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Chapter 6:

I was spooked out of my mind when I finally arrived at the bar. I had a sense of déjà-vu again but this time I had that prickly feeling which made me think – no, I knew – that someone had been following me.

There had been headlights behind me ever since I'd turned onto the main road in Bon Temps. I couldn't see the driver or even the make of the car, the distance was too great to identify it. Its speed was perfectly adjusted to mine but when I'd cast out my mental net he was always just out of range.

It was creepy.

I got nothing … except the void that was following me off to the right side of the road as well. I knew it was Bill: His void already felt familiar to me.

Shit!

I should have done the same thing as the day before: leave when the sun had still been in the sky. I could have smacked myself for not thinking of it sooner.

I'd thought about some senseless driving through and around the city but what if one – or both – of them decided, for whatever reason, to somehow stop my car? I wouldn't be able to defend myself – other than run – and I probably wouldn't even know where I was.

No, it was better to drive directly to Fangtasia. It was familiar to me and if push came to shove there were one or two people who could help me.

Finally the neon red sign over the front entrance of Fangtasia came into view. I heaved a sigh of relief while still trying to ovserve the car behind me: I couldn't see it anymore because there was too much traffic but I knew it was still there, just out of sight.

The only parking spots available were away from the building and near the street, much to my dismay. I reversed into a parking space so I could make a fast exit if I needed to.

My heart was beating fast as I imagined worst case scenarios. Stop it, Sookie. This is a public place, too many people. Nothing will happen!

You're becoming paranoid, I admonished myself.

'Yeah, but paranoia doesn't mean they aren't out to get you, you know', an inner voice spoke back to me. I was too spooked to care that something in me actually responded to my thoughts at the moment.

Just as I was about to step out of the car there was a whispering on the air, directly into my ear, like the wind refracted on the corner of a building. Maybe that's what made me pause and look in the rear view mirror one last time. Without it, I would probably have missed the slow moving truck on the street behind me.

A chill went through my body. That's him!

As fast as I could I jumped out of my car and ran to the median strip which was separating the parking lot from the street to try to get a glimpse of the driver.

Come on you bastard, show yourself!

I let my mental shields slip and focused them on the driver. What I heard and felt almost made me recoil in fear: darkness, so much darkness, like a black abyss or a black hole where there was no hope of escape; an arctic cold that made me shiver and then a shadowy figure: no face or any other features, just a shape that was cloaked in darkness.

I finally let his mind go, otherwise I probably would have gotten frostbite on my brain from the cold feeling of touching him mentally.

The driver must have figured out that I had seen him because he suddenly screeched his tires as he accelerated and turned off to the left into a side-street.

I got nothing – again.

Damn it all to hell! That would have been the best opportunity to identify him.

Still spooked I rubbed my forehead out of sheer frustration before making my way to the bar.

Obscenities were thrown my way when I walked past the queue to the head of the line again. I would have loved nothing more than to flip them the bird but I restrained myself.

Barely.

The bouncer took in my outfit with a sneer and I gave her a cold stare back, not saying anything: I was in no mood. She let me through regardless. Eric must have told her I was coming.

The bar scene had not changed since the last time, not that I expected it to, but this time the music was too loud and I had problems keeping my shields up. My nerves were running riot and wreaking havoc with my concentration.

Eric was not in his booth and I couldn't see him anywhere else in the room so I made my way through the bar to the back hallway fast enough to avoid a headache and only stopped for a moment to knock on Eric's office door.

"Enter," he called.

Please, I admonished him in my head and did as I was told.

Closing the door behind me I leaned against it with my back and head. I closed my eyes and heaved a sigh of relief. Ironically I felt safer in the lion's den than anywhere else right then.

One look at me and Eric was out of his seat and standing directly in front of me vampire fast. Taking in my appearance from head to toe, "What has happened," he asked.

Did I really look that frazzled?

Should I tell him the truth? Would he think I was nuts? But he would be able to tell that I was lying anyway and I was sure that he would probe me until he heard what he wanted to hear.

So I opted for the truth and took a deep breath, "Someone followed me," I said shakily.

His eyes narrowed dangerously, "Who?"

I flinched at his sharp tone and gulped. I wasn't afraid of him, it was the situation and what it could mean that had me on edge. "Bill for one," I said.

