Hello everyone!

Again thank you for your wonderful reviews. Keep them up!

This chapter is a little bit shorter and is only part one of the 'the talk' Sookie and Eric are about to have.

Have a great weekend and enjoy!

Chapter 3:

The office door closed with a dull thud and the noise of the bar became subdued as it faded into the background.

Eric guided me with his hand – which he had not let go of since taking it – to a black leather couch in the right corner of the room. I took a quick look around and was surprised at what I found: The walls were white – a stark contrast to the actual bar theme – and on the side opposite the door was an antique looking desk with strange curly carvings and a leather chair. There was also a big book shelf in dark wood, complimenting the desk, which claimed the complete back wall.

"Take a seat," he said and I made myself comfortable. I had the feeling this would be a long conversation. Eric fetched the chair from his desk and took a seat in front of me.

He rested his elbows on his knees and regarded me with a look that meant business. All the playfulness from our banter out in the bar was gone. "What are you?"

I blinked. What am I? That was an odd way to phrase the question: What am I; not who, but what. "What I am is a waitress," I answered, a little confused. But I had the suspicion my chosen profession wasn't what he meant so I cocked my head to the side and looked at him with what I hoped was a questioning look. The echo of that question triggered a memory in my mind, "You know, Bill asked me the same thing the night we met. What's up with that?" You would never ask a person, what he was. That wouldn't make sense. You would ask about a dog what breed it was …

Breed. Race, Species …

Then, just like that, I had a light bulb moment. I gasped. I knew it! "There aren't just vampires out there, am I right?" Of course I was! Why would vampires be the only mythological creatures turned reality?

I was very excited all of a sudden. I was definitely not the only freak out there anymore. But then another thought occurred to me. What would that have to do with me? Deep down I knew that my telepathy must somehow come from something other than human or there would have been more like me out there, I especially felt this was so once the vampires came out. But now my excitement turned to dread and I had to swallow a big lump in my throat. It had more to do with the unknown thought than actual fear of not being entirely human.

Was I ready for the truth though? I didn't think so; at least not yet.

Eric seemed to have no clue about my inner turmoil, "You are very shrewd Ms. Stackhouse. There are indeed other species out there. Every fairytale and myth starts with a seed of truth but that's a topic for another time. Maybe I should rephrase my question: How did you know there was going to be a raid," Oh, that, I thought remorsefully. "And don't tell me you knew the cop. My bullshit meter was reading that as false. And I'm even more curious to know why you didn't want Bill to know."

Shit! Was I really going to tell him? I knew I had made up my mind earlier in the day to do just that but as the truth was about to come out I was rethinking everything. Could I really trust him? What would he do with that information? What would he make me do? Would he take advantage of the situation? Sigh, I knew there was no way around it. He was too smart for me to bullshit him.

I started with the easy question just to stall for a bit longer, "First, would you really trust Bill with a secret?"

Eric looked surprised for a moment at my evasive question but then scrunched up his face. It would have been quite comical if the topic not been so serious. And it was answer enough for me. "Yeah, me neither! So that answers one of your questions. And the other one," I sighed and closed my eyes. Here we go! "I'm a telepath! I can read minds."

Silence.

Deafening. Silence.

Huh? I had imagined just about any reaction: from an outraged cry to laughter or just plain killing me on the spot. But not … nothing! Confused, I slowly opened one eye… and was even more confused at what I found.

An amused vampire?

What. The. Hell?

I was dumbfounded. Why was he reacting that way? I didn't understand. My disability was definitely not something to laugh about. Or was he laughing about me being nervous about telling him? Either way, not cool! Instead of saying something I just scowled at him.

But it had the desired effect. Eric sobered and asked the million dollar question, "Can you read my mind?"

I sighed in relief. "No! I hear nothing from you. Where your mind should be is this big bubble or void. It's quite peaceful actually."

"Good, I thought as much. You were not reacting in any way when I was testing you."

"You were testing me? You knew? How?"

