Disclaimer: The characters belong to Charlaine Harris, i'm just playing around.
AN: italics is thoughts, and i did try to not have so many this time. I love your comments, that helps me improve, to thanks to everybody that has helped!
Also, anyone up for betaing?
Thanks for reviewing: Mayra (filler chapter... i had so much fun with that), DD (if you're a junkie... does that make me a pusher? lol, thanx), lace249 and le jazz hot (you'll see in a second)
I'm introducing somebody you'll like, if it sounds more like the movies than the series I apologize.
Ch.8
Be curious, not fearsome.
Why is he looking for me? Curiosity fills me up, for a second, then the fear seeps in. I push it back ignoring the impulse to say: What do you want with me, I hold still. I check the phone listing and look up at him.
"I am sorry, we have nobody here by that name" I say.
"It iss a young woman that workss here, I think sshe would not have her own line. Maybe she iss an asssistant?" he asks. He rolls his S's a lot. He's deadly pale, obviously a vampire, and a large crooked nose. I had to get away
"Oh, I know who you are talking about" I say. Something tells me that I should lie deliberately to this guy.
"Yess?" he purs. I smile a little. His greasy hair moves with his small nod.
"Yes. Winona Bondu Merlotte. She has the shift after mine, and I am almost up" I say and smile. Yes, I smile a lot when I am nervous, not that I would accept it front of Bill.
"Good. I sshall wait." He says and sits down.
I email Regina quickly, telling her to be late, that I had to fill in another half an hour, anything. I get up to leave.
"You leave the desk unattended?" he says. I remove my shields and look deep into him.
I need the girl, they want her, she is of importance. She is valuable, they said, her and her family. I smile a bit, If I had had a picture of the girl… I am hungry.
"Yes, it is the next girl's responsibility the time that she is away. Sorry, it's just the company's politics." I say. That is not a lie.
"Fine." Now I am sure that he is a vampire. I feel something cold about him, and his thoughts are a bit slow and disconnected, like Bills. And he was thinking about eating blood. I make sure to take in a good mental image of him to tell Mamma and Bill about.
"Nice to meet you" I say with a smile and go on my way to the back office to clock out. I think to tell something to security, but what exactly would I say?
No, I get out quickly and get in a bus to get home quicker.
I still cannot shake the feeling that I am being followed. My cell phone rings.
"Judy?" asks a male voice I know too well.
"What's up, Dave?" I ask, my voice cool.
"Is it true you turned down Bastian for the prom?" he asks. I nod.
"Yeah, I told him the truth. He said he wondered why you had not asked me." I joke.
"Ha ha. Still, I thought you would like to go to prom, no matter who with." He replies. I roll my eyes behind my eyelids.
"Actually, I do" I say. "I want to go with you and all your sexy assets" I say. He laughs on the other end of the phone.
"Listen, call my house and tell them that I have a shadow, they will understand." I whisper as soon as his laughter fades.
"What? Are you okay?"
"Yes, I want to do that too" I say sexily.
"See you tomorrow, Dave." I say and hang up. I hope he will call.
I take out my small vanity mirror from my bag. I smack on some lip treatment and press a finger to accommodate my unruly hair behind my ears. I do a quick glance to each end of the bus, pretending to be busy with my hair, but actually looking for anything mysterious. I do not know. I try my other option, the one that is always my last resort. I open my shields. Voices fill my head immediately.
Water the plants, feed the cat, call … Maybe if Jackie gave me another chance … Stupid screw up … Merlotte, a girl with the last name Merlotte, her parents know well how to hide themselves. … I should not have had sex with him yet … Every day it's the same, where has chivalry gone? … I should have checked with Sookie before coming … I analyze through everything. There is a Were in the bus, and two vampires, one friend, one foe. I follow the thread of the one thinking about me, it leads me to a tall and skinny man, someone that would not last in a wrestling match. Okay, I will avoid him at all costs. I follow the other thread. A young soccer mom wearing neon orange sweatpants with a rainbow sweatshirt, she has highlighted blonde hair and seems to be deep in thought. Eric will know that I am here. He will ask me to report. I will tell Sookie to tell me nothing then. I chose my movements carefully.
We make a stop and five people get up to leave. I make to leave, but instead sit besides the soccer mom. Who is this girl? The bus is nearly empty, why sit here? She thinks. I ignore that and go back the lanky vampire in the back. Shit, did she get out here? I should have gotten out. Oh, wait, she is still here. Why is she sitting with that woman?.