His eyebrows furrowed, "How do you know?"

I couldn't help it: I rolled my eyes. What is this? An interrogation? I was getting impatient but I explained any way, "Because there was a void off to the side of the road and it was following me at the same speed that I was driving. And I knew it was Bill because his void felt familiar to me."

"Explain," he ordered.

Urgh! Explain! Sit! Heel! Bark!

My eyes narrowed into slits, "I'm not a damn dog," I growled. He could make me see red with just a few words. "I would explain if you didn't interrupt me all the time. And you could have asked nicely, like 'please explain this, Sookie'. Is that so hard?" My eyes were shooting daggers at him before I stepped around him to stand in the middle of the office: I needed space.

It probably wasn't such a good idea to speak to an old – or any other - vampire in such a way but I was … angry.

At everything.

I had a feeling that I was losing control of my own life; that it was no longer in my hands. It was not a good feeling, not at all.

I rolled my neck from one side to the other and squared my shoulders, "I don't really know how to describe it. The voids I feel where your minds should be can be small or big. I think it has something to do with your age. I've detected it a few times now. Your void is pretty big," but not as big as your ego, I thought, "and it feels … heavy, like all the history and memories stored in there are weighing it down. Bill's, on the other hand, is really small compared to yours. He's around 150 years old, right? So he couldn't have experienced as much as you. I can distinguish between them the more I'm around them. It's like recognizing someone by their voice."

"Fascinating," he said pensively and looked at me like I was his new pet project. I had this mental image of me lying in a petri dish under his microscope. I drove those thoughts away, too distracting and too creepy.

Hmm, it depends on what part of his anatomy you have in mind for his microscope, Cookie purred

Electric shocks went through my body.

Phew, was it getting hot in there? Thanks to Cookie and her loose mouth I would have that mental image for the rest of the night.

Eric's gaze became predatory as his nostrils flared. He gave me a knowing smirk, "Sookie," he purred, "What were you thinking about just now?"

I gulped and couldn't help but squirm. "Nothing," I squeaked. Focus, Sookie! I needed a distraction. "I told you, no funny business, mister. I'm so not in the mood after what I had to deal with today!"

"You're no fun," he complained.

Oh, there it was: Eric Northman, Viking sex god and badass vampire sheriff was pouting! Yes, you heard right; and with the whole package – puppy dog eyes and bottom lip sticking out!

My heart started to flutter. I wanted to reach out, pet him and make his booboo go away.

Cookie had a similar reaction: She stuck out her behind and purred, "Here, kitty, kitty!"

Damn!

FOCUS!

Where was I? Oh yeah, "I think the killer followed me as well."

Now that really got his attention. All mirth and playfulness was gone in an instant, "The killer of fangbangers? The reason you came to Fangtasia with Bill in the first place?"

I nodded, "Yes. I can't really be sure; he was too far away for me to recognize anything but the truck followed me from the moment I turned onto Bon Temps main road. I know it was the same vehicle the whole time.

Just as I turned into the bar's parking lot I could see in the rear view mirror that it was a dark pick-up truck similar to my brother's. He was gone too fast for me to recognize anything else."

"But it wasn't your brother's?"

I thought about that for a second, "No," I shook my head thoughtfully, "it didn't have the pink and aqua flames on the sides. Why would he target me anyway? I've only ever been seen with Bill the night we met and once or twice since then but never in an intimate way and I don't have fang marks on me either. Why would he follow me now?" I started pacing around the room and tried to think of reasonable explanations.

"Did you talk to someone about it or did you go somewhere that would warrant him thinking you're a threat?"

The scales fell from my eyes. I could have smacked myself. You are a smart woman, Sookie, but sometimes you can also be really dumb, I chided myself.

"I went to the Sheriff's office today," I answered and told him about the idea that maybe it wasn't the killer's first murders and about the article I'd found. "But I couldn't find a picture of this Drew Marshall anywhere. It's like he's a ghost. I'm pretty sure he's hiding out in Bon Temps and that I know him so I went to the Sheriff's department earlier to tell them what I'd found out but they didn't want to hear it. It was like they let it go in one ear and out the other. They thought it was only 'Crazy Sookie' prattling on about what the voices in her head told her."

