Disclaimer: all characters in the Southern Vampire series belong to Charlaine Harris, unfortunately.
SPOILERS FOR ALL BOOKS - including 1st. chapter of book 9.
Beta-reader: Lividity, for grammar and spelling (thank you so much, dear, for your patience and kindness).
This fanfic is being written from different POV (point of views), from almost all the characters.
Prologue
All her concentration was focused on one thing only: to bring air into her lungs. As well as her hands and feet, her mouth was tightly wrapped with duct tape, and this place where they left her reeked of humidity, dust and heavy magic. For the past few minutes, Sookie thought her nasal passages would be obstructed and she would not be able to breath. She tried to relax, she knew she had to, in order to live. Amelia once told her about a story she read in a magazine. It was about this woman who was kept alive inside a very small cell, and how she managed to keep her sanity thinking about the good things that happened in her life until then.
Thinking about what had just happened, and what might happen in the future was no help. And it wasn’t easy to think about good things when all your body hurt like hell. Sookie began to breath very slowly, trying to avoid the fear and the urge to cry.
Good things of the past. She couldn’t find many among her memories. Somehow all of them were mixed with disappointment or sadness. Moving her body a little, feeling all the pain as it was punishment for her stubbornness, she began to recall the moments with her grandmother, Adele. It was hard not to think about her death or how much she missed her, but she managed to remember some sunny mornings, the hugs and tenderness, her smiles and the love she gave her when she was ill, sleeping by her side and comforting her, like a mother would do. Little by little, Sookie felt like she was going to another dimension, to a place where no one could hurt her very deeply. The smell of magic was becoming fainter, weak, and she could sense some other smells, from her imagination.
Suddenly, a strong image appeared in her mind. She didn’t try to avoid it…
Bill Compton. The man, or better, the vampire, that changed her life so drastically. The memories that came after the first image were so sweet, and despite the pain, that pain that always came when she thought of him, she let them flow. Sure, he had lied to her, and hurt her, but that didn’t matter anymore, not now, because somehow through the physical and mental pain she was under, she could separate the moments that were pure love. If she could, she would smile. His eyes, his words, his intensity, he was dominating her mind completely and, though still aware of the tragedy she was living right now, she could breath easier, and within a short time, she fell asleep, forgetting the pain and the despair.
Chapter 1
That night at Merlotte’s was awful. Without Arlene and Sam, the place didn’t look the same, and all the customers were in a frenzied mood. Some were really angry while others were just afraid of what more supernatural beings existed out there and were still hiding. They all drank a lot to forget the past events, but drinking only brought more anger and more fear, she thought, while opening the door.
Amelia had left a note on the refrigerator. “Will sleep at Tray’s tonight. There is some ice-cream and cake inside!”
Sookie smiled while she opened the refrigerator door and took out some fresh orange juice. How Amelia could jump from one relationship to another, always full of vivacity and always expecting the best, was beyond her understanding. Maybe that was her secret, she never expected too much, therefore she was never too disappointed.
She sighed. It had been a while since she had a boyfriend or someone to care about her. Not that she was in the “mood” to date anyone, and there were not a lot of options out there. After all, being a telepath had its inconveniences. Being able to read thoughts had narrowed her love life, even after she began to feel more confident in blocking those thoughts. Sometimes it was inevitable: and painful, or embarrassing, or both. So, if the guy was not a vamp or a “were”, there weren’t many chances the relationship would last more than a few minutes.
The wereanimals in particular, at this moment, were having many problems everywhere, and the best choice was to keep a little distance from them. Sookie was really worried about Sam, her boss and one of her best friends. But tonight she would not think about it, she had to rest and forget about all the craziness of the past days.
Octavia have been watching all the news and reports on TV, as well as reading all the papers, trying to learn as much as she could about the “revolution of the supernatural,” as some people were calling it. Sookie, on the other hand, was too tired and a bit frightened of all the repercussions the revelation of the weres caused. When vampires came out some years ago, she wasn’t part of it. She laughed, she was curious, but now it was a completely different thing. Reading about the atrocious opinions people all over the world had about her friends left her more than apprehensive. She was really afraid of what might happen to all those that, a bit like her, were born with a “disability”.
