Bella walked into Merlotte's the next day, to see a pretty blonde in pigtails talking to a redhead making Bloody Mary's. Then she looked over and noticed Sam as he put in his two cents to the conversation.
"Ok, that place was kinda freaky, but how are you ever gonna know until you go and see for yourself?" the blonde said defensively.
"Hey, I said my piece yesterday," he replied.
"Well, I'm sorry it didn't turn out like you'd hoped, but better it happens now than before you end up hurt, or dead," the redhead said, pushing some kind of a point home.
Sam sighed before looking up sharply, noticing Bella.
"Bella," he said, coming around the counter of the bar and guiding me to the two other waitresses.
"Bella, this is Arlene and Sookie," he motioned to the girls in turn. "Arlene, Sookie, this is our new line cook, Bella."
"Nice to meet you," Arlene said. But Sookie looked at her with suspicion.
"Didn't I see you last night at Fangtasia?" she asked. Sam and Arlene looked startled. Bella tilted her head to the side.
"How do I know who you saw last night. Only you know what you saw," Bella countered.
Sam chuckled. "To answer bluntly, yes, I was there. I was getting things for my new place, thought to stop in and check out any local threats."
"Local? All of those vampires were from Shreveport," Sookie said.
"Funny, I thought I saw you with a vampire from this area. My mistake," Bella said.
"Bill is not a threat!" Sookie defended strongly. Bella looked at the girl hard.
"He is a vampire. A predator. We are his natural prey. Just because he can drink his equivalent of tomato juice from a bottle doesn't mean he is a vegetarian. You put a steak, or a nice juicy pretty young thing in front of him, he will bite. Literally. Just remember that." Bella then turned to Sam.
"I came to start the paperwork and get my uniform," she said to him. "Hopefully work out some kind of a schedule."
"Of course," Sam said, stepping aside and leading her to his back office. Once there, he had her sit at his desk and fired up a laptop. He started pulling up tabs when he decided to talk.
"I want to thank you for what you said to Sookie. I don't mind if she hangs out with whoever or whatever, but she needs to know the risk. No matter how many times I try to tell her, she seems determined to think that all I want to do is get into her pants. When really, I just want her to be safe," he tells her. "Be informed."
"I get that. But sometimes, the only way for a person to learn is through experience, and she can be a very harsh teacher," Bella tells him. "I just don't like the fact that she reminds me so much of me just a few years ago."
Sam looks at her in surprise. Bella chuckled. "You've hung around vampires?" he asked her.
Bella held up the arm that had James's bite mark on it, and tilted it to show in the light. Sam took it, and felt it. "How are you still alive?" He asked. "No one who has been bitten by a day walker has ever stayed human to tell the tale."
"You know there are different species of vampire?" she asked. Sam nodded. "I dated one in high school. Paid a high price for it. Sacrificed for it. Figuratively lost my family for it. That's how I ended up here. I originally just wanted to find a place that felt like home. At the time, it was Bon Tempes."
"At the time?"
"I was close. I felt at home more in Shreveport. It was only because I signed a lease with you that I stayed."
Sam chuckled. "That's a relief. Wouldn't want to get things messy because of a broken contract. Well, everything is done online. Just put in everything and I'll file with the IRS and whatnot. When you are done, I'll introduce you to the rest of the kitchen staff. Just come find me out front."
Bella nodded. "Will do, Sam." Before turning to the screen.
The paperwork didn't take long to work through. Mostly just Uncle Sam and the IRS holding her accountable. Once she was done, she again hunted down Sam, and he lead her into the kitchen where she introduced her to the other two cooks.
"This here is Big John. His fries are to die for, but he won't sell me the recipe, so I did the next best thing and hired him," Sam said to her with a friendly smile.
"Nice to meet you," Bella said, nodding in the man's direction when he gave her a once over and a wave.
"And the one at the grill is Lafyette. The hottest personality this far south. Guys, this is Bella. She's going to be helping the two of you out for now," Sam informed them.
"Nice to meet you, sugar. Where did a purdy little thing like you come from?" Lafyette asked her.
Bella pursed her lips. "North. Thanks to our new vampire friends, I lost what little blood family I had. Decided to come south and find friendlier climes." Bella, while not opposed to sharing her story, wasn't going to do it to complete strangers right off the bat.