Eric's face became eerily still at the reference to 'Crazy Sookie, "What?" He hissed and his fangs snapped down.

"Oh, you don't know that? In Bon Temps I'm 'Crazy Sookie'. They know I'm different somehow and that I 'know' things but they don't understand it so in their scared little minds it's better to brand me as crazy." I shrugged and gave him a strained smile.

"Idiots," he muttered. "I would really like to kill them all!"

"Don't waste your time. Once a rumor takes root it's like a weed: You can pull it out all you want but it will return every time," I gave him a sad smile.

He seemed to ponder that, "Well said, Ms. Stackhouse. How did you find out about this Drew Marshall?"

I turned my head to the side in confusion and furrowed my eyebrows, "I searched online and made a few phone calls to different newspapers. Why?"

"Phone calls," Eric laughed humorlessly, "I have had the best investigators on my payroll working exclusively on the murders since you brought them to my attention two nights ago and not once did they mention a Drew Marshall. They've been working on it day and night ever since and you discovered it in what, two or three hours, just by making a few phone calls and surfing on the internet. I pay them a lot of money and it turns out they're completely incompetent."

Yeah, I could sympathize with that. I would be angry as well if they had wasted my money. Eric was the sheriff; he needed the information to run his area efficiently or he would look bad.

And … wait a second. Did he just say that he had hired investigators for the murders? "I had the impression that you didn't care who killed those girls." I blushed when the words tumbled out of my mouth. Damn! I was speaking before thinking again. That had gotten me into more trouble in my life…

Eric raised his famous eyebrow and answered in a light, chiding tone, "Just because I don't look like I care, doesn't mean it's true. We may not have the same reasons for it but I still want to have this solved as much as you do. Even if they were fangbangers, vampires are involved whether I want them to be or not. And I care about anything vampire related that happens in my area."

I was thankful that he did not just lecture me like Bill would have done. I was still embarrassed because I'd spoken before really thinking about it. It was a characteristic I wasn't very proud of.

So I bit the bullet and apologized, "I'm sorry for assuming. I didn't mean to offend you. I hate it when other people do it to me and here I am doing the same thing."

Eric inclined his head with a small smile, "Apology accepted. I will contact you when I find this Drew Marshall. I presume that's why you wanted to talk to me tonight?"

I nodded in confirmation, relieved at the change of subject, "I thought you may know somebody from the Shreveport PD, or someone else in law enforcement, who could give you the information."

Eric inclined his head. "Give me your cellphone number, my investigators couldn't find that out either. That way I can send you the picture directly to your phone."

I dropped my head in embarrassment and murmured too low for any human to hear, "I don't have one."

Eric craned his neck and cupped his hand behind one ear, "What was that?"

I huffed in exasperation and rolled my eyes, "I said, I don't have one." My cheeks were burning.

He blinked in real surprise, "You have internet but not a cellphone?"

My lips moved into a thin line, "I can barely afford the internet. I had to save the money for it for a long time: An additional phone was too much. Being online was a necessary evil for my education; otherwise I wouldn't even have that."

Eric just shook his head. "Then I will give you one."

My head snapped up in fury, "What? Why?"

But he just held his hand up as I narrowed my eyes. Pff, as if that would stop me. He was not going to buy me a damn phone just because I didn't have one.

Just as I was about to open my mouth he interrupted me, "I need to talk to you about something as well. I've been thinking about the situation with Bill and the Queen: We can benefit from each other if I have you on my payroll."

I was intrigued but a little apprehensive as well, "What do you mean by that? Like a contract? And what does that have to do with a phone?"

"Correct. If you were my telepath and bound by contract it would give us some time to think about other precautions with the queen. It is just a matter of time before Bill reports his complications with you to Sophie-Anne."

I gulped. "Do you think she would act rashly then? Like take me by force or something? Can she even do that?" I asked, a little panicked.

"I've thought about it. Something seems fishy. I've known Sophie-Anne for a long time and she can be childish, selfish and is known for her ruthlessness: She wouldn't be queen otherwise. Nevertheless, she is a fair queen. For all that, I've never heard that she has taken someone against their will. It's like an unspoken rule for her."

"So she wouldn't just pack me up and ship me to New Orleans? But why did Bill go to so much trouble to try and bind me to him?