Losing her appetite, she went to her bedroom without eating, thinking about how lonely and sad she would feel tonight. Automatically, she thought of the 1000 years old Viking that should have already at least explained why he disappeared all of a sudden, not to mention the whole explanation about his memory coming back; an explanation that was taking ages for him to give her. Shaking her head, she thought of the promise she made, to keep away from trouble and, specially, from vampires, until absolutely necessary. She didn’t know what she really felt for Eric, and ever since she found out about her great-grandfather being a fairy and her cousin’s son, Hunter, being a telepath just like her, she thought she had too much to think about.
After a shower, she put on a long sleeved t-shirt and pajamas pants, brushed her teeth and went to the living room to catch the mystery book she forgot somewhere, when she heard a noise outside. Her senses were heightened. She didn’t know what to do. Should she call Bill? He lived so nearby… maybe it wasn’t anything, she thought. Approaching the door, trying not to make any sound, she could feel some people were outside. Two vamps and a human, or at least a part-human, because the thoughts she was getting from the non-vamp were very, very strange.
When the doorbell rang, her heart began to beat faster.
“Sookie, it’s me, open the door.” Bill’s voice was thick and cold.
What was so important that Bill didn’t have the time to pick up the phone and call her? How could she meet people dressed like this? Why did Bill sound so imperative, as if this was an important matter?
Impulsively, she opened the door. She first looked at Bill, and, as always, she felt a little nervous. Beside Bill, there was a handsome vampire who looked to be thirty-five or older, with blond short hair and brown eyes. With him, hanging a bit behind them, there was a young woman, maybe in her mid-twenties. Her hair was light auburn, slightly red, and her face was as white as if she were a vamp. Sookie couldn’t see the color of her eyes since she kept them low. They both were dressed casual but their clothes looked expensive. Bill was looking a bit too serious, more so than usual.
“This is George Miller,” said Bill. “He wants to ask you some questions, but I explained him that it would be better if we meet at my place, since you have guests.”
His eyes were telling her something, and she knew what. That was an excuse he gave to the other vampire. Bill didn’t want him inside her house but somehow he trusted this George enough to let him talk to her.
“Well,” she said. “We could get out and have dinner somewhere. I know of some places…”
George smiled. He had a beautiful smile, and he knew it.
“The subject is a little delicate, Miss. And top secret,” he replied, with a voice so suave and pleasant that it scared Sookie. This was no common vampire. He knew how to act among humans, knew what they expected of him, and how to pretend to be one of them. His companion, on the other hand, seemed shy and confused, as if she wanted to go away and avoid this conversation.
“Ok, I will get ready in a few minutes and see you there”.
Bill seemed relieved when George agreed with his head, making a slow movement away from the door.
“We will be waiting at Bill’s, Miss Stackhouse. It will be a pleasure to talk to you,” said the blond vampire, smiling again.
He sure was charming…
At this moment, her eyes met the young woman’s golden eyes. All of a sudden, Sookie felt a little dizzy. Her mind was being invaded by what seemed were hundreds or thousands of images, not hers, and not related to her, but somehow connected to them all. Bill noticed this, and quickly said,“I apologize, I forgot to introduce George’s friend to you. Marcelle, this is Sookie. Sookie, this is Marcelle Delauney.”
Was it just her imagination or did Bill’s voice sound a little angry?
Marcelle nodded, looking down again. Sookie was relieved that they didn’t shake hands. Maybe she would faint if she touched that woman.She was trembling a little while she closed the door, after watching the three of them walk towards Bill’s house. She wanted to escape, to go back in time, but it was too late. She had agreed to go to Bill’s to meet these strange people. And why would she do it? Hadn’t she just promised herself that she would keep away from trouble? And as if it was not enough to meet another vampire she didn’t know anything about, this vampire had a (“friend?” pet?” “lover?” “slave?”) that looked so frightened, and carried all these strange thoughts inside her head. Sookie was slightly curious about Marcelle, she admitted to herself.
After putting on some old jeans, a red silk shirt, red flats and an off-white coat, she left a note to Octavia, who was taking a shower, and a message on Amelia’s cell phone. Then, thinking about how stupid she could be sometimes, she left the house.
Chapter 2
It had been some time since Bill had talked to George for the last time. They were not exactly friends, but the link between them was strong enough to make them meet at least once a decade. Bill believed he could trust the younger vampire, and this meant a lot, considering who he was.
