"Who's that?" The girl standing next to Eric asks, looking you up and down. She doesn't seem impressed by you. You feel the same way about her, especially after that comment. It rubbed you the wrong way. The girl's hair is the same color as yours and it's even styled the same way. This also rubs you the wrong way, more than it irritates you. And it does. She's wearing casual clothes, a black T-shirt and black skinny jeans, she looks nice. But she was mean to you just a second ago. Pam rolls her eyes and you suppress the uncomfortable smile begging to creep onto your face. A habit you started to pick up from working at the restaurant. Sarah's in the bar as well, she was there when you arrived. The girl, who you assume is the person who took your job, has a scarf on her neck. It would've been normal if it hadn't been warming up outside during the day this past week. She would've got away with it if you met her last month instead. Eric never drank from you, unless you count a few drops of blood from a pre-existing wound. Maybe you just aren't good enough for him. It makes your heart drop all over again but you can't react. You won't. You glance over at Sarah, she's sitting at the bar reading a book for some reason. You walk over to her, sitting on the stool beside her.
She's reading a book you brought from New Orleans when you moved to Shreveport, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, "You think he's real?" You ask, motioning to the cover of the book, where the monster is plastered. Sarah grins and shakes her head as she does. You beam at her, glad you could make her smile at a time like this. She seemed a little sad after she got kidnapped, understandably. And she never told you about what happened while she was there. She told her therapist though. You're glad she's seeing her doctor again, Dr. Nicholson. Maybe you might meet with her sometime in the middle of all this emotional turmoil you've been experiencing. You'd probably spend most of that time talking to her about Eric and the fact that the existence of vampires was thrust upon you too quickly for comfort. It felt like you got over it too quickly. You seemed to do that whenever anything bad happened to you.
You ignore the girl beside Eric while Henry explains to her who you are, "Gin and tonic." You say to Longshadow once he looks over at you. Sarah already has a drink in front of her, but you're not sure what it is, "Hey," You say to her, looking over at her with a large unmistakably fake smile, "I met Will." You glance over at the bartender, watching him make your drink. It's more interesting to you now than it was before since you have to do the same thing sometimes. Will goes by Bill, and the man Margot glamoured said Will instead of Bill, so maybe he doesn't know Bill like he says he does. Maybe Bill is smart enough to trick you with all these complex details, you're not sure. Only Eric and Pam would know that. They've known him longer than you've been alive, and longer than your grandpa too.
"I see that," She says, looking over her shoulder at the man. Bill came inside the bar with you and Margot, and Eric doesn't seem to like the look of the man. When you walked in, he had him pinned to the wall by his throat. Now he's glaring at Bill, his arms crossed over his chest, accentuating the muscles in his arms. He looks great and it makes you sort of sad. You wanted him to look horrible but that isn't possible, most of the vampires you met are attractive, so you know they can't look bad. Maybe you would meet an ugly vampire one day, "Is he alright?" She asks, looking over at you. Longshadow slides the drink across the bar and you thank him before glancing back at Sarab.
"He looks fine," You snort, glancing over at Eric from over your shoulder. He doesn't look up but you know he can hear you, and you know he can tell you're looking at him. Sarah curls her lip in distaste and rolls her eyes. She's right, Eric is more than fine. He's beautiful. Not in an unconventional way, but he looks like any hot guy you'd ever seen. Except he's probably hotter than any man in the world unless there are other tall Viking vampires out there. He could be a model if he wanted to, an actor, anything he wanted to be. He could have a billion dollars if he wanted to, and he just might. If you were as old as he, you would at least be famous once in your life. Or you would try to be.
"I meant Bill," She scoffs, shaking her head. You look away from Eric and almost immediately you're embarrassed and maybe a little confused. Because of everyone hearing you say this and because you weren't paying attention. You're confused because her reaction seemed to corroborate Bill's story. They were kidnapped together. You don't know if Bill's okay, vampires didn't seem to want to talk about their feelings. Except for Margot, who goes to a therapist weekly. You wonder how that's doing now, whether she's still going or not. You would have to ask her later.
"I don't know, he's probably used to getting kidnapped." You say with a shrug, taking a sip of the drink Longshadow slid across the bar. It's not bad, not good either. You're not a huge fan of carbonated water and liquor but you'd at least be tipsy before you left. That's your main goal tonight. Sarah could drive you home with her. Sarah seems worried by what you said, maybe she feels bad for the vampire. You don't, he's weird, "Do y'all have any food back there?" You ask the tan man, he nods but doesn't say anything. Weird. Another weird vampire. When would it end? You continued to meet strange people and you didn't think that would ever end.
"I suppose." That's all Sarah says before going back to her book, turning a page carefully. You still think it's strange that she's reading in a bar but to each their own. You have nothing to do so you won't judge her outwardly. If anything, you want a book to read right now. It'd be better than trying to tune out Bill's kidnapping story. It was hard to do, his voice is so distinctive. The Southern twang is hard to miss, especially when it sounded so fake in a way. Like he forced it sometimes to sound more polite so nobody would find him threatening. Nobody would ever guess this man is a vampire, except for the fact that he doesn't leave his coffin until the sun goes down and his skin is pale.