"Surveillance footage. I examined it before you arrived. There was not even the slightest hint that you were looking at the cop before you came looking for me. He was not even in your line of sight so I suspected that you must have some special ability: Either you were a telepath or psychic. The psychic I had once had never smelled as delicious as you though. But she was still incredible." He spoke the last part in a dreamy tone.

My eyebrow almost rose into my hairline, "Did the psychic think so," I replied saucily.

Eric laughed, "For a while," he answered ambiguously.

I snorted and rolled my eyes. Yeah, I could imagine. But on the other hand I didn't want to think about it too much. This 'for a while' could mean many different things, good and bad. I had absolutely no desire to find out whether it was good or bad. Therefore I, not so subtly, changed the subject. "So, you said yesterday we have a few things to discuss. And I have questions of my own."

To his credit he waited patiently while I scrolled through my mental list of questions, "Why did you ask me about having Bill's blood and, more specifically, him having my blood at the same time?"

His expression changed to one of pride and I mentally patted myself on the back for having inherited all the brain cells of the Stackhouse family. Poor Jason! "Did Compton ever tell you about our history? Hierarchy? Traditions?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. A question for a question again. I was so sick of it. "You …"

But he interrupted me before I could even finish forming the thought in my mind. "I will answer your question but it is linked to the ways and customs of vampires. I have a suspicion and I need to know where to start with the explanation. Now that you are involved, quite intimately, in the supernatural world, you need the background information for the future. It could save your life."

That shut me up. I was smart enough to admit that he was right. Knowledge was power. And like he said, it could save my life. I swallowed my temper and said, "No, he never really told me anything. He didn't want to burden me, or so he said. He also said that it was for my own protection that I didn't know," I made it clear with a look that it wasn't from lack of curiosity or questions.

Eric nodded, "I guessed as much. Though now that I know you're a telepath it could be exactly the opposite. Sooner or later the supes will find out about you. There will be no way to avoid it. Does Compton know?"

I mulled that over for a second before I shook my head, "I don't think so. I never told him but that doesn't mean he doesn't suspect something."

Eric nodded thoughtfully, "Or he already knows," he murmured.

I blanched, "What?" It came out more like a shriek. What did that mean he already knows? How could he know?

He held up his hand to stop the rant I was about to begin, "Sookie, the vampire world consists of a strict hierarchy. The United States is divided into regions – we call them clans – which are further divided into states. Every state is a kingdom: sometimes two or more states combine to form a kingdom. Each kingdom is ruled by a king or queen. Louisiana, for example, has a queen: Her name is Sophie-Ann LeClerq and she lives in New Orleans.

"The kingdoms are again divided into areas which are overseen by sheriffs. We live in 'Area Five' and I am its sheriff."

I listened with rapt attention. It was fascinating to learn how the vampire system worked. It sounded kind of medieval to me with kingdoms, kings, queens and sheriffs but I wasn't really that surprised: I had already seen how old fashioned vampires could be first hand. "So, when you say 'sheriff' do you mean like the human sheriff?"

"Kind of. Being a vampire doesn't mean we can do whatever we want. It is my job to guarantee the vampires in my retinue don't break our laws and in return I promise them my protection. It doesn't matter whether the protection is against drainers, church fanatics like the 'Fellowship of the Sun' or other vampires. That is only one of a sheriff's job though." That explained my silent question from earlier about how he had said 'my vampires'. They were his vampires. "Anyway," he continued and told me about the council, how each member represented each supernatural species, how their word was law and that at the head of the council stood an old female vampire whom they called the 'Ancient Pythoness'.

"Now comes the information which is pertinent to my question last night: Vampire blood is sacred to us, we guard it jealously so it's a big deal if we give it to a human.

"There are two different kinds of blood connections with a human. The first one: called a 'blood tie', is one-sided. The vampire gives the human his blood. From then on, for approximately 120 days, the vampire can feel the human's emotions and he can locate the human's whereabouts through the blood until it leaves the human host or the human has more of the blood, in which case the counter restarts again at one but it doesn't work the other way around.