The human gal that was with him, though, made him uneasy, he thought, while offering a seat for them both. She was also incredibly attractive, unlike what he was accustomed to. Her blood wasn’t special or unusual; she was pretty but sort of ordinary looking, at least on first sight. It must be the way she walked and moved her head as if she were not there, unreachable. The way she avoided his eyes was unnerving too, but somehow that excited him. George Miller has always been very lucky with women, or at least, most of the time.
It was pure luck that he stopped these two from approaching Sookie at her house as they hadn’t been announced to the local community. He had noticed they were in a hurry, and that whatever they wanted to talk about was very important. If not for this, Bill would have thought of a way to keep them as far as possible from Sookie.
“So,” said George, “Miss Stackhouse isn’t your human anymore, Bill. I heard that now she belongs to Eric Northman… but that must be only rumors, I suppose, since Eric is not the type to be connected to a human.”
As always, when someone mentioned Sookie’s relationship with Eric, his mind froze for a moment, paralyzed. Whoever believed that vampires didn’t have emotions was a total fool.
“She…,” he tried to articulate some words. “She and I were together for a time…”
“And that’s why she risked her life to save you from Lorena, should I believe that?”
Bill couldn’t deny George’s ability, one of his many gifts, to relax him and make him more confident. He didn’t know how he did this, but he couldn’t be very angry with George, never could, at least not for long. This only meant that he had to be extra careful, especially tonight.
“What I told you about Lorena was the absolute truth.”
“I need to be sure,” said George. “As far as I know, you weren’t in good condition at the time, so your testimony is somewhat inconsistent.”
“Sookie would never lie to me.”
George sighed and turned to look at Marcelle, who was now standing, observing the house and the furniture with undisguised interest. Bill became more curious about this girl.
“In a few minutes you’ll be able to ask these questions directly to her,” continued Bill, without taking his eyes of the lady with long auburn hair.
“I hope so,” replied George, pretending to be bored. He was a master of expressing feelings the way humans did.
“Don’t forget about our deal,” Bill said, forcing himself not to look at Marcelle again.
George smiled in a malicious way. He was totally aware of the attraction Bill had towards his human lady.
“Come, dear, sit by my side,” he whispered.
The girl turned, like she was suddenly freed from a trance, and Bill could see her eyes, lovely light brown eyes, the color of honey. She immediately looked away, her face paler and her hands trembling while she sat beside George, who gave her a long kiss on the mouth.
Bill bit his lip. He was hungry. George knew exactly how to tease him. He was probably the best pupil his sire ever had, always associated with women from whom he could take advantage. George had been famous for his longtime relationship with a Hollywood actress, in a time where vampires were still hiding and still only a legend. This relationship left him very rich, and very arrogant. Bill wondered what Marcelle could offer him, apart from sex and blood. She must have an ability, the way she avoided people’s eyes. He wondered if she was a telepath, like Sookie.
Without looking away from the couple, he sensed she was coming. When the doorbell rang, George stood up quickly and within a fraction of a second he was at the door; Bill was there faster.
Sookie was looking beautiful, as always, with her pretty eyes shining, denoting she was afraid. She was a little excited. She smelled wonderful, as always. Watching her there, at his door, made him wish he could kill George and his pet, then take Sookie in his arms and have sex with her right there, in the living room.
Vampires also have daydreams.
“Well, I am here,” said she, her voice a little too high, but sounding sincere. Bill knew her well, though, and knew what that strange smile on her face meant.
He showed her a place on the couch.
“George wants to ask you some questions, and later, he will explain why, I hope,” he said, trying not to sound worried.
They sat side by side, facing his visitors. Bill was more vigilant than ever, as in his mind, Sookie was still his responsibility. George was apparently a little nervous, and Marcelle kept her eyes fixed on the floor, her hands still slightly shaking.
“I’ll try to be brief, Miss Stackhouse,” said the blond vampire.
“Sookie,” she replied.
“Excuse me?” George asked, smiling as if he was amused. Bill knew he wasn’t.
“I mean… you can call me Sookie,” she said, sounding a bit nervous. Bill resisted the wish to hug her.
The smile on George’s face was gone.
“Well, Sookie, I need to know something. I mean, this is very important. I have to be absolutely sure that it was you who killed Lorena.”
