Previously…
"I supposed that I would go there alone using my title and the excuse that I was there on official business investigating the sale of V on behalf of the Magister." It wasn't farfetched, and Edgington would believe me fairly easily.
"Fine, but I will stay close in case something goes awry. You will remain in constant contact with me and we will plan how to take him out together. I do not want you attempting to take him out on your own. That is too risky and I won't lose you over your preoccupation for vengeance. " Godric said. I was a little put off that he thought of my need for vengeance as something more like an obsession. Yes I wanted revenge, but I didn't think that i was fixated on it, at least not that I was aware of.
"Yes Godric." I replied. I found it ironic that he was worried about losing me, when no more than two weeks ago he was ready to end his existence leaving me behind. I was still bitter over his actions and lack of consideration for my feelings on the matter.
When we got to Jackson, we booked a suite at the Hotel LeFleur, a five star exclusive vampire only hotel located in downtown Jackson. It was a beautiful Rococo designed hotel with intricate gold leafed woodwork and ornate light fixtures.
We settled into our gorgeous two bedroom suite with plans to begin our subversion of Edgington's nest at first dark.
Chapter 13- Sookie's POV
After Bill's call ended, I was thoroughly exhausted, physically and emotionally. All I wanted was a hot shower and a warm bed. Alcide left right after Eric to go to Shreveport to get some clothes. Alcide explained that he had a condo in Downtown Jackson that we would be staying in.
Alcide barely spoke two words to me after our confrontation about Bill. I read in his mind, that he thought I was an insurmountable idiot for chasing after my manipulative ex. He thought that I would never be able to have an honest relationship with him as long as the vampires were a part of my life. He worried that Eric had feelings for me, which of course was totally unsubstantiated.
After Alcide left, I went upstairs and sat in the bath tub for a while. I hoped that I would be able to get to Bill before his captors ended him. My decision to go after him, although irrational by some standards, meant that I could feel good about ending my relationship with him and I would end it knowing that I was the one who was true and loyal and honest despite all of his deceit. I wanted to move on from him, and I sort of felt that saving him would be the final chapter in our book and would give me license to move on with someone, perhaps Alcide even.
People had thought of me as crazy my whole life, they always questioned my decisions and me going to Jackson was no different.
I fell asleep just after 1 A.M when I heard Alcide come back in the house. He peeked into my room, checking to see if I was sleeping. I was touched that despite his anger with me, he still worried enough about me to check in.
The meadow I stood in was breathtaking. Everything around me was hazy dreamlike colors of taupe, celadon. And the brightest shade of white I had ever seen.
I was not alone in the meadow; in fact there were lots of people dancing dreamily to soft harp like music. Everyone around me was gorgeous, pixie like in statue all in various stages of dress, mostly the women wore soft silk chemise and tulle dresses that flowed and billowed in the wind created by their dance movements. The men were all bare chested dressed in linen white pants.
Everyone seemed to be entranced in their own movements and paid no attention to anyone else, including me. I felt a pull towards the centerpiece of the landscape which was a magnificent pond. The water was crystal clear, but you could not see the bottom of the pond.
Just as I was about to dip my fingers in the pond, a beautiful brunette woman approached me. She was slightly taller than me, but we had the same build, in fact if it were not for the difference in our hair color, I would say that she was my sister. She wore a peach colored silk chemise gown that billowed at her waist.
"What is this place?" I asked the unnamed beautiful woman.
"This, my dear Sookie, is Faery Ositum." She replied in a soothing tone. The way she spoke was so calm, I instantly felt at ease.
"And who are you?" I asked. This felt like a dream, but something about this place felt so familiar to me. I felt like I have been here before, but I just couldn't recollect it.
"I am Claudine. I am you guardian of sorts." She replied. I didn't question her, I just knew that what she was saying was the truth, something deep within my consciousness told me to trust the words she spoke.
"Why am I here?" I asked.
"You are here so that you can take heed to my warning. Sookie, you must not go to Jackson. It is not safe for you there. You must protect your light or he will steal it." Her soothing tone escaped her and the seriousness of her warning was not lost on me. Although I was awfully curious as to whom "he" was and what light she was referring to.
"How do I get back from here?" I asked.
"That pond is deeper than you think, just jump in, but Sookie, please do not go to Jackson." Claudine said in all seriousness.
I jumped in the pond and everything faded to blackness.
"Wake up sleeping beauty." Alcide said in a teasing tone. His midnight green eyes never looked so alluring to me.
"If you're adamant about going to Jackson, we need to get on the road now." His tone had done a complete 180. He was more peeved than anything.
"What time is it?" I asked. I remember having a dream about a woman named Claudine, asking me not to go to Jackson. Truth be told, I was a horse hair away from changing my mind about going. The only reason I didn't was thinking about Bill being finally killed.
"It's noon." He said coldly. I could understand his anger; I was risking his life and mine to save my ex- boyfriend. Alcide had a good point last night, Bill had deceived me and lied to me, but at the same time, I knew that at least on some level he did love me. I owed him this last favor, and believe me, this was the absolute last kindness I would do for him.
