I arrived back at Merlotte's, Eric's blood caked under my finger nails and dried onto the legs of my jeans. My own blood stained my shirt where I had been shot. Sulfur burned a hole into the flannel. The scene before me was one that I had not anticipated.

Merlotte's is currently up in flames, the whole right side charred and burning bright. Firemen are working quickly to subdue the flames as the customers and employees stand panicked in the parking lot. Police officers questioned the citizens about the fire, asking if they had seen anyone or anything suspicious before the bar was set ablaze. I caught sight of Sookie, and jogged over toward her. Distress is written all over her face, her heart raced at an incredible rate as she searched around the lot for whatever had set her place of work on fire like a pile of sticks.

I have a hunch as to what it is that caused this. And boy would I like to skin Riggs when I find him.

One of the officers noticed me and barreled through the crowd toward me, an angry look in his eyes. I straightened up and walked toward the man, Sookie following close behind, but I turned and raised a hand to stop her. She reluctantly walked away. I watched as she met with her brother. The two of them watched me from a distance. The cop in front of me adjusted the belt around his wide waist before speaking.

"You know anything about this fire?" He asked, raising his voice over the crowd.

I shook my head and pursed my lips. "Nothing at all."

"Some people was sayin' they seen you out here before the fire started. Then you disappeared and the place went up in flames," The cop said with an accusatory tone to his deep voice.

"I was here before. I was outside talking to someone…Jason was his name? Yeah. He was with me. Then I had to leave."

"What for?"

"An emergency at work. Someone had broken in, stolen some things," I answered. "Told Jason I'd be back, so here I am. I promise you, I ain't got nothing to do with this fire, sir."

The cop craned his head around. I followed his gaze toward the spot where the fire I had lit was. The bonfire had been put out, all that was left was a pile of ash and a few blackened branches. He faced me, his mug staring at me distrustfully.

"Sure you had nothin' to do with this? You weren't out here, lightin' a bonfire next to Merlotte's a little while ago?"

"No, sir."

While the heavyset man peered around looking for more people to questioned, I channeled Sookie. This man doesn't seem to believe me, and maybe having Sookie and Jason lie for me will keep me out of this cop's watch.

Sookie, I called. Can you hear me?

She responded immediately. Yes, I can. What is it?

This cop thinks I have something to do with the fire. Will you and Jason vouch for me?

You didn't have anything to do with it, did you?

I had to keep myself from scowling. No. Of course not. I was with Eric.

Well, then what do you want us to say to Andy?

Glancing over at…Andy, just tell him I had nothing to do with the fire. Not even the bonfire. I told him I was speaking with Jason before I had to leave because of an…emergency at work. A robbery.

Alright. We'll come over by you in a minute. Let me tell Jason, okay?

Yes. Thank you, Sookie.

"And why should I believe you? Look at you; nobody's ever seen you before today, and is that blood on you?" He stepped forward, his head stooped down, inspecting my jeans, then my shirt.

Sookie ran over toward us, followed by Jason, the both of them wrapping me in a tight hug. She stepped back to look me up and down. "Are you okay? We heard about the robbery. Someone actually attacked you guys?"

I sighed heavily. "Yeah. Came at us with a knife. Spent ten minutes trying to stop, uh, Dan's bleeding before I called 9-1-1. Bastard stabbed him in the leg."

"Wow," The siblings said in unison.

"I'm glad you're alright, Adrian," Jason put an arm around my shoulder.

"You two know this woman?" The cop wagged a finger at them.

"Yeah, Andy, we do. She's an old family friend of ours and she's come to stay with Sookie for a little while."

Andy glanced between the three of us for a minute before huffing and scuttling off through the thinning crowd. People had begun to leave as the fire died, there was nothing for them to watch and marvel over anymore. The fire department stored away their hoses and left, content with the job they had done putting the fire out. I looked over at the charred remnants of Merlotte's. The structure still stood, but suffered some substantial damage. This place is definitely going to need work done.

Sookie whispered harshly. "Please tell me you really didn't have anything to do with this. Because if you did, Eric is going to find out, and we'll send you back to right where you came from."

"I didn't. I swear. I was with Eric, helping him. He was in trouble," I glowered. "Besides, what reason would I have for doing this? You work here. I'm supposed to protect you, not kill you, Sookie. So why would I light Merlotte's on fire?"

She averted her gaze. "I don't know. You were playing with fire before…and you seem a little devious."

"This, coming from someone who surrounds herself with vampires and gets herself into so much shit she needs protection from a demon. And I'm the troublemaker," I rolled my eyes. "I may have lit that little bonfire before, but it was far enough from the building and any trees so that it wouldn't cause any damage. When this happened, I was in Shreveport. Saving my Keeper. Not lighting shit on fire."

"What happened to Eric, anyway?"

I glanced at Jason. "We'll talk about that later. At Fangtasia."

"What?" she narrowed her eyes at me.

"I'll be leaving at nightfall to see Eric. Check up on him. You and Bill will come by as well. We have some things that need to be discussed."

"Are you gonna change? You have blood all over you."

"Why bother? If something happens, I'm not destroying another outfit."