Whatever Sookie had anticipated, this wasn’t it. Bill felt her body become rigid. She was silent for a minute, as if she was deciding whether or not she should tell the truth.
“It’s ok, Sook, tell him what you know,” said Bill, slowly.
She took a long breath.
“I… It was an accident, and an accident that probably saved my life, but horrible anyway. I had this, uh, stake in my hands and she moved towards me… It was self-defense,” she explained, a little too fast.
George seemed a bit relieved. Bill, on the other hand, felt the bitterness that always followed the remembrance of this episode of his life.
“There is another favor I wish you could do for me, Sookie. This will sound weird, but I need you to think about the whole episode and let Marcelle look into your eyes.”
Bill stood up.
“She is telling the truth,” he muttered.
“I need to be sure,” said the younger vampire, sounding a bit amused, but still serious. “I wouldn’t go so far if it wasn’t absolutely necessary,” he added, gently, always diplomatic.
How did they dare treat Sookie like this in front of him? And what freaky power did this young human have? He would have to be extra careful, if that was possible.
“Bill, please sit down,” murmured Sookie, her sweet voice bringing him back to normal. He looked at George again, and as always, felt calmer. He didn’t want to cause more problems, he wanted to cooperate, especially now that everybody was behaving crazy after the were revelation. Bill also wanted the truth, their truth. He sat down, this time getting closer to Sookie.
He felt her warm hand over his. The warmth invaded his whole body, intoxicating him, making him want her more than ever. If only she knew how much control he was expending to avoid grabbing her and kissing her.
“I can do it, but first, I need to know what your friend will do to me. It’s only fair, I suppose. I can tell she is not an ordinary person.” Sookie sounded sweet, but firm.
The visitors looked worried. Or at least, they seemed to look worried, since the girl was staring pathetically at the ceiling, and George’s expressions could never be trusted.
“Very well, I will tell you everything about her ability, or better, she will tell you all about it. And after she performs her, uh, talent, I can tell you what has brought us here.” He sounded a little too dramatic.
Everybody looked at the girl, who grasped her little purse in her hands, and swallowed hard.
“I want first to apologize. At the moment I can’t look directly into anybody’s eyes. Most of the time I can.” Her voice sounded confident, despite her body language, and she was smiling a bit. Bill noticed she was very sexy when talking.
“Tonight I didn’t take any precautions on purpose, since George wanted to be completely sure he could trust you two, before we expose our problems”.There was silence, an awful silence, and he, and George of course, could hear the two human hearts beating fast. Bill was so hungry, he wondered why he didn’t drink a bottle of Tru Blood before Sookie arrived.
“Some people call me a psychic,” continued Marcelle, with her smooth voice, opening and closing her small black purse. “I have always seen things, and first I thought I could read people’s minds, but later, as I grew up and could understand it better, I realized I could see the past and the future of living people. And when I touched an object I could see some of its past.”
Sookie was making little movements beside him. Bill thought she might be really excited to meet someone with this kind of ability.“So you can see the future?” she asked.
“Sometimes, yes. Most of the time I have my mind blocked. It’s too hard, you know, when things are going to be awfully sad.”
Again, the silence. George was immobile.
“And you asked Sookie to think about what happened to Lorena, so you can see the past, and know if it’s true?” Bill said.
“Exactly,” admitted Marcelle.
“And then you two will tell us why it’s so important?”
George looked at him. The sounds of the human hearts were driving Bill crazy.
“Then I will let you have a bottle of your synthetic shit, as you look pretty hungry. After that, we can tell you what you want to know. But…”
“But what?” asked Sookie. Bill took her hand, maybe a little too hard.
“You have the right to know that after we tell you some facts, you will be risking your life.”
“Risking our lives?” asked Sookie, apparently not very amused with this idea.
Marcelle was the one who answered her this time.
“Yes. If we tell you what we know, you will probably be risking your lives, like we are. In fact, we are here to ask you for help, and somehow I think the very fact that George and I are talking to you right now, might have already put your lives in danger.”
Chapter 3
“Oh, no!” exclaimed Sookie, almost involuntarily. She had to close her eyes, at least for a few seconds. When she heard the word “danger” she lost her shields, lost control over her telepathy and somehow some images got impressed in her mind. She had been avoiding Marcelle, ignoring her, but now she could see those images, and some belonged to her own past. It was like watching little movies very fast: a fight she had with Jason when they were kids, her parents discussing money, and curiously, the day she started working at Merlotte’s.