"Oh. Shit" I say. This earns me that the soccer mom raises an eyebrow in her pale face.
"Who are you?" she says. I look deep into her eyes, connecting with her thread of thought again.
"Okay. Short version. Stackhouse junior. Skinny tall guy in the back is trying to find me. Please help me. I already called home, Pam" I tell her, rummaging her mind for a few seconds before. Her eyes widen. She turns to the man in the back.
"Oh let him try to get you" she says. I blink at her. "Is the next one your stop?" she asks. I nod.
"Go. I'll be right behind you." She says. I am not sure she understood me, but a single glimpse to her mind tells me what she is about to do. She is actually looking forward to killing this vampire.
The bus pulls to a stop and I go towards the front and get down. I do not look back and start walking in the opposite direction that I would usually take to go home. I do not look back, but know what is happening
(LANKY VAMPIRE) Maybe she did trick Devon, but not me. She does seem the right age, and well, if she is not the girl, I can have some fun with her.
(PAM) Oh, yeah, I will enjoy this. Just wait for it… he will go for her in just a second.
(LANKY VAMPIRE) I have to grab her quick…
(PAM)Wait for it. Brace yourself.
(LANKY VAMPIRE)So, bite or assault? Bite can be so much more fun.
(PAM) Walk calmly, she tells herself.. I'm ready.
I hear a whoosh followed by a second whoosh. I turn just to see soccer mom grabbing lanky guy from his arm and pushing him to the floor with an unknown force. Her fangs are out in a second and she is completely on top of him, feeding.
"I did not mean that!" I say. Neither of them look at me as they struggle with each other. The other guy is wasting his time, Pam pulls a stick of wood that was just a bit thicker than a pencil from her plastic shoes and stabs him in the heart. He starts to go all viscous and become a slimeball right there in front of me.
I close my eyes and try to not be sick. Soccer mom dusts some ash and muk from her pants as she sits up.
"Stackhouse Junior is it?" she says. I am looking disgustingly at the corpse disintegrating in the sidewalk. She watches it with pleasure alongside me. Once I recuperate myself, I talk to her again.
"It's Judith Merlotte, actually, but I needed something that you would understand and he would not. He is looking for someone named Merlotte. That someone being me" I took a deep breath. She looks at me.
"How did you know my name?" she asks.
"I picked it up from my Mamma" I lie.
"How did you know it was me?" she asks. I shrug
"Are you as skilled as your mother Sookie?" she asks.
"I don't know what you are talking about. Come, I have some blood at my house if you want any." I say and side step from the corpse to go home.
"Is it not this way?" she asks.
"No, I went the wrong way on purpose. I did not want to reach my house with that behind my back." I say.
"Resourceful" she says.
Just then, there is another whoosh and I see Uncle Bill in front of me.
"You are one hard girl to track, young lady." He scolds me.
"I'm sorry, Un-
"Bill Compton." Pam interrupts me.
"What are you doing here?" he asks her.
"Might as well ask you the same thing" she says. "You would not have left without informing your Sheriff, now would you?" she asks suspiciously.
"He believes me to be elsewhere." He says stiffly.
"Oh, does he now?" she promptly inquires.
"Okay… as much as you want to see Eric's face when you tell him," they both turn their heads to me. "Good, that got your attention. I want to get home." I ask.
Faster than I could say bump, Bill picks me up and with vampiric speed goes back to our house. He deposits me in the small couch in the living room where Mamma and Delia are
fidgeting.
"Whoa," I exclaim. "I will want a heads up for that next time." I say. The bell rings.
"Did you know Pam was coming?" Bill asks Mamma.
"No, she never tells me when she is coming" she shrugs.
Bill makes a sound between a hiss and a snarl. He opens the door for Pam.
"How nice of you" Pam says to him acidly.
"Come inside" Mamma says. Why did she not just come in?
"Thank you, Sookie." She says, emphasizing her name.
"What happened?" Mamma looks between Bill, Pam and me: deciding that whoever speaks first will get off lighter than the rest.
"I was being followed, as I told Dave to tell you. Did he call?" Delia nods, she is perched on the edge of her seat.