"When the car crashed—" You didn't want to hear about that. It was slightly harder to tune him out, you don't like thinking about the car crash. But thinking about it distracted you from his story, and that's what you needed at the moment. You wanted to hear Sarah's story instead of his, and you would talk to her about it when you arrived back home. Hopefully soon, but knowing this group, it wouldn't be soon enough. Maybe you could help Sarah process what happened to her, not as well as her therapist, but you've known her most of your life. You might be able to offer her some relief.
Sarah must've told them he didn't have anything to do with it, or someone would've killed Bill by now, "How was school?" You ask her, both of you were pulled into this shit on a Monday evening. You have work tomorrow and Sarah had school today and has it tomorrow as well. It's almost tomorrow already, so she has school very soon. You feel quite bad for her, she had to go to school pretty early. Luckily you weren't opening the restaurant, so you could arrive at about 10 in the morning. You'd be able to sleep longer than she would. Unfortunate for her, but nice for you. You always needed your 8 hours or you got cranky in the morning. Sarah is used to staying up late at night, whether it be to study or murder people with Pam and Eric.
She scoffs, "School was school, how was work?" She asks, putting a slip of paper into the book and shutting it. Finally, you distracted her from reading. That was your main goal, you just wanted to talk to her. You haven't seen her all day for God's sake. You take another sip of your drink, grimacing at the taste. The truth is, work wasn't that bad, it was sort of calming to walk around the restaurant and make small talk with people you were only slightly familiar with. The more you worked, the more people you seemed to recognize every day. Longshadow slides a basket of potato chips across the table, you don't know where he got them from but you eat them anyway. You planned on going home and eating dinner, looks like chips would be your dinner.
"It was alright until I realized Bill's been stalking me for a month." You shrug, resting your elbow on the table and staring over at your tan friend. She looks good today, she's wearing a long-sleeved navy blue shirt with a black skirt and dark-colored stockings. Sort of formal, but casual at the same time, "You look good today, by the way." You add on, she rolls her eyes but smiles despite herself. She probably just wanted to read her book and sit in silence, she was just there to corroborate Bill's story or call him a liar. You don't want to be here either, but you got caught in the middle of it when Bill decided to stalk you for a month.
"Where are you staying Bill?" Eric asks at the end of Bill's long story, gritting the words out through his teeth. You haven't turned around in a while to look over at him, so you do. The urge to do it is too strong, you can't help yourself. He's far away from the woman who took your job, you're annoyed with yourself for noticing that first. But you do. His arms are still crossed over his chest and he looks angrier than before, you look at Bill. He's just standing with his arms by his sides, one foot behind the other in case he had to lunge or run. More subtle compared to Eric, he's on offense and Bill is on defense right now. Inside, you hoped Eric won if it came down to that, a fight, or anything. Bill being near you for so long without revealing himself made you feel uneasy.
"What do you mean 'stalking you'?" Sarah asks, bewildered, her reaction almost makes you want to smile but you don't. You've never seen her so shocked. You've dealt with stalking before, during your time at Sonic. It's one of the reasons you moved to Shreveport. You don't even know who was doing it, you just knew it was happening. The feeling of being watched whenever you were skating around the parking lot. Once you found a photo of yourself, a Polaroid, laying on the tarmac. And every time you called the police and they doubted you or thought you were making it up, it felt like you were going insane. But your mother believed you. So you're 100% sure it happened. It's a reaction anyone else would have, but the timing of Sarah's reaction is a little funny to you. It's like your brain wanted you to make a choice, listen to Eric or listen to Sarah. But you could do both, and you would. There's no choice to be made and there never will be, hopefully. You have a stalker you neglected to think about because of everything going on. People like that often end up in jail, and he would before he ever saw you again, or she, you're not sure.
"I mean, I've seen him in LeBlanc's every night since I started working there." You explain, pushing a lock of hair behind your ear and grabbing a few chips to shove inside your mouth. They just taste like regular old Lays chips, you shake your head. Earl and Eric should team up, they need some fresh food somewhere in this place. Sarah raises an eyebrow, glancing up at Bill with a weird look. She turns fully to face him, spinning the barstool around.
She clears her throat, "Bill, why were you stalking my friend?" She asks, eyebrow still raised accusingly at the Southern vampire. You wanted to ask him that, but you didn't dare to do it. Not in the middle of their conversation. You don't feel you have enough authority to do that, you're only human. But not the only human in the bar, not anymore.
"That's a good question." Margot comments, head tilting slightly as she glares at Bill. She's been glaring this entire time, you're surprised by it, but not entirely. All vampires have an aggressive side to them, you just haven't seen much of hers. Until tonight.
