claudine offered to accompany her to her car with a nod to her manager.
Once out of the building, Claudine passed her hands over Sookie's face again and Sookie smiled in relief. "Sook, you were great." the fairy beamed at her.
"Thanks, for everything, but now I have to do my shopping elsewhere. I can't really go back in."
"What did you need?"
"Just some stuff for the apartment." At Claudine's puzzled look she elaborated. "Eric has an apartment in town for visiting vamps, he's letting me use it but it has no dishes or cooking stuff. He gave me money to make it human-friendly. Plus I need some fang-banger make-up that won't make me smell like a fairycicle. Any suggestions?"
"Stop hanging around with vampires?" she suggested hopefully.
Sookie scowled at her and Claudine suggested a couple of nearby places.
Opening the car door Sookie asked, "Will you let me know if anyone is missing and if you were able to contact the people who bought that make-up?"
Claudine nodded, her face set in grim determination. "Yes, we'll get to the bottom of this."
"I think someone wants to make trouble for the vamps." Sookie quickly outlined her theory. Claudine could find no fault with it, but also agreed the pool of candidates was small.
After exchanging another hug, Sookie got in her car and followed Claudine's directions to the other store. She was able to get just about everything she needed in a clearance "College Student Start-up Set" she rounded it out with a nice set of dishes and flatware. Heading over to cosmetics she bought 3 different brands of goth make-up. She decided she would get Eric to smell them for her. Thinking of Eric made her heart race. She hadn't changed her mind and she was anxious to see him. With her mind on tonight she headed for lingerie. This she paid for out of her own money, not what Eric had given her. She found a nightgown, sexy but not slutty, in a deep blue-grey that reminded her of the darker specks in his eyes. The top, though mostly lace, was tight-fitting and had some built in support, the skirt consisted of 4 separate panels so that when she walked, her legs would come in and out of view. She was looking forward to wearing it for Eric, although thinking back to their previous time together there was rarely an opportunity for lingerie.
She made a quick run to the grocery store and picked up a few things for meals. She had woken up very hungry in the morning and had eaten both the yogurt and half of one of the salads. But since she had just picked at the salad she had eaten last night and had stayed up til dawn it was not surprising.
Glancing at the time she realized it was getting close to dusk and wouldn't have time to make anything for tonight so she bought a hamburger and fries at the fast-food place across the street.
Getting her purchases into the apartment was an issue, since she had the box of kitchen stuff and another of plates, plus a bag of groceries and her cosmetics and nightgown. Stacking the boxes on the hood of her car, she put her arms through the loops of the bags then picked up the boxes. She managed to get into the building by balancing the boxes on her knee as she pulled open the door. Crouching slightly she was able to hit the up button to call the elevator, then pressed the boxes between the wall and her body to wait. Once she got into the elevator she put the boxes on the floor, glad that the lift would open directly into the apartment so she could just nudge them in with her foot. She set her grocery and fast food bag down in the kitchen then took her negligee to the bedroom, hanging it on the inside of the bathroom door so it wouldn't wrinkle.
Coming back to the main room, she placed her make-up on the bar, opening all the containers and sniffing them. They just all smelled like make-up to her, but then so did the VampBait. Opening her dinner she nibbled on a few fries, while putting her groceries away. Glancing at her watch, she saw it was probably another half hour or so to sundown. Taking a bite of her burger she decided she would call and leave Eric a message, finish her dinner and then shower.
Expecting to get his voicemail she was surprised when he answered. "You had pleasant dreams this morning, I hope they were about me." Sookie blushed even though he couldn't see her, she had had very pleasant dreams, reliving memories and dreaming up some future ones.
"Hello Eric. Thank you for asking, I had a very nice and productive day." She said sarcastically, trying to change the subject. "How are you?"
"Regretful."
She had to ask, though she thought she knew the answer. "About what?"
"Regretful that the sun has not yet set so I can fly to your side. Regretful that I did not wake up next to you. Regretful that I was a fool not to stay last night. But most of all, regretful that you have probably changed your mind."
"I haven't, in fact letting me sleep on it just made me more sure. Tonight, after the bar closes..."
"After the bar closes?" he sounded very frustrated.
"What are the chances of us getting to the bar tonight if we don't wait?" Unless he was very different from before they both knew the answer was slim to none.
"Well, when you put it that way..." he said in his most seductive voice and she chuckled.
"I do have a favor though."
"Anything my lover." his voice sent goosebumps down her spine.
"Once the sun is down, can you come by and smell the make-up I bought? I don't want a repeat of last night?"
"Of course, I'll be over within moments of sunset."
"Thanks, I have them spread out on the bar. I'll just finish my dinner and start getting ready. See you in a bit."
"Very soon." he promised and ended the call.
She finished the burger and ate a few more fries while moving the boxes to the kitchen. Putting the rest back into the bag she realized that she hadn't bought a trash can and started a new mental list of more things to pick up.