"Alright, let me shower and pack and we'll hit the road." I had resigned myself to go to Jackson, despite the fact that I had absolutely no plan and no idea where Bill was, and as they say those who fail to plan, plan to fail. I would have to devise something on the ride there.
Four hours later and one flimsy rescue mission later, I dubbed Operation Retrieve Bravo Charlie, we had arrived at Alcide's condo in downtown Jackson.
His condo was the top floor in a three story building. Alcide explained that it was Georgian Architecture and was actually built in three years ago, but modeled after an old 1845 building that used to stand in its place. His condo was barely furnished; in fact the only piece of furniture in the living room was a cheap ratty looking futon.
"Sorry 'bout the lack of furniture." He said sadly. I read in his thoughts that his ex-fiancé had taken just about everything from the condo when they broke up. He never replaced anything in the hopes that they would get back together. Something he still holds onto to this day.
I felt bad for him, and I didn't want to say anything to upset him further. "Gotta stay away from the frat boy interior decorators." I said trying to lighten the mood.
"So your plan is to go to the Supe bar and try to listen in to see if you could pick up on anything?" Alcide asked incredulously.
"Yep, that about covers it." Alcide thought my plan was half baked and that he was only going along with it to appease me, he didn't really think it would work. O Ye, of little faith.
The Club was called Lou Pines, and it really wasn't as much of an all-encompassing Supe bar as it was a bar exclusively for Weres. I was dressed to kill in a short black leather mini skirt and a white lace halter top with a sweetheart neckline. I put on a pair of knee high leather boots and I thought I looked pretty hard core.
Walking into the bar, I realized that maybe I wasn't as hard core as I thought. The bar was definitely on the rough side. It was mostly a leather bar and it was pretty rowdy. No umbrella drinks in this establishment.
As soon as I walked in, I lowered my shields, but it was fruitless as mostly everyone was thinking about screwing. I knew I needed to lead their thoughts to vampires, and then maybe I could get them thinking about Bill. There had to be a correlation between the Were attacks against Alcide and I and Bill's problem.
"Oh Shit! Debbie's here." Alcide seethed under his breath.
"I looked around trying to pick out Debbie, and then I spotted her. She was a real piece of work. She looked like she hadn't bathed in weeks. She wore a trashy jean skirt that barely covered her lady parts, the top she had on was this bizarre triangle backless number. She had reddish brown shapeless hair with asymmetrical bangs. Her makeup was all smudged; she looked like she had been on a three day binge.
She had the nerve to approach Alcide on the arm of some guy who smelled distinctly of bottom shelf whisky and cheap cigarettes.
"What the fuck are you doing here And who is this slut?" She spewed while pointing her finger in my direction. You know they say first impressions are often the truest. In the case of Debbie Pelt, my first impression was that she was a low-life, drug addicted self-hating, piece of trash.
"Debbie, this is my girlfriend Sookie." Alcide introduced me. I was shocked to say the least that he introduced me in that manner. I didn't really consider him my boyfriend, so it made me wonder if he labeled me that way for Debbie's benefit.
"Girlfriend…huh, where did you pick up this backwoods piece of trailer trash?" She disgorged. This woman belonged in a cage alongside the other wild animals.
I peeked into Debbie's mind, I wanted to find out what was behind all of her hatred, but all I could hear was anger, lots of anger and a deep need for V.
"Leave us alone Debbie." Alcide replied to her hatred.
"Oh I left you alone alright; I got myself a real wolf." Debbie raged and she made sure she had the last word. As she was traipsing away she intentionally bumped into me knocking me to the ground.
I'm not weak or a pushover, but I choose my battles wisely. I also knew that this was not the last I would hear of Debbie Pelt.
"Sorry Sookie, she is just going through some stuff." Alcide made excuses for her. I got the feeling that this was not the first time he ever made excuses for Debbie.
"No, actually she's just addicted to V and is being initiated into the Fuck You Crew tonight." I replied solemnly. "Also, Cooter knows where Bill is."
"Jesus, we got to get outta here." Alcide said. Thanks to good old Cooter, I knew that Bill was being held by the Vampire King of Mississippi and that he had also drank Bill's blood.
I needed to figure out a way to infiltrate the King's mansion. Perhaps there were some humans there that I could read.
As we were leaving the club, a black limousine pulled up, blocking our path to Alcide's car. I let down my shields to find that there were three voids in the limo. Vampires, I thought. As we made our way to walk around the car, the door of the limousine flew open and out came Bill, an older vampire with a brown hair and a receding hairline, and another dark curly haired vampire.
"Bill!" I shouted and ran over to where he was standing.
"Who are you?" he replied coldly. Why was he pretending that he didn't know me? Alcide did not chase after me, instead he went to get the car.
"Bill, who is your friend? She smells quite delicious." Said the dark curly headed vampire. He spoke with an effeminate Spanish accent.
"I do not know this woman?" he replied. He didn't look at me, in fact he was being so short with me that I got the impression he wanted me to just go away.