"He sounded scared, he did not even have a clue what the message you asked him to relay meant" she says. That is exactly what I was aiming for.
"Something weird happened at work. After I left, I felt a presence follow me. I knew that somebody was watching me. So I listened around. There was one were and two vampires in
the bus. One was after me." I start to tell.
Bill is looking at me with too much attention. I look at him, he understands and looks around too.
"Anyways, I had tricked the other vampire in the office into thinking that the girl he was looking for was due to open her shift in a few minutes. Then I left. A different one followed me, probably just following his instinct." Just then, my stomach made a hungry sound. I ignored it, but nobody else did.
"Did you have lunch?" Mamma asks worried. Delia snaps up from her seat and goes to the kitchen. She moves a few stuff around and then comes back with a mini pizza that she stuffed in the nanowave. I eat it hungrily.
"Wow" Pam says. I look at her, not knowing what the hell is so interesting. I chew slowly when I realize I am under her scrutinizing gaze.
"What?" I say as soon as I swallow. She shrugs and then looks at Mamma.
"So, Sookie, this is where Bill is hiding now."
"I am not hiding" Bill retaliates.
"Tsk. Tsk." Pam makes a sound with her mouth.
"Pam, get over it" Sookie says. "What brings you here, anyways?" she says.
"I was going to call from the restaurant if you were not there, but then this one came up to me." She says, jerking her head towards me.
"This one has a name" I taunt.
"Yes, Judith Merlotte Stackhouse." She says. I like the way she says it. "and you ought to be thankful" she reprimands me.
"Oh, off course, because I did not ask you to help me, you just saw me in trouble." I say. "I had been taking the reins of the situation, I knew either Mamma or Uncle Bil would be coming soon, if anything, you just sped things up." I argue.
"Spunk." She says. "I enjoy it" she smiles. "My questions have not been answered yet." She announces to Sookie and Bill. They look at each other guiltily.
"Oh, where is Merlotte, Sookie? Does your husband know that you are with a … house guest?" she says looking at Bill.
It happens too quickly for me to figure it out, Delia jumped on Pam, and since she was quite taller and stronger than her, pushed her to the ground. But Pam shoved her off just as quickly. Bill then tries to hold Pam, but Mamma screams for them all to stop.
"Sam died, Pam. Behave yourself, Delia. Let her go, Bill." I am still chewing and barely comprehend what just happened.
Bill releases Pam softly, but he still snarls at Pam. She at least has the decency to look down with shame.
"I did not know" she says.
"And we plan to keep it that way" Mamma says. "Nobody else has to know that Sam is dead. Not even Eric." She says.
"You are no fun" Pam says. She then turns back to Bill again. I look at her confused.
"I do not understand. You help me and then you pick on sore spots with all of them?" I ask. She gives me a small nod and a smile.
"You see, they are being secretive. Eric does not like not knowing things" she says.
"Maybe he can understand that somethings he does not need to know" I say in my bittersweet voice.
"Witty" she says. "She would make a good vampire." Pam tells Mamma.
"Ew, over my dead body." I say.
"I can arrange that" Pam replies.
"Do not worry, I will not let her touch you" Bill says. I am wondering how much he is able to do about that. I saw her take out the other vampire.
"She just killed a vampire" I tell them.
"What?" Mamma rounds on her.
"He was targeting her." Somehow, she points with her eyebrow, I had never seen anyone do that before. "She asked me for help. She identified me." The whole room is quiet for a few seconds, and she is staring at me. Mamma is staring at her, and Bill is switching between us three.
"I wonder how she knew me" she says.
"I talked to her about you, and Eric, and almost any other vampire that has shaped my life, when Bill showed up two nights ago." She says.
"Oh, then there is no… telepathy going on? She knew I was a vampire before we even spoke." She says.
"Oh, please, like it is not easy to identify you" I say. Then again, I had no idea Bill was a vampire until he said so himself. Is it something about the body temperature? The way they send out their thoughts?
"No." she says, her eyes still planted on mine. I kept her stare. "I know only one person that can tell if a vampire is a vampire just by looking at them." She says, she turns her head slowly to Mamma. "She says they have a glow"
"Oh, please" Mamma says. "She is telepathic just as me. Happy now?" Mamma snaps. "I know I have to be careful what I tell you lest you say something to Eric I do not want him to know."
"It is still pertinent why vampires were after Judith tonight" Bill interrupts in the nitch of time.
