Chapter 1
I was taking a drink order from Andy Bellefleur when I realized that Bill had walked into the bar. It had been just over three months since Felipe de Castro had forcefully taken control of Louisiana, and I was, basically, no worse for the wear. Since the coup I hadn't heard from the vamps, and that was a good thing in my book. Bill sat in my section, so, the whole "no vamp contact" thing was officially going to be over. Oh well, I guess I had made a pretty good run of it staying out of touch with the undead for as long as three months.
"Sookie, are you even listening?" Andy asked. I had let my mind wonder, but his tone was far angrier than my spacing out should have warranted. I took his drink order, and as I walked back to deliver his 'cola - no ice, not one damn piece of it' I let myself dip into his mind.
*What the hell kind of person does that? Ripping flesh from a body with their bare teeth. I never seen anything so horrible in my whole life.*
An image flashed into my mind. I gasped and dropped Andy's iceless cola right into his lap.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, let me grab a towel for you," I said, snapping back to reality. I ran to the bar, then dropped a towel off at the booth. As I turned to leave Andy grabbed my wrist.
"Sookie, is it safe to say that you are now aware of the fact that we've found a body?" he whispered.
I nodded, and he motioned for me to take a seat. That is one thing I do appreciate about Andy, though it doesn't much make up for his other, less-desirable, qualities. He may be a jerk, but he believes in my ability.
"I was wanting to talk to you about this anyway," he said. "I've never seen anything like it. It looks like he was, well... eaten. You know any vampires that do that kind of thing?"
"Andy Bellefleur, don't you even think for a minute that a vampire did this. They're vampires, and this is not a zombie movie. Every time someone ends up dead around here ya'll want to throw a vamp under the bus. If I am remembering correctly all of our murderers have been human," I snapped.
"I know, I know. Are there any... other... things that come to mind? I just can't imagine a person doing this."
Andy knew that vamps were only the tip of the supernatural iceberg, and he knew that I knew about other things that 'went bump in the night'.
"Not that I can think of, but I will let you know if I hear anything." I made a mental note to put calls in to Alcide and Calvin Norris. Hopefully they wouldn't be offended if I asked whether or not it seemed like something a Were could have done. And with that, I left his booth and did a quick scan of my tables. Bill was the only new customer in my section. I was looking for a reason to further delay speaking to him, but all my other customers seemed fine, so, I plastered on my smile and walked to his table.
"What can I get you?"
"Sookie, you look well." Realizing that I wasn't interested in small talk he said, "A bottle of O, please."
I nodded and turned on my heels back to the bar, relaying the request to Sam.
"You two talking again?" Sam questioned as he put the bottle in the microwave.
"Well, I'm not sure just how that is any of your business, but, no," I softly scolded.
Sam smiled and handed me the bottle.
"Here you go, enjoy," I said, dropping the bottle off in front of Bill. I was hoping to keep things short, but he wasn't going to let that happen.
"Sookie, I've been sent to speak with you. When can we talk?"
Great. Not only was my vamp-free streak over, but Bill had been 'sent' to speak with me. That could only mean trouble.
"I get off in two hours. You can meet me at my house."
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As I pulled up to my house and turned off the engine, I did a scan of the area. I detected a void, undoubtedly Bill, and nothing else. Amelia and Octavia must still be at one of their super-secret witch meetings. I sighed, braced myself for the bad news I was sure Bill would be delivering, and walked to the front porch.
"Come on in," I said with mock enthusiasm to Bill, who was sitting on the porch. "I'm going to change first, feel free to grab a drink."
I pulled on some more comfortable clothing, washed my face, brushed my hair, and realized that I was making sure I looked good. For vampire Bill. What was that about?
Normally I would have purposely disheveled myself at such a realization, but after all I had been through, I was starting to realize that my stubbornness was not my best quality. In truth, I could quite often be downright childish. If I was subconsciously wanting to make sure I looked good, maybe that was for the best.
I left my room and joined Bill on the sofa in the living room. "So, whats the deal? More witches to battle, maybe another hostile take over to deal with?"
He gave a small smile, but his expression quickly turned serious. "Sookie, I'm afraid I have bad news. Barry has been murdered. He was visiting Fangtasia on behalf of a sheriff he has been working for in Nevada, and about an hour after he left the bar two nights ago he was attacked."
I sat in disbelief. Barry the bellboy was dead. The only other practicing telepath I knew had been murdered. That sure bodes well for me. | |  Leave a review or comment on my story by clicking "Start Thread" below. | |
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