"When you and I talked about blood ties and bonds it sounded to me like he would have become irresistible to me, if it had worked. I would have probably done anything for him then."

"That's the part that has me thinking he has ulterior motives. Sophie-Anne would never have ordered Bill to bind you to him at all costs. She would have told him to see if the rumors were true and see how you felt about vampires. She would have then offered you something that would have been hard to decline, most likely a contract."

I nodded pensively. But something was still bugging me, "Why did she order Bill and not you? I live in the area where you are sheriff."

"That's probably the influence of her child and second in command, André. He is her oldest and most loyal child. For some reason I'm not aware of yet he must have convinced her not to include me in this. She never would have done so otherwise. André might be a sadist but even he would not want to piss off the queen's most trusted asset. Even though Bill's her procurer, there must be a specific reason to send him, of all vampires, to my area. I need to contact my spies and get to the bottom of it."

The queen's child is a sadist? Lovely! "This André sounds like a guy I definitely don't want to meet."

"Yes, he is the kind of vampire I've warned you about. But should you ever meet him: never ever be alone with him."

A shudder went through my body at that. I definitely would take that warning to heart.

"So, you were talking about a contract earlier?"

"Yes, I already have one drawn up but it's more like a rough draft and I would like for you to read it over. The next time we meet we will negotiate changes and additions to both our satisfaction. There also needs to be a lawyer present." He went to his desk and handed me a stack of paper.

Great. More things to think about. It was getting overwhelming really fast; I put it in my purse. "What does this contract entail and what would I have to do to fulfill it?"

"You would be my new 'area investigator and human relations liaison' since it would not be wise to officially state you as a telepath. Your official title would be Human Relations Liaison but I think I will add investigator to the contract as well. Both titles will give you more room to expand your talents. One of those talents is being able to think outside the box and, therefore, being good at research as we discovered earlier. You would be paid $500 to $1000 per hour depending on the situation." My eyes almost popped out of my head and my mouth dropped open. Holy shit! "The hours you would work per week would depend on how much I send your way. I would need to contact you on short notice, hence the cellphone."

Okay, I could work with that if it was business related. "You would have health insurance and you would not need to give up on your education; I would even support it more if you would like. You would need a high speed notebook computer with the fastest internet access available, also provided by me.

"Any work requests from other parties will need to be approved by me but you will have the final right of refusal. As your manager I will get the standard fee of 15% of your earnings. Those are the highlights; everything else is standard nonsense such as Holidays and vacation times."

My head was swimming. It didn't sound too bad though. On the contrary, it was an offer which was hard to resist. And as he said, it would give me an opportunity to expand my talents and gain experience in the process. I rubbed my forehead while saying, "And by signing this contract you think it would get the Queen off my back?"

"Highly likely, yes. If I called her and told her I had obtained a telepath by contract I think she would be satisfied. As I said, she would never want to piss me off. And I would be very angry if she tried something with you despite the contract. You would be claimed by the state of Louisiana though and therefore I would need to 'lend' you to her and eventually to a few other states from time to time but I would always guarantee your safety."

I took a deep breath, "Alright. I will look it over and will get back to you in the next few days."

Eric nodded and seemed pensive for a moment before he spoke again, "Since you so eloquently outshone my investigators, let me pay you for your investigation regarding the Bon Temps killer. You seemed to have almost solved this case anyway…"

I tried to interrupt him to protest but he seemed to anticipate my move. "Let's use this as your trial for the job I offered you. If you accept the contract – and I would highly recommend it – I would not need to give you something else to prove your worth as a trial would have been a standard in an employee contract. We could move onto bigger and more important things right from the beginning."

I knew he was right and we both knew that I would most likely take the job and sign the contract. If he really paid me that much I could quit working at Merlotte's sooner than I thought. Even if it made me sad to leave Sam hanging that way I was also relieved to get out of that damn town, even if it was only part time. I was getting ahead of myself though because I would only think about these things when the deal was done.

I took a step towards the door but then a thought popped into my head and I asked hopefully, "What about Bill? Would he leave me alone after you've talked to the queen?"