Another picture, fainter, wasn’t hers. Sookie opened her eyes and tried to concentrate again on what George had to tell them, but she couldn’t stop sensing it. She could see Bill when he was alive, rosy, happy, holding a young baby in his arms, little Thomas... She could feel his happiness and pride, his humanity. Tears began to roll down her face.
“Sookie...” murmured Bill, alarmed.
“I’m sorry, I... I’m not feeling well, am way too tired.”
“Want a glass of water?” he asked. “I need blood. Marcelle, George?”
If George was irritated with that interruption, he didn’t show it.
“Very well, I don’t need anything, but you can have your fake blood before we talk. And it seems like Sookie needs a glass of sugar water...”
“Only water, please”, she said.
“Marcelle, do you want anything?” asked Bill. Even under the emotional state she was under, Sookie noticed the way Bill looked at the psychic girl, and felt angry. This was enough to bring her back to normal. Bill hadn’t changed at all.
When he came back with two glasses of water, calmer and less pale, she had already erased the memories from her mind, and only felt a little annoyed and ashamed. She hated to act like a child in front of him.
“Sookie, you don’t need to stay and listen to them. I don’t want you involved with our problems.”
“She can leave, but only after we can be sure of what happened,” said the blond vampire. Was it sadness on his face? Sookie couldn’t believe it.
Something about him was very different and made her nervous. Could he really feel like humans do, or was he a total manipulative bastard?
“I won’t leave,” she replied, after drinking some of the water. “I want to know what is going on. I’m curious...”
Bill grabbed her arm. She looked into his eyes and he freed her.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured.
“Listen, Bill, I want to help. Maybe this is really important, to all of us.”
Her eyes lingered on his for a moment. She had the feeling that it was too late to turn back, she had to help; once in trouble, always in trouble. It seemed it would never end.
“So, I have to think about the whole incident, and then you will look at me?” asked Sookie. Marcelle nodded, playing with her fingernails. Sookie took a long breath and thought about that awful afternoon when she killed a vampire. “Alright”, she said, focusing only on that episode in her mind and trying really hard to control her fear of the psychic girl’s mind. “I’m ready.”
Marcelle stood up and, quietly, approached Sookie, kneeling in front of her. She looked into her eyes for a brief moment.
“It’s true,” she told George. “It happened exactly how she told us. Now, can I use the bathroom?” she asked, grabbing her purse.
“Of course, it’s over there, on the right,” pointed Bill, standing up and walking towards the corridor, sounding amazed. Sookie frowned. So, was that all? She sure was quick, this girl.
“I’ll try to be brief,” said George. Sookie drank the rest of the water and gave Bill the glass. Their hands touched. Just like before, she felt a little shock when touching him. In a second, he was back from the kitchen.
“You can go ahead,” muttered Bill, his voice as cold as ice.
George focused his brown eyes on Sookie. His eyebrows raised a little.
“She can’t be glamoured, so I think your special powers won’t work on her either,” explained Bill.
“Too bad,” replied the other vampire.
Huh? Sookie was too nervous to think about it. She would think about it later.
“Well,” he continued. “I’ve received a letter months ago. It was from Lorena, of course. She had told me sometime before that, if anything happened to her, I would receive this letter and should try to find out what happened.”
“I wasn’t happy, of course, she always loved to put me in trouble. I guess I was her favorite,” continued George, a smirk on his face, looking every bit like a vampire.
Sookie repressed a gasp. Bill noticed it, and gave her a look that meant “I’ll explain later.” But she thought she understood it very well.
“So, I had to find this old vampire in Italy and talk to him about some research someone was doing and communicate to him that she was in trouble. We went there, me and Marcelle, and found nothing about him, he simply disappeared.”
Marcelle was back. She was looking better now, more confident and behaving like a normal person. Sookie was astonished. She couldn’t read her mind.
“After that, Marco contacted me, he was in Siena; somehow he knew I was in Italy. It was him who sent me the letter.”
Bill looked at Sookie, maybe realizing she might be too curious.
“Marco is Lorena’s oldest child. We keep in contact from time to time.”