"What are you talking about, it's me Sookie." As soon as I said my name, the older vampire with the receding hairline looked directly at me and at vampire speed moved right in front of my face. He took a big whiff of me and his eyes lit up.
"Oh Bill, you have been holding out on me. Klaus! Get Ms. Stackhouse in the Limo." Receding hairline said in his smooth deeply southern accent.
This was definitely an Oh Shit Moment! I saw Alcide park his car and get out, but it was too late, Klaus had already shoved me in the limo.
"Bill, Talbot keep Ms. Stackhouse company, I have a short errand to run." Receding hairline said.
Bill had a look of sheer fear on his face, it was the same look he wore when his bitch of a maker showed up unannounced on my doorstep.
"Why did you come here?" Bill fumed.
"Oh, I don't know to save your wily ass." I fumed right back at him.
"You have no idea what you have just done." All the while Spanish curly just sat back and laughed at out little interaction.
"Oh Please Bill enlighten me. You call me up spouting off your final goodbye's to me and expect me to sit at home and let whatever is happening to you go on." I was pissed. In that moment, I thought I should have taken the advice of the person in my dream and just stay home.
"Sookie, that was the King of Mississippi Russell Edginton, and this is his lover Talbot." Holy eff, I unknowingly got myself caught up with the King of Mississippi and his one named lover Talbot.
"And Sookie, you walked into exactly what I have been shielding you from for days now." Bill added.
"And what about the Were attacks?" I asked.
"Russell sent them after you. He has wanted you to come to Mississippi, but I held him off for as long as I could. I was willing to meet the true death to protect you from him." Bill kept going on and on. I personally didn't think it was smart to unfold your plan in front of the artist formerly known as Talbot, but whatever.
Russell opened the door to the limo and got back in, he had blood running down his lip and hands and I wondered what he had done.
"The ever allusive Ms. Stackhouse, you my dear girl, smell like dessert." Russell cooed. As we took off back to whatever bat cave that these creepy cold freaks crawled out of.
The drive was relatively short, only taking about fifteen minutes. We pulled into the circle drive of a very very large Jeffersonian Mansion.
The one named wonder grabbed me by my forearm and drug me out of the car, kicking and screaming mind you.
"Oh please stop girl, you will wrinkle my pants." One name wonder said. He shoved me through the front door of the King's mansion.
As I glanced up from the floor, I got the shock of my life. Eric stood at the base of the stairwell. Our eyes met for a split second, and I could have sworn I saw the look of sheer panic. But as soon as I recognized the look for what it was, he was back to Stoic bad ass Sheriff Eric.
"Your Majesty." Said some half naked vampire. "You have a visitor, a Mr. Northman, Sheriff or Area 5 in Louisiana."
I couldn't tell if Eric was here to rescue me or if this was sheer coincidence. I decided to keep my mouth shut until I could assess the situation.
"Good Evening Mr. Northman. I will be with you in just a moment, as you can see I have some other guests to attend to." Russell said.
"Yes, I can see that your majesty." Said Eric in his deep official Sheriff voice.
"Clive, Klaus, take Mr. Compton to the slaves quarters. It seems that he is completely untrustworthy and quite frankly a poor excuse for a vampire." Russell said, and I could have sworn I saw Eric snigger.
"Mr. Northman, would you mind escorting Ms. Stackhouse into my study. I will be with the both of you shortly." Russell said as he and Talbot walked arm in arm up the grand staircase of this ginormous mansion.
"What are you doing here?" Eric questioned. His voice was low and panic stricken.
"I came here after Bill called me."
"That was infinitesimally stupid." He said, and I couldn't disagree with him.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I am this close to getting something that I have wanted for over a thousand years, and you just threw the biggest monkey wrench in my plan. Russell is coming, now shut up and follow my lead."
"Ah Mr. Northman, you seem acquainted with Ms. Stackhouse. I believe you are Mr. Compton's Sheriff are you not?" Russell said.
"Yes, he maintains residence in my area, and I have met Ms. Stackhouse, his human, once or twice."
"What is your business here Mr. Northman." Russell said in all seriousness as he poked the flames on his fire.
"Your majesty, I am here on official business. As per requested by the Magister, I am investigating an increase in the sale and use of V. There has been a significant increase in Louisiana, and I hoped to speak with you about the usage in Mississippi."
"Oh save the official investigation crap, we all know that Sophie Ann is selling her own blood."
"With all due respect, who, pray tell, gave you this information."
"Why the shrewd ol' Mr. Compton, of course. Useless as he is, he just doesn't know when to keep his mouth closed."
"Why are you really here Sheriff?" Russell inquired.
That was exactly what I wanted to know. What could the King have that Eric had waited over a thousand years to get, and where was Godric? I had more questions than answers and a scathing threat by Eric to keep my mouth shut as well. I was in over my head, and I wasn't sure I could save Bill.
"No matter, the sun will rise in 45 minutes and I only have one guest room available. Why don't you and the lovely Ms. Stackhouse rest and we will resume this discussion tomorrow evening."
I didn't know whether to be happy about sharing a room with Eric or run out the door like my hair was on fire.