It's almost December and it's cold. Shocking, right? I think it's time to finally accept that it's not just bad weather but winter and take some drastic measures like... drinking another hot tea or something. Honestly, what else can I do?

Warm my heart and review...

Disclaimer: Not my business. If it's yours, you probably have enough money that you can afford not to sue people like me for writing fanfiction.

Betaed by Breathesgirl. All remaining mistakes are mine (I didn't wait for the final 'all clear' from her, because I wasn't sure when I'd be able to post it if I don't post it now. Sorry for that).

Previously:

In the car I tried to calm Jason down by telling him about Calvin's promise. That cheered him up a bit but I knew that if the attacks didn't stop before the next full moon even Calvin's good will might prove not be sufficient enough to protect my brother. It was clear to me that the case had to be solved and the sniper locked away in prison before the moon would shrink and grow again.

I stopped by the shop on my way back. By the time I got home my head was threatening to explode with all the schemes and worries so I threw myself into cleaning hoping that it would help me calm down and focus my thoughts on something else. That desire to soothe my nerves made me scrub the whole house spotless. I was in the middle in of cleaning the oven when I heard the phone ringing.

"Hello Sookie, it's Alcide," a familiar voice greeted me.

I instantly smiled, pleasantly surprised. I guess I instinctively expected some bad news about Jason so finding out that it was Alcide calling me seemed like a better option. I hadn't talked to him for a while, but I really liked him. Alcide Herveaux was a werewolf – and a good man, not to mention a fairly handsome one.

"I'm at Merlotte's," he informed me. "I hoped to catch you here, but," he inhaled deeply, "Pam told me that you had already gone home."

It was hard to hold back a giggle when I imagined Alcide's face when he had wandered into Merlotte's and unexpectedly stumbled on Pam behind the bar. It sounded almost like the beginning of a bad joke.

I also wondered what Pam's greeting to him was.

"Sook, what is she doing here?" he whispered, though if Pam was in the same room, she could probably hear him anyway.

"You tell me," I said because I couldn't reign my amusement. "You're the one there with her."

After all, he could see her, not I.

"She's tending the bar, I hope," I added.

"Interesting, she said something very similar when I asked her the same question."

I grinned like an idiot. I was wondering if the similarities included the part about hope.

"Then it's probably true – but you can never be too careful when it comes to Pam."

"No worries, I'm not going to drink anything she gives me."

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to hear that last comment, or if he was just talking to himself, but it made me laugh.

"Give her a kiss from me!"

Even without seeing him I could sense that he didn't approve of my suggestion.

"Seriously, Sookie, what's going on?"

"Sam is injured," I said, finally calming down. "Pam is filling in for him."

He went silent for a few seconds.

"And what is the reason for Eric's kind offer to help Sam in his time of need?" Alcide asked skeptically. I couldn't deny that it was a valid question.

"There is a sniper on the loose shooting people," I replied, pretending that I didn't catch the full meaning of his question. "By the way, you're probably taking a risk by coming to Bon Temps."

"And why is that?"

"All the sniper's victims are weres. Did you know that?"

I had heard on the radio something I didn't like: there had been many more seemingly random shootings like that in the small towns of the south, in Tennessee and Mississippi mostly. It looked like we had ourselves a serial killer again.

"No," he sounded concerned. "I didn't know that."

I remembered Lily and Jack Leeds' visit.

"Did you talk to the detectives yet?" I asked hoping that maybe he came up with some handy lie I could copy.

"No – wait, what?"

"Honestly, it'll look suspicious if they spot us together."

"What are you talking about?"

"Debbie's family hired private investigators to find her. They stopped by Merlotte's today."

"I'm coming to you," he said and hung up before I could stop him.

If anyone bothered to ask me, I'd tell them that it wasn't the best of ideas. The detectives could have been watching my house. Considering how much they already knew, they were probably aware that Debbie had been obsessively jealous of me. If they saw Alcide at my place, it would be easy for them to paint a completely false picture. I could only hope it wouldn't come to that because it was too late to change Alcide's mind. Soon he was parking his car in my driveway.

Alcide hugged me hello. It overwhelmed me a little. He smelled familiar and he was very tall, very hunky and very male. Without Debbie at his side he was also much more attractive.

Debbie was probably the most serious negative I could see in Alcide.

I invited him to the living-room where we sat down and I repeated my conversation with the detectives to him. I was trying to gauge if I should tell him about my memory loss and ask him for some tips as to how I should deal with Leeds's.

"I think they might be under the impression that I am the one responsible for her disappearance," he said, appearing deep in thought.

"Maybe they think that you are so distraught with what had happened that they don't want to bother you?"

Alcide laughed shortly and without humour.

"Distraught? I used all of my energy to free myself from her," I thought about the strange abjuring ritual he had supposedly performed on Debbie. "I was so blinded that I almost thought she cast some kind of a spell on me. Her mother can do that and I thought that maybe…" He trailed off.

"Magic?" I said skeptically. "You think it's possible?"

I didn't doubt magic existed. I just thought it improbable that Debbie was a witch. If she were, I would have woken up covered in warts a long time ago.

As far as excuses go 'My girlfriend spelled me' didn't seem too impressive to me.