"The other one is called Devon." I say. Bill looks at me asking my permission. I take my tablet out of my bag mechanically. "I picked it out of the other vampires head." I say.
"She can read vampire minds?" Pam says.
"Yes, I know what you are thinking" I say, too bored to be cryptic anymore.
She seemed a bit curious, maybe more scared than curious. What exactly did that mean? Should I be frightened of that look?
She laughs.
"Oh, I cannot wait to tell Eric" she says. "Oh my. I can imagine her in a room with you and Eric" she says to Mamma and starts giggling, then full out laughing. Bill is at the computer and ignores her. However, if looks could kill the undead, Pam would be six feet under from my mother's leer.
"I do not find that a bit amusing" she says. Ouch.
"Found it" Bill says a bit less inclined to interrupt, but does so anyways.
"Devon West. 326. Is this the man?" Bill turns the screen for me to see a picture.
"Yes, that is him." I say. "I lied fluently with him and got out of my job fast." I inform.
"Smart girl" Bill compliments me.
"I guess" I say. Delia chooses that moment to release a big yawn. Without realizing it, I catch it too.
"You must be tired, and you two have classes tomorrow" Mamma says to us. She is considering asking us to go rest, but reconsiders.
"Honey, anything else you want to eat?" Mamma offers me, I shake my head, the veggie filled pizza with sausage and pepperoni was more than enough for me.
"Why were they targeting her?" Delia asks. I wonder that myself.
"Dunno" I said.
"That is a good question." Pam points out. "Maybe it has something to do with this one hiding here." She points with her eyebrow again.
"I am not hiding" he replies from behind my computer. He is still looking for something.
"Maybe somebody heard about me…" Mamma starts, but did not finish her train of thought. I manage to keep out.
"Maybe they are looking for Sam, thinking he is missing or hiding instead of dead. They want him to come out. Makes sense that some shifters would ask the vampires for help, so as to throw you of their backs." Bill says. It sounds twisted and complicated, but plausible.
"Are there many shifters here?" I ask.
"I am aware of two different were packs in Washington," Mamma shares. "The deer pack and the bear pack." She says. "They have their issues between themselves, but have mostly let Sam be." She says.
"Shifters, however, are a different topic" she explains. We are all playing close attention. Even Pam.
"Pam, there's blood in the kitchen" Mamma says, she takes her cue and leaves. She does not want her to know.
"Sam was given away at birth, his foster parents did not understand him. He never met his real parents, and the general population of shifters has never said they know anything about it. Maybe he is one of those rare shifters that are produced by humans, he never really knew, and that is why he never felt that he is part of the shifters, never associating with them directly unless necessary" she shares. "Hmm. If they think that he is up to something, they would be discreet about targeting his family." She says.
"So, you're saying that Dad's own people are turning against him because he is missing?" Delia says.
"If they think that he is hiding from them, they are trying different measures to bring him out" I say. Mamma nods her head.
"I am surprised they did not come after me" she shares.
"Good news is that you are okay, Judith." Bill says. I have to agree.
"What will we do?" Delia asks.
"There's not much we can do without arising suspicion." Mamma says with her heart in her mouth.
"So?" I ask.
"Do us a favor," Bill says to Delia and me. "Stick together, you have an advantage if you are together rather than if you are alone." Bill asks. I agree, and nod my head as Delia thinks about it for a second.
"I'll do anything to make sure nothing happens to her" she says. I smile.
"Good" Bill says looking at us with a small smile. "I cannot be there for you always, even though I wish I could" he says. He means it too.
"Can I come in now?" Pam asks.
"Yeah" Mamma calls to her. Bill picks up the computer that he had set aside.
"Was any of these the one that you killed?" Bill asked her.
"Yes, the fourth one in the first column." That was him all right. "William Quills" she said.
"Sounds European," I say.
"Says here that he is from 1700s Scotland" Pam says.
"Wow" I say. "That's old" I say.
"He is not nearly as old as I am" Pam says.
"How old are you?" Delia asks her.
"Adele!" Mamma scorns her, I had no idea asking a vampire his or her age was impolite.
"Sorry, didn't know I should not ask that" she said honestly.
"I am roughly 400, though I still keep the good looks from when I was nineteen." She says with a furtive smile. Mamma definitely knew the story here, but neither was going to share much else.