"It's just a coincidence," Bill brushes it off, you nod your head, believing him. It seems plausible to you, it's just a restaurant. But you know vampires don't eat food or drink anything but blood. So there's no reason at all for him to go inside the restaurant. Unless he's murdering waitresses or stalking you. It's one of those or it's a genuine coincidence.
"You would've remembered her face, you were right in front of the car before it crashed," Pam growls, standing up from her seat on the pool table. Her arms are crossed over her chest, she's wearing a blood-red low-cut gown, and her long dirty blonde hair is pinned up in a messy bun. The least casual thing she's ever worn in your presence, her hair is more unruly than usual, but it looks good on her. Most things do. You're glad to see her again, you missed her attitude. She always amused you or irritated you, in this case, you're amused and you realize she's right. He would've remembered you for sure. There's no way he wouldn't, vampires can't forget things, not that you knew of. It didn't seem like they could.
"I was hungry and delusional, I could hardly see," Bill scoffs, crossing his arms across his chest and tensing up as he defends himself. You believe him, you have no idea what happens to vampires when they don't eat for too long. Bill mentioned he had been kidnapped for at least 10 years, you were glad Sarah didn't spend that long in captivity. She'd be way worse than she already is, "And I'm staying in Bon Temps." He adds, not giving away any specific details. Maybe he just likes being around humans, that could be why he keeps coming into the restaurant. Maybe he misses them after 10 years of being kidnapped, miss is a strong word, considering he was kidnapped by humans. But nobody in the restaurant is evil, as far as you can tell.
"You're not killing the waitresses?" Pam asks, glancing over at you for a moment. Your heart skips a beat and a warm feeling spreads through your body. Eric still hasn't made direct eye contact with you, but you're happy his progeny is willing to. He fired you for no reason, but you don't care, you'll continue working for Earl and making minimum wage. Anything to stay out of the mess for as long as you can. A month of peace was a nice change, now it's back to the same old shit and you're already exhausted. You hope Bill isn't killing any of the waitresses, he didn't kill Deb, but you assumed he killed the other one. But the timeline didn't add up, he was kidnapped before you started working. And the girl disappeared before he escaped, he couldn't have done it.
"No, what do you mean dead waitresses?" He asks, glancing over at you as well. You refrain from rolling your eyes, does this mean someone's after you? If that's true, you want some vampire blood so you're not a helpless victim. If you're attacked by some murderer, you want to be able to defend yourself at least. You knew you'd die someday, but you always promised yourself you would die fighting. And if today is that day, or the near future, you want to be ready for it. But you won't ask, you won't do anything to try to get blood, you'll see if it's offered. Maybe Bill would allow it, you could probably talk to him about this. He's sort of a stranger, so it'd be easier to ask him. Less embarrassing.
Sarah glances at you too before looking at Bill, "Well, one of the waitresses at LeBlanc's, Sadie, went missing about two months ago. Maybe a little less than that." She leaves out Deb, even if Bill noticed the es added onto waitress. It's implied that there's another one or more, and everyone knows that. But it isn't important enough right now.
Except for the other human, maybe. You're not sure how much she knows about the situation, probably not much if this is anything to go by, "Leave, forget everything that happened here." Eric commands, looking into her eyes, she nods her head and fishes her keys out of her pocket as she leaves. The wind closes the door behind her powerfully and you flinch, knocking the potato chip against your teeth as you go to eat it. The effects of glamour wear off over time, but memories can be altered permanently. It's strange, it doesn't make much sense to you, but it's useful. And you're glad she's leaving. You don't know her and you don't want to. Job stealer.
Everyone else ignores Eric, "Have the police found anything?" Bill asks, uncrossing his arms and suddenly looking very concerned. You didn't know vampires could be detectives, but he sure wanted to be one. You look at him, a little shocked by the question. It's either an admission of guilt or his attempt at empathy. But it's probably neither.
"No, you know how they are," Pam says, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. You understood her hatred for police, you don't like them much either. You had quite a few run-ins with them as a teenager, and none of those went well. Of course, they haven't found any significant evidence yet. You bet Sarah could, maybe Eric could even do it. Vampires have a good sense of smell, not as good as a shapeshifter, but far better than a human's sense of smell. You're not envious of them, you couldn't imagine smelling someone's menstrual blood. That would disgust you and you'd turn into a vegetarian vampire or something, like Henry. Who only seemed to follow his rules unless he had to kill someone. Your cousin is a vegan, but when she gets drunk sometimes she eats meat. You suppose that's what it's like for Henry. He must be trying out a new diet or he wouldn't have eaten that guy with his new friends. Your cousin hasn't been a vegan for long either. You have no idea why Henry's doing it, you don't remember him losing control or anything when he ate that guy. There couldn't be any other reason for him not wanting to eat people.
"Why don't we just figure it out?" Sarah asks, "And in the process, we can find who killed Jenna."