Lafyette got a sad, sympathetic look in his eyes. "I'm sorry, baby. You need anything, you just let me know. We all be family around here."
"There is one other member of the kitchen staff, but he had a meeting at the VA. You can meet him later," Sam told her.
Bella smiled at him and nodded. Lafyette then turned to Sam. "You going to this shindig at the church Sookie's gran is putting on?" he asked him. Sam nodded.
"I'm taking Sookie. The new vampire in town has taken an interest in her, and I just want to know that she'll be safe."
"What's going on at the church tonight?" Bella asked.
"Our new resident vampire, Mr. Bill Compton, is giving a talk on his time in the Great War for the Decendents of the Glorious Dead. A local group made up of family who had members in the confederacy," Sam explained.
"Hmmm. I wonder if he'll know a friend of mine," she muses.
"Why would he?" Lafyette asked her.
Bella turned to him. "This isn't my first rodeo with a member of our new/old Homo Chiropter class. And my friend also served in the confederacy. You know his rank?"
"I believe Sookie told me he was a Lieutenant." Bella got a mischievous grin on her face.
"I saw his royal moodiness in Shreveport last night. The idiot allowed Sookie into Fangtasia looking like vamp bait. Want me to get a little revenge for you?"
o0o o0o o0o
Bella was sitting in a far back pew waiting for this silliness to start. She chuckled, watching Mrs. Fortenberry trying to take down the crucifix. Then turned to look into a darkened corner where none other than Jasper Witlock was sitting. He too had a smirk on his face. The tribe had had their doubts about her keeping in touch with any of the Cullen family, but once Bella had seen his red eyes, she knew that he had broken with the family, and was now, once more, living as a nomad in the south with his venom siblings. They kept in touch mostly by phone, but once she told him what she wanted him for, he came in no time. It was her luck he was on the Louisiana side of Texas and not the New Mexico side. Would have taken him just about the end of this gathering to get here. She loved her adoptive brother and occasional protector.
She turned her attention back to the front when she herd a kindly elderly woman welcome everyone.
"It certainly is a pleasure to see so many new faces here this month. But Mayor Norris assures me that there will be enough ambrosia and tipsy cake for everyone." Adele Stackhouse says to the assembly. "Now, our guest tonight, is a gentleman who, despite what you might have heard, is one of us. His family was among the first to settle in Bon Temps, and he bravely fought for Louisiana, in the war for Southern independence. Let us welcome one of the original sons of Bon Temps back to the town that he helped build. I give you First Lieutenant, William Thomas Compton."
A door to the side of the pulpit opened and out stepped Sir Moods a Lot to a smattering of applause.
"Thank you, Mrs. Stackhouse," he said when he reached the podium. "If you'll pardon me for a moment." He then turned and pulled the American Flag that Mrs. Fortenberry had placed over the crucifix and rehung it on his stand. "As a patriot of this great nation, I wouldn't dream of putting myself before Old Glory," he said magnanimously. Bella scoffed. Not at his principle. Jasper was the same. It was the show of him doing it. Like he wanted to look like anything but a bloodthirsty killer. Which he was.
"As you can see, I did not burst into flames. We vampires are not minions of the devil. We can stand before a cross, or a bible, or in a church, just as readily as any other creature of God. I am honored to stand before you tonight. Vampires have traditionally been very private, perhaps to our detriment. But I believe, if we reach out to one another, that we can coexist, and even thrive together."
Bella thought that whole spiel was pointless, but held her peace for the moment.
"I served in the 28th Louisiana infantry. Formed in Monroe in 1862, under Colonel Henry Gray. It was there that we learned the value of human life, and the ease with which it can be extinguished."
Her attention was drawn to the Sheriff and his deputy as they talked about Terry. She followed their sight line to a thirty something man on her side just a few rows up, looking like he was wrestling with a few newer demons of his own. It was then drawn to Arlene and her family and she had to hold a loud gaffaw at the conversation she was having with her son.
"Mama, he's so white," the little one said.
"No, darlin'. We're white. He's dead." Bella did hear Jasper though.