Once in the bedroom she went into the closet to see what other "fun" outfits Pam had picked up for her. She was relieved to see that none of them were more revealing than the one she had worn yesterday, not really any less, but not more. Picking one at random, she picked out a set of underthings to go with it and laid them out on the bed.
Starting up a bank of showerheads, she tried to banish all thoughts of Eric and showers from her mind. Eric was ready enough without picking up any vibes from her. So she tried to concentrate on what she knew so far: someone was draining vamps and someone was draining fairies. The same someone? The vamp drainer, or his helper, was selling it vial by vial in a small-time operation, although Sookie couldn't really see how to make it big time. The fairy drainers though had an extensive operation. Finding a way to mask it in makeup, package and market it took money. Hopefully, it was true that Claudine's store had an exclusive contract, so maybe the operation wasn't too big. How many fairies could go missing without an alarm being raised? How closely knit were the fairies so that even a couple of missing fairies could go unnoticed? The more she thought about it the more she was sure that there were two entirely unconnected things going on.
Hoping that she had managed to scrub away all traces of her earlier contact with Claudine she finished in the shower. Drying off she moved to the bedroom to dress. She put on the skimpy underthings and then the shoes, knowing that if this dress were as tight as last night's she wouldn't be able to bend to fasten the ankle straps once she got it on.
The dress presented a problem. The top part was form-fitting and had stays built into the leather like a corset. It zippered up the back but it was so tight and unyielding that she couldn't get the zipper, nor would she have been able to put it on backwards and turn it around once zipped. The skirt was a handkerchief design with multiple layers of black lace, none of which were opaque, but there were just enough of them that Sookie felt decent, if barely. Holding the front of the dress up, she ventured into the livingroom, hoping that Eric was there.
He was, pacing like a tiger in a cage. He stopped when he saw her and seem to be fighting the urge to rush to her. She smiled coyly at him, as if her commitment to him had suddenly made her shy.
She started to walk toward him, "Eric, I need you..." she began, but her voice came out much huskier than she intended and paused to clear her throat.
Before she could continue he was right there, His hands on her upper arms. "And I, you." he whispered lowering his mouth to hers. His kiss was hungry and urgent and she wanted to lose herself in it, but she pulled back and smiled crookedly at him.
"...To zip me up."
He blinked at her, trying to make sense of her statement when his mind was obviously moving in a different direction. As it sank in, he looked embarrassed. Recovering quickly he grinned wickedly and moved his hands around her and slipped them beneath the dress. His cool fingers made her gasp.
"I like it like this." he murmured into her ear as goosebumps spread across her skin. He was kissing his way down her neck.
"I'm sure you're just checking if any vampires will pick up Claudine's smell on me right?" she asked breathlessly, trying to keep her mind on the task ahead, but reluctant for him to stop.
"Mm-hmm." he agreed, pulling back far enough to grin at her, his fangs were down. "I want to be very thorough." He said in her other ear and repeated the trail of kisses down that side of her neck. His path down her neck continued to the top of her breasts and she managed to will herself to pull back.
"Claudine and I aren't that close." she chided.
"Pity," he smiled down at her, "I was prepared to do a complete inspection."
"I bet you were." She grinned back, rolling her eyes, then turned, moving her hair to the side. "Up, please."
She waited a moment, then tapped her foot dramatically. "Tonight." she ordered impatiently.
He leaned in behind her, and whispered in her ear, "Is that a promise?" He began slowly pulling up the zipper but let his fingers lead a trail up her spine as he did so. She shivered at his touch and turned to him.
"Oh, yes." she assured him and the passion in her eyes matched his. Then she took a deep breath and stepped back. "But I am going to be late for work and I don't want the boss to be mad, he might fire me." She teased. She looked over at the bar, "Are they safe?"
He nodded, "Plain old make-up. Did you find out anything from Claudine?" he walked toward the bar, putting a less distracting distance between them.
"She confirmed it was fairy blood. She's pretty sure her people aren't behind it, but didn't know offhand if anyone is missing. She's going to get her people looking into it. The good news is that it was exclusive to her store and she managed to get it pulled."
"How did she do that?"
Sookie grinned, "Magic."
Eric raised an eyebrow, "She bewitched them into taking it off the shelves? I didn't think she had that kind of power."
"No, she put a glamour on me so my face was all swollen and gross. It was pretty cool, people were looking at me like I was a leper."
Eric nodded, knowingly, "A simple illusion, very clever and easy for her kind."
"The store is going to try to contact everyone who bought it with a check or credit card. I also got the manufacturer's contact info so I'm going to look into it more tomorrow." She picked up some of the cosmetics. "I guess I should get started at covering up this tan. You go ahead and I'll see you at the bar."
"I can stay and drive you there." he offered.
"Do you drive all new waitresses in on their first night of work?" She asked with a hand on her hip.
"No," he confessed, "fine, I'll go." He pulled her to him suddenly and kissed her hungrily. When he raised his head she was breathless and off balance. "But remember who is putting my duties ahead of us." He said with a wry smile and was gone, leaving her leaning on the bar for support.