"For the human the side effects are entirely different: The physical appearance and senses will intensify, it increases the libido and he will start to have sexual dreams about the vampire. It will increase the feelings the human has for the vampire as well. I bet Bill didn't mention that either."

"No, he didn't," I answered angrily and crossed my arms over my chest. I fumed silently as I let the information wash over me. "So, when you said it will increase the human's feelings, does that mean if he felt attracted to the vampire and then drank his blood, he would be in love with him?"

"More like adoration or worse, obsession. But it also works in reverse. If the human is afraid of the vampire it could turn into dread or into the worst kind of fear or terror. It will fade over time but it all depends on the amount of blood and the age of the vampire."

"Okay. You said there were two kinds of blood connections, what's the other one?"

"That's the tricky one. It is called a 'blood bond'. It has all the attributes of a blood tie except the vampire and human exchange blood at the same time. Like a blood tie it fades over time but when they exchange three times it becomes permanent and is only breakable by the final death of either party.

"When the bond is complete it's a two-way street. The human and vampire can feel each other's emotions and can influence the other through it. You can probably guess that this type of bond is very rare.

"Vampires are not particularly fond of sharing our feelings so we would generally only do it to control a human, much like a Renfield, or, even more rarely we will bond if it is a love match."

"So that's why you asked me if Bill had my blood that night: to see whether he had tied me to him or had started a bond?"

"Exactly, although it doesn't make sense. Why would Compton, or any other vampire, initiate a tie after only knowing the human for 48 hours?

"A vampire with any common sense or survival skills would not start a blood bond with a complete stranger for the hell of it, even if said stranger is beautiful and smells especially delicious," he leered at me. I blushed. "And there are other indications that something is not right. You said you had to wait for Bill that night?"

"Yes, I was closing that night and I had asked Bill to meet me in the parking lot at one o'clock. He didn't show up at first and then the Rattrays were there. Bill literally rescued me at the last second."

Eric's face became a stony mask, "Sookie, vampires are never late unless there is a life or death situation or Mother Nature interferes. Since we have an inner clock, we always know – down to the second - what time it is.

"We are immortal; we have all the time in the world so why should we be late?"

I gaped at him, speechless. Did he just indicate that… oh! "Did you just say that Bill was intentionally late? But… how did he know that the Rats would be there?" I looked Eric in the eyes and knew the answer to my question the moment I spoke it out loud.

OH. That. Bastard.

I was so angry I could have spit but I was also disappointed and a little afraid.

In a way I had trusted Bill not to harm me despite the warning bells blaring in my head every time I saw this odd twinkle in his eyes.

Damn, my grandmother had been alone with him once or twice. He could have done anything with, or to, her and she would never have remembered thanks to the glamour the vampires possessed.

Despite my thoughts I couldn't really imagine it, "Do you really think he's capable of something like that?" Maybe it was denial. Probably. I didn't want to believe someone who was so devious was living just across the cemetery from us. And I certainly didn't want to think that vampires were the monsters the church fanatics wanted us to believe.

Naïve of me? With certainty! And I promised myself right then and there that I would stop being that kind of woman.

Eric snorted. A strange sound, coming from him. "Sookie, we are vampires! The first lesson you have to learn is: you need to stop seeing us in such a romantic way. We are not the 'Twilight' guys. Of course he is capable of something like that. He has done worse. I have done worse. Just because we seem civilized to you doesn't mean we don't kill. I have killed thousands in my undead life, tortured them and slaughtered them!"

My eyes widened. Thanks for telling me, buddy, I thought. Do you have to say that to my face in quite that way?

I didn't even have time to react: one second I was sitting on the couch, the next I was suddenly shoved against the wall with a very scary – fangs bared and all – looking vampire right in my face. My heart was jumping out of my chest and adrenaline was shooting through my body.