"…But goin' to war was not a choice for us. We believed to a man, that we had a calling to fulfill. A destiny handed down to us from above. God forbid should any of our men become wounded or injured. Often the only recourse for a serious injury was amputation. More times than I care to remember, I had to hold down one of my fellow soldiers while the medic took a saw to his arm or leg. We had no anesthesia at the time. Apart from a bit of whiskey. It often seemed that the man bein' operated upon suffered more from his surgery than did from his original wound. Even if he survived the amputation, the chance of subsequent infection was high."
Bella yawned. This man loved his own voice. But the yawn turned into a choked off cough when she smelled the garlic. To his credit, Compton kept going.
"In the winter months, the nights could grow bitter cold…" She couldn't help it. The longer he spoke, the more she tuned him out. She felt a burst of energy and amusement. And sent back thanks tinged with the boredom that drove her to lethargy in the first place.
"My great grandfather was in the 28th. I wonder if you might have known him. His name was Tolliver Humphries," and elderly man asked Compton.
"Tolliver Humphries? Yes. I knew him very well. We fought together. Tolliver Humphries was my friend. He was a brave man, perhaps to a fault. I dare say, it contributed to his death." Bella was in a state of disbelief. Insensitive prick.
"What happened? Were you there?" The man asked.
"I was. We were about 20 miles of where I stand now. The Federal outnumbered us 5-to-1, and they had better fire power as well. We'd spent much of the afternoon recovering the bodies of those we'd lost. There was a boy in our troupe, no more than 13 or 14. Who lay wounded in the middle of a field under poor cover. He called to us all day. He begged us to help him. He knew he would die if we didn't. I admit I considered shootin' the boy myself just to shut him up. But Tolliver convinced me that would be an act of murder not war. He told me god wanted him to rescue that boy. I pleaded with him not to go. To think of his own wife and children back home. He ran into that field like it was a cool spring day. They shot him just as he reached the boy. It was obvious to us that he was beyond help. And then, after a while, the boy started screaming again." There was silence as Compton finished his story.
"What happened to the boy?" asked Mrs. Fortenberry.
"He lived. He survived they day and then under cover of darkness, we retrieved him later that night, along with the body of Tolliver Humphries. But it seems that Tolliver was right. God did look after his descendants."
A hand raised in the front. "Yes, Mayor Norris."
Another elder stood. "I've been digging in the archives this week, and I found this old tintype. The inscription on the back says, 'Mr. W.T. Compton and family.' Can you tell us if this is a picture of you?"
Compton was trembling as he took the tintype from the mayor, and she could actually see tears in his eyes. "This, um—this is a remarkable photograph. I remembered the day we gathered to have this taken."
"When was the last time that you were with them?" Mrs. Fortenberry asked.
"When I- I went to war in 1862. I- My human life ended before I had a chance to come back home," he said, looking back down at his family.
"But you became a- a vampire after that, right? Couldn't you go back to your family then?" Arlene's boyfriend asked.
"No," Compton said shortly. "No, that wouldn't have been possible." He shut the tintype and pulled out a handkerchief. "I apologize," he said, wiping his eyes. "This is not a subject I'm very comfortable speaking about. Uh- But thank you for the photograph, mayor. It brings back many memories for me.
"Any other questions?" he asked the assembly. Bella stood.
"Mr. Compton," she said levely. "In your time as a soldier, you ever cross paths with regiments from Texas?" she asked.
"I did once. A detachment relocating evacuees from Galveston. The regiment was led by a remarkably young Major. Younger than myself. I had heard he had deserted not long after our meeting," Compton said.
"Well wouldn't you know it? He remembers you Jazz. May want to update him on his facts though," she said, and the congregation gasped as Jasper stepped out of the shadows.
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you the youngest Major in the Texas cavalry ever, Major Jasper Carter Whitlock. Born 1844 in Houston Texas. Changed just outside of Galveston in 1863." Bella watched Compton, and she had to admit, watching a dead man pale was interesting. If she didn't know better she would have thought he was turning to literal ash.
Jasper tipped his head to Compton. "Lieutenant. Good to see you again when you're not covered in blood." Jasper left it out there, letting the congregation think he was talking about the war, when really, Jasper had actually crossed paths with Compton and his maker once before. They thought they could take out Maria and her army just the two of them. Jasper set them straight and running with some new interesting scars.