"You could probably go to the prom and pass a student" Delia says jokingly. I don't think she appreciated nor understood the joke. But I felt weird with that remark. My heart definitely was accelerating, because when Delia said that my mind went to Lyn.
"Sweetie, are you okay?" Bill is right beside me, I guess he notices my change in heartbeat or something. I nod.
"What's up with you?" Delia asks me. I consider telling her what happened with Lyn in the morning but that would lead to me wanting to make her blush, and then to the lunch… I decide to keep quiet.
"Nothing," I lie. Bill says nothing, but Pam arches an eyebrow.
"I should go study" I say, taking the computer that Bill is offering me. I give him a tiny smile followed by a yawn.
"Me too" Delia says. Mamma allows us to go, and then starts a conversation about how concerned she is about us with Bill and Pam.
"They do know how to take her of themselves, how Judith handled events today proves that." Bill says.
"I don't know about the older one, though" Pam says. Delia rolls her eyes and growls at that. If Pam hears, she ignores it. Mamma is pulling at her hair, unaware that we are both still listening in.
"I need a drink" she says, then gets up, with the other two following to the kitchen.
"You should not eavesdrop." Bill tells Pam.
"Well, since I was not in the same room, I do not need to tell Eric." She says, "When I snoop the information is mine alone. Sookie knows that." She says. Bill huffs, but enters the kitchen behind her.
"What was that?" Delia asks. I shrug "When Bill asked you again if you were okay, I sensed the change too." She tells me. I decide against my better judgment to tell her.
"This morning Lyn came by to say something about the prom. I asked her if it was okay to bring a vampire, jokingly" Okay… that was mostly true.
"That's it? You asked Lyn a question and the reference to it made you skip a beat?" Delia asks. I nod, unwilling to explain further.
"O-kay" she says. I have to change the subject deliberately.
"It made quite an effect on the class" I make up.
"Oh, will you show me a picture of Ethan?" I ask. She looks at me knowing that I am changing the subject, but gives in no later than five seconds, because she really likes him. I smile. I win.
"Fine, come" she tells me to go to her room and I follow. She shows me a picture of a guy with wiry brown hair, a nice smile, rugged arms and a large nose. His eyes are so brown they are almost black, and he has a bit of facial hair.
"Nice" I lie. What exactly did she see in him? "How old is he?" I ask politely.
"Nineteen" she says. I raise an eyebrow. "Yeah, three years older than me, so what?" she says.
"I did not say anything about his age" It is his ugliness that I am uncomfortable with. But then again, maybe that is what an attractive guy should look like. I just do not care.
"Then what is it?" she says. I lie again, I say that he is simply not my type, no specifics.
"Fine." She snaps and shows me her desktop instead. A backdrop of a new it band is in the background. Winter Rose I think is the name, they are heavy metal.
"I have to go study" I tell her and leave.
"Is it true that you turned down Bastian for the prom?" she asks me the second I reach the doorknob to pull her door closed behind me.
I look at her unbelieving.
"Who told you that? I ask" she cocks her head towards her computer.
"Sandra, France, Lily, Georgia, Erika." She says going through all the IMs that are currently popping like crazy on her screen.
"Ugh, its widespread." I groan.
"Yes, so you better tell me." She asks.
"I did. Because I already had a date" I inform her.
"Ooh… Who?" she asks.
"None of your business." I tell her with a smile.
"Its not almost gay Dave, right?" I laugh.
"Off course not. He's gay." I say.
"Who then?" I say nothing.
"It's a secret. And I also have a date this Saturday, so I imagine it will have to be someplace where we can be together but apart so we actually listen to Bill's advice" I say.
"Sure, we could go to the mall and the movies. You can hear me thinking and I can smell you." She says with a laugh. I agree.
"Sounds good" I say and then pull the door closed.
I sigh when I am on the other side. How will I tell her about Lyn? How will I ask Lyn in the first place? She'll say that it's too public.
I decide to write to her.
Okay, i wrote a bit about Lyn and Judy, which is mostly fun but will not obscure when the real action starts. Do i publish that or mark it as a spin off and go directly to the more exciting bits, which i have to write, so it would take some more time. Anyways, please drop me a line so I can improve. I have tests, so give me a weeks grace for next update, i promise during the holidays i will post less sparodically and more consistently.