What the hell was going on? What did I do to make him that angry? My fight or flight response kicked in and I tried to break out of the firm hold he had on my shoulders. I clawed and scratched at his arms and hands but it was no use: I had no chance.

"You didn't even see it coming, did you," he snarled. His face moved to my throat and I could hear him inhale my scent: His tongue licked my pulse point. I started shaking and my eyes almost bugged out of my head. "Hmmm, delicious," Eric growled. And when he looked back into my eyes, his pupils started to swirl like these black and white moving spirals to hypnotize people. Fascinating – and scary as hell!

I couldn't help but stare at him. A thousand thoughts ran through my head. What is it people say when they are facing their own death? They could see their life flashing before their eyes?

Pfft, nope, not me! I just saw his distorted face and just thought: Make it quick. Please, just kill me quickly!

"I could have drained you dry in ten seconds and you could have done nothing about it. Or I could have chained you up on a wall and fucked you almost to death and then drained you." Okay, now I was really scared! I knew my life was over. Did I misjudge him completely? Did he lure me into his office just to find an excuse to eliminate the telepath? Was I too much trouble for him? Then why did he explain all these things to me? As a diversion? As a way to lull me into a false sense of security?

But why? Was he that bored with his life and needed me to find new ways to amuse himself? Like 'oh look at this little naïve girl who wants to play with us vampires, we can use her for entertainment'.

Oh, I was so angry that my life meant so little to him. He was no lion, no king of the beasts. He was just a normal mean cat who was playing with the little mouse before eating her. I would not give him the satisfaction of cowering in front of him and begging him to spare me. No, I held my head high and looked him square in the eyes, waiting for the end.

Suddenly his features became softer and his hold on me relaxed a little. Huh? What now? "But I wouldn't do any of that because I don't kill for sport. Other vampires though wouldn't see it that way. They see something they like and just take it. Never misjudge vampires by their appearances, it could be deadly. What do the humans say? Still waters run deep." Then he let go of me.

Okay, point taken! I was panting as I leaned against the wall. "Alright, I won't." My voice sounded shaky and I hated myself for that. But I don't think I'd ever had that kind of fright in my entire life so I had the right to sound a little weak after that, right?

I needed to sit down – my knees felt like rubber, hah, whose wouldn't – so I wobbled back to the sofa and let myself drop onto the cushions. I was still shaking like a leaf and I tried to calm myself by running my hands over my face.

But just a second later I jumped like ten feet in the air as – suddenly – the office door slammed open and an irritated Pam high heeled it into the room. "Yes, master," she hissed. She sounded like we had just stolen her favorite toy. And how did she know to come in here?

Eric raised an eyebrow at her attitude. "Pam, would you be so kind as to bring our dear Ms. Stackhouse a glass of water? She seems to be a little out of breath," he said in a sugary sweet voice while he leered at me. I narrowed my eyes at him.

Asshole!

Pam scoffed, "Do I look like a fucking waitress?"

I cringed. Thanks Pam!

Eric just snarled at her and she hissed right back before marching back out of the room, not even bothering to close the door.

Lovely!

Maybe I should introduce her to my Gran. She would have a field day teaching Pam some manners. Once I had calmed down a bit I told him just that. The only answer he gave me was a booming laugh which shook the walls.

"Maybe I will consider it. It would serve her right. I've spoiled her too much," he added.

"I heard that!" Pam came back in and shoved the glass, which was filled to the brim, right into my hands. Of course it spilled over.

I said, "Thank you, Pam. That was very kind of you," in the sweetest voice I could muster which was just couched in sarcasm. My Gran always said, "It's cruel to be kind or kill them with kindness".

Just before she reached the door, she said as if it was an afterthought, "The weasel by the name of Bill Compton called asking for Ms. Stackhouse. I told him to go piss himself." And off she went.

Wow! I shook my head. I was no saint – and don't even start with Jason - but Pam definitely topped it all.

Strangely enough, I liked her.