Jasper draped his arm around Bella. "Mrs. Stackhouse, I apologize for crashing your assembly. Bella mentioned this was a gathering of those who wished to hear of the war. I thought having two opinions, two stories may interest the crowd. Don't worry, I don't plan on staying. I have to meet up with my brother and his wife by tomorrow afternoon in Austin, but I couldn't pass up seeing my youngest sister and give her hell. Been too long," he said to the kindly woman as he ruffled Bella's hair.
"Bite me, Whitlock. Last time I saw you, I remember Rose and Emmett holding you back from pummeling Edweird for pushing me into a glass filled table. Carlisle gave me seven stitches for that stunt."
"That's quite all right, young man. I'm sure we all would also like to hear your story," Mrs. Stackhouse said, interrupting them. Bella really did like the woman. She was sharp, but she still couldn't understand how she could raise such a ditz like Sookie. Must have been her parents' influence.
"Well, ma'am, sorry Compton, but my name is Jasper Whitlock. As Bella told you, I was the youngest Major in the Texas cavalry. And I was turned after the evacuation Galveston. I was 19. I continued to fight though when I could. Until I found out the South had lost. But that time was so hectic with the wars, and I can still hear the crying in every house I passed at night for years after."
"I am so sorry, young man. Please, feel free to stay as long as you can. I'm sure there are those who would love to pic your brain and Mr. Compton's after this meeting," Adele tells him. Jasper nodded and hugged Bella tighter.
The gathering after was interesting. Bella watched as Terry hugged both Compton and Jasper, snickering at her adoptive brother's discomfort then understanding. Then laughed when Mrs. Fortenberry asked for a photo. But she couldn't help feel a seriously malevolent aura around. Jasper was standing rigidly straight, so she knew he felt it too.
"Bella, I don't like the feeling I'm getting from someone in this room. I can't pinpoint it. The emotion keeps shifting. Anger, lust, hatred. I want you to watch yourself, you hear me?" he asked her.
Bella nodded. "I will, J. I promise."
o0o o0o o0o
Bella was working in the kitchen, her first day, and it was a rush after the meeting. Jasper had left with a hug and another warning to be careful. Lafyette had been mooning after him ever since, pumping a laughing Bella for information on him. Maybe she should introduce them. Hell, she didn't know if Jasper did or would swing that way, but there was no harm in seeing how the wind blew.
Arlene came up to the window, and dropped off a meal they had just sent out.
"Is there a problem with my burger?" Lafyette asked.
"Just a couple of drunk rednecks, that's all," she replies.
"Well, what's their problem?"
"Oh, come on, now. It's not worth it." Arlene dodged.
"What did they say?" he asked, going right up to her, as Bella took over the grill.
"He said the burger—" she said slowly, trying to think of a sensitive way to put something by the looks of it.
"What did they say, Arlene?"
"He said the burger might have AIDS."
Bella knew it would be a showdown when Lafyette took off his earrings. It'll always be a showdown when a Queen took out their jewelry. Arlene looked flustered, but that didn't stop him as he took the burger and went out to the table that sent it back.
"Excuse me," Lafyette said politely. "Who ordered the hamburger, with AIDS?" He set the plate down on the table. The idiots at the table started snickering.
"I ordered the hamburger deluxe," what seemed to be the head idiot replied.
"In this restaurant, a hamburger deluxe comes with French fries, lettuce, tomato, mayo, AND AIDS! Do anybody got a problem with that?" Lafyette called to the patrons.
"Yeah. I'm an American. And I got a say in who makes my food," head idiot said, trying to appear tough.
"Well, baby, it's too late for that. Faggots been breeding your cows, raising your chickens, even brewing your beer long before I walked my sexy ass up in this motherfucker. Everything on your goddamn table got AIDS."
"You still ain't makin' me eat no AIDS burger."
"Well, all you gotta do is say 'hold the AIDS.' Here," he said, picking up the top of the bun and licking it. "Eat it." He then shoved the bun into the idiot's face before proceeding to bitch slap everyone at the table.