"That is entirely up to her. I heard through the grapevine that he applied for area investigator and Area 5 doesn't have a vampire investigator yet. So no, I don't think so. In fact, that odds are you would end up working with him at least occasionally"

Urgh! And my hope went right down the drain. Great! But maybe after the scene the night before he would think twice before approaching me. Just thinking about that had me grinning like a maniac, "Speaking of Bill, you will never guess what happened last night when I got home."

He looked at me curiously and nodded for me to go on. As I spoke his expression turned to amusement until neither of us could hold it in any longer; we burst out laughing. "I swear to you, the bastard actually turned green. It was definitely a Kodak moment. Served him right!"

Between bouts of laughter I had to explain what a Kodak moment was. Apparently Eric didn't watch much television, ever, since 'Kodak Moment' has been their tagline since at least 1976, if not longer.

It took a while before we could breathe regularly again - well at least me since he didn't really need to breathe.

"I will make sure that he will never hear the end of it," Eric said, his voice full of mirth.

He was just wiping away the red tears staining his cheeks when Pam suddenly flung the door open, looking like she was ready to kill somebody, "Fuck a zombie! If she calls me a snarky brat one more time I'm going to poke out my eyes with a stiletto!"

I had to fight not to burst out laughing again. Fuck a zombie! I'll have to remember that!

"Who is it," Eric demanded.

"Some old hag with the audacity to call twice in five minutes. She wanted to talk to the owner. Of course I hung up on her.

"What do you have to do with old, wrinkly humans anyway? But then she had the nerve to call again and demanded to be put through to you or Sookie."

Surprised, I sucked in air through my teeth and rudely snatched the phone from Pam's hand: She looked at me like I had grown three heads.

Why would Gran be calling Fangtasia at all, let alone this late at night?

"Gran," I said as soon as I held the phone to my ear.

"Oh thank God, Sookie." Her voice sounded weak despite the angry tone. "Tell that unfriendly woman if I ever meet her face to face I will give her a come to Jesus she won't likely forget."

I had to snicker at that. That I wanted to see, "Oh, I will Gran." I looked at Pam. She had narrowed her eyes to slits and bared her fangs into a hiss. I snickered some more. "I definitely will. But what's going on? I was about to leave and going to be home in about an hour."

But the mirth got stuck in my throat as she answered, "Oh Sookie, something terrible happened." My heart dropped to my feet. No! "I just came home from Maxine's and saw that someone broke into the house. The kitchen … your cat … there's so much blood," she cried breathlessly. I could hear her gasping for air.

Shit!

I got very concerned all of a sudden. My grandmother was not young anymore and her voice was thin. I could tell that she was in shock; it was not good for her health.

I tried to stay calm for her sake – although I was pretty shaken up myself - so she would not panic, "Gran, calm down, take deep breaths. Did you call the sheriff's office?"

"No, I was going to do that next."

"Yes, please do that now. I'm already on my way, okay? I will be home as soon as I can."

"Alright. Drive carefully," she said and hung up.

I needed a second to get myself back together so I could think rationally. With shaky hands I hastily gave the phone back to Pam while glaring daggers at her. I knew it was not her fault that something happened to Tina but she added to my gran's stress with her unreasonable self.

"Sookie…," Eric began.

But I cut him off by calling, "I need to go," while running out the door as fast as I could.

Damn, damn, damn! Why did I come here in the first place? I should have stayed home. But no, I had to be an hour away while Gran was going through god knows what.

I blindly ran in the direction of the main bar but I wasn't more than a few steps from the office when I was grabbed from behind.

I made a surprised sound as an arm wrapped around my chest and my feet lost their hold on the floor. Then I was carried out the back entrance, vampire speed.

My head was spinning. I knew it was Eric - I could feel it - but I still protested against his hold on me, "Eric, I need to leave. My car is in the other direction."

"You are in no condition to drive. I will," He said into my ear. I could feel his lips against my skin and in any other circumstance I would have found it highly erotic but my nerves were too raw and I was too anxious to get home to my grandmother.

"But I need my car. I have to work the lunch shift tomorrow."

"It will be in your driveway before dawn," He said as if it was nothing.

I knew he was right; I was too upset to drive and given the car he was walking towards we would be faster as well. Therefore I resigned myself to my fate and let him bundle me into the passenger seat of his cherry red Corvette.