"Why else would I cling to her for so long? Since she disappeared I feel like I woke up from a dream," he continued to dig himself even deeper. "I wanted so much to forgive her everything she had done, like when she pushed you into that trunk."

I froze. I felt as if he stabbed me with a knife. I'd never talked to anybody about what had happened that night. I tried not to touch that subject. Thinking about it was too painful – but now the memory of the fear and despair came back with a vengeance, crushing me. I looked down at my feet trying to push it away.

"She let him rape you," he said brusquely.

I looked at him shocked. It was the first time someone called Bill's actions by their proper name and said it out loud in my presence. Well, at least I sure had not done that before. My first instinct was to tell Alcide to shut up, to protest and try to excuse Bill, find some arguments that would somehow ease Alcide's brutal statement and diminish the meaning of that nightmarish incident, but then to my horror I realised that I was hiding my head in the sand. Even in my own head I sounded like a victim trying to deny the truth – and that pissed me off big time.

"…but even then," Alcide's voice brought me back to reality, "even then I kept trying to somehow explain and excuse her behaviour and I took her back. I can't believe I would be so mindless to act this way if I wasn't under some kind of spell."

So Alcide got back together with Debbie after my trip to Jackson? This was news to me. My feelings for him rapidly dropped a few degrees. Suddenly I lost any desire I might have had for confessions.

"Alcide, why are you here?" I asked tiredly. "What did you mean to tell me before I mentioned the detectives to you?"

"Colonel Flood died yesterday in a car accident."

I knew that colonel Flood was the pack-master of the Shreveport were-wolf pack, but my acquaintance with him fell entirely into the unknown territory of my memory gap.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"I wondered if you'd like to come to the funeral."

"Alcide, I don't know," I hesitated.

Attending to the funeral of someone whose memory had been erased from my mind seemed weird to me.

"I didn't know him too well," it had to be true: you can't know well someone you met a few times during only one week. "Is it not going to be a family event?"

"No, it's going to be a big gathering. Colonel knew many people – he was not only a pack-master, but also a chief of the neighborly watch. He stationed in Air Force base. I think you should go. After all, he made you a friend of the pack. The werewolves would appreciate it."

Ah, yes. Friend of the pack. I heard something about that, though I wasn't sure what it really meant.

Alcide was probably right – I should pay my respects to avoid offending the pack.

"All right. When is the funeral?"

"Tomorrow 1 PM. Are you working?"

"Yeah, but I should be able to switch shifts with someone."

"I'll pick you up."

"Thanks."

Instantly I thought of asking who was going to be the next pack-master and judging from Alcide's reaction I could tell it was a touchy subject – maybe because, as he admitted, his father was running for the position. Alcide seemed very stressed about the whole situation. He made a point to remind me that the funeral was going to be a very formal occasion and that I needed to dress appropriately.

"I should go," he said finally.

He rose and paused awkwardly with his hand on the knob. I knew that he was thinking about kissing me and trying to decide if it was a good idea. My feelings on the matter were far from clear, so I didn't clue him one way or another.

On one hand Alcide seemed almost perfect for me – I found him attractive, I really liked him and this time we were both not as hung up on our exes as we had been the last time, so part of me wanted to give him a shot. On the other hand, my instincts warned me that I should be cautious. I suspected this voice in my head was somehow connected to something I didn't remember.

Finally he leaned down and gave me a brush of a kiss. I didn't react.

After he left I quickly finished cleaning and decided that I should try to relax while waiting for Pam. Since it seemed like it was a perfect time for reading something light to turn my focus away from my concerns, I changed into comfy clothes, fixed myself hot cocoa and curled under the blanket with Eric's book in hand.

I don't know how long I was reading, because I got really caught up in the story, but I know that what finally interrupted me was someone knocking on my door. I jumped startled by the unexpected sound and shut the book, as if someone caught me doing something indecent. I had to bite my cheek to stop myself from giggling when I went to open the door, but unfortunately nothing could stop me from blushing.

The book was OBSCENE. I wondered how long it took Eric to find something like that.

I admit that when he had declared he was going to look after me, I hadn't seen it coming. I mean, I hadn't predicted that he would approach the task by sending me erotica fiction – though, knowing Eric, maybe I should have.

My improved mood made me think that maybe I should just take the book as an olive branch and thank Eric for the unexpected gift without overthinking it.

I wasn't quite ready to call him – it was too soon and I still remembered clearly the last conversation about his gifts we had had on the phone – but maybe I could send him a thank-you note? Only what was it supposed to look like?

Dear Eric,

I was very happy to see the pornographic novel you sent me. I'm sure it's going to be of great use to me. It was so thoughtful of you. Thank you for your kind memory.

Yours sincerely,

Sookie Stackhouse

I smiled reflexively. Eric would have appreciated it.

As expected I found Pam on the other side of the door. I quickly fixed my hold on the book to hide the cover – a useless gesture since she already knew that the book was from Eric, but I still felt compelled to do that.

"Hi, Pam," I said.

I was surprised to see Pam's hair in a side ponytail tied with a fluffy, pink band.

"Hello, Sookie," she purred.

I had just enough time to think that she had a suspicious glint in her eye before she kissed me.

Wait, what? Yes, you read that right. What would Eric say? For now I'd like to know what you would say!

Next time: Pam (duh).