"Bitch, you come in my house, you gonna eat my food the way I fucking make it! Do you understand me?!" Lafyette then tipped the plate into the now scarred man's lap. "Tip your waitress." He gave Jason a high five on his way out, and Bella was applauding from the kitchen.
The rest of the night was quiet. As far as drama in a small town anyway. She had made it to her apartment after her shift, a little tired out, and found a familiar figure waiting for her at her door.
"You just couldn't wait until I came to you, you had to hunt my down?" she asked him.
"What can I say, Miss. Swan. You leave quite the impression," Eric Northman said as he met her just before she made it to her door.
"What impression would that be?"
"I don't know yet. I was wondering if I could take you up on your offer to buy you a drink?" he asked. Bella thought for a moment before answering him.
"Sure. Why not. It's been a busy day and night and I could use some company. Your place or mine?"
"Well that was quick, I would prefer my place," he said with a heated look in his eye. Bella had trouble swallowing for a moment as she gathered her scattered thoughts.
"Slow down there, trouble. I meant for the drink. Fangtasia it is." Eric gave a sad sigh, but nodded as he followed Bella to her car. An hour later, they were pulling into the back of Fangtasia.
"Pick your poison," he said as he rounded the bar.
"Chardonnay. I feel something like something more… just more. Been a long day." She told him.
"So you said. Care to talk about it?" Bella shook her head. "Just mindless drama. How about we play 20 questions instead? You lot are always so curious."
"Oh I have way more than 20 questions. But I suppose it's a start. We'll start easy, and go one for one. Deal?" Bella nodded.
"So, Bella. Who are you?" Bella smiled.
"Isabella Marie Swan. 21. Previously of Forks, Washington and Phoenix, Arizona. My parents split when I was a kid. Lived with mom until I was 17 when I moved in with my dad. Met my first vampire in High School. Started dating said vampire. Vampire broke up with me just before the Revelation. Dad flipped his top when he learned the truth and we decided it would be best if I left. Been looking for a home ever since." She summarized. "You?"
Eric smiled at her and answered the same way she did. "Eric Northman. Sheriff of Area 5. Approximately 1100 years old. Viking. Parents killed by a rival ruler, whom I killed as honor dictated. My maker is a vampire named Godric. He is currently the Sheriff of Area 9. Texas. I have one progeny, Pam. I bought my home in Sweden and the land surrounding it. But I moved around to avoid suspicion. Why can't you be glamoured?" He followed up.
"Remember that vampire I dated. Turns out I was glamoured into it because he couldn't read my mind. Through a series of events we broke up and he and his family left, even though I still talk to one member. I was going through withdrawal when the local tribe, a tribe of shifters, understood what was happening. Through another series of events and rituals, I was disenchanted as they put it. I got a nifty tattoo," she pulled up her shirt and turned for him to see, before lowering it and continuing, "and immune ever since. Why aren't you with your maker?"
"Godric wished to be alone. In truth, he has slowly cut off our connection over the past twenty years or so," he said sadly. Bella could tell there was a deep love for his maker there. She took his hand, which he allowed, but she didn't say anything. She didn't completely understand, so what could she say? Nothing. She just offered him her support. The moment was interrupted by her cell phone going off.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Bella, where are you," she heard Sam ask.
"Out with a friend. Why? Is everything all right?"
"No. No, everything is fucking awful. I'm making sure all of my people are all right, because Sookie just got home and found her grandmother brutally murdered." He tells her. Bella's eyes widened and Eric stood, still holding her hand as she followed.
"Does it look like the same guy as the other two?"
"It's possible, but he must've been pissed to high heaven when he killed her, because with Maudette and Dawn they were strangled. Adele was repeatedly stabbed." Same informed her.
"I'm on my way back. Keep me posted." She told him before hanging up. "There's been another murder. I'll fill you in as we get there."
A/N 5/8: Golly, that is a longer chapter. Let me know if Jasper should pop up more or if this should be his one and only appearance. Or if y'all would like him paired with Lafyette or not. I hope y'all like this chapter. It's been a really rough weekend and I needed to do something to keep myself calm. This site is an escape from reality that I need every once in a while. Thank you for being there. ~Angel