“And Lorena was also your maker, am I right?” Sookie asked George.
“Unfortunately… yes,” replied the vampire.
“And what did Marco tell you?” asked Bill.
“Nothing much, he just gave me a pen drive and said there were some facts in there. You know, I‘ve never wanted to be a detective, I hate all this stuff. I was lucky to have Marcelle near me, nobody knows what she is capable of, and she could help a bit.”
“We came home and when we learned what was going on, it was too late. I mean, the danger...”
George stopped talking.
“These facts are really confidential...”
“You can trust me, and I can help you, but Sookie must leave,” Bill said tartly.
“No! I want to know.”
‘Sookie, go home, you’re already too involved in things that are not your business.”
‘It’s up to me to decide what’s my business and what’s not!”
“Excuse me,” said George. “I hate to interrupt this delightful fight, but I have little time.”
Bill pondered for a while. Sookie could feel his anger.
“Alright,” he hissed.
“Bill... It seems that someone asked Lorena to stop you from making your database. She never wanted it for her, you know, she was offered good money to just steal it, and hand it over to someone who would destroy it. And, of course, would kill you after this.”
George was very pale now. Sookie could feel her heart beating very fast, and was so nervous she began to giggle.
Everybody looked at her.
“Sorry.” She had just pictured someone wearing a “Kill Bill” t-shirt she saw once. “I’m just tense, that’s all.”
“Do you know who wanted to destroy it?” asked Bill.
“There is this ancient vampire, she is somehow connected to these laboratory doctors. Persian, long black hair. She is a renouncer.”
Uh-oh, Sookie thought. Not another one...
“I can’t think of anyone who fits this description,” said Bill, calmly.
“Yeah, we all have your program and update it frequently,” replied George. “But this vampire isn’t alone, she has some powers, as I heard. She can glamour other vampires, not only humans. And they, these lab people, are testing this thing...”
He paused. For the first time, Sookie saw fear in the blond vampire’s eyes.
Marcelle sighed. “They are trying to create a virus that could spread a serious disease, fatal, but deadly only for vampires,” she said. “And they are testing this virus on vamps, with the help of the renouncer.”
Sookie thought her head would explode with so much information.
“I came here to be sure that Lorena’s death was accidental. And to ask you a favor, Bill. Or better, two favors.” George’s voice was so smooth and low that she hardly could hear him.
Bill was silent.
“I want you to help us, we need more people investigating this, but it must remain a secret, otherwise things can get worse. And I have to go to Germany. There are rumors of a lab run by supes that deal with these sort of things. But I don’t want Marcelle to come with me, not this time.”
“You don’t mean...”
“She won’t stay with you, of course.” Was it just her imagination or was George implying that Bill would not resist sleeping with Marcelle? Sookie felt her temper rising. Then she remembered Bill was a vampire, and had been lonely since Selah had moved. And that he was not her boyfriend anymore and that she actually didn’t care about him. Not a bit.
“She can stay with Sookie,” proposed George.
Bill was now really angry.
“Too dangerous, for both of them,” said Bill. “When are you leaving?”
“Tomorrow night” replied George.
“So you need to rest in the morning.”
The blond vampire was reluctant. “I’ve made some arrangements, and will stay at another place, before the flight.”
“Listen, if you don’t trust me with your human gal or my hospitality, why did you come here anyway?” Bill sounded like a wolf explaining why he wanted the sheep near him.
“Alright, alright, she can stay here. Remember though, that these people are not vampires, Bill. And they are clever, very astute. They will connect me to you. That’s why I chose you, you had to know.”
“I don’t understand,” said Bill.
“We just discovered, two days ago, that Marco has disappeared too,” muttered Marcelle.
And at that exact time, Sookie’s cell phone rang. It was Eric.
Chapter 4
This chapter is narrated from different point of views, separated by three asterisks.
“Hello,” she answered, in a strange tone of voice.
“What happened, Sookie?” he asked.
“Uh, what do you mean?” She sure sounded anxious, but not frightened.
“I’m back. And I could swear I sensed you being in danger, a wave of fear invaded me, you know, from the bond…”
She kept silent for a moment. Her breath was a little unsteady.
“I’ll talk to you later, ok? Where are you?”
“Did you hear the news?”
Silence again. She wasn’t alone, there was a human with her.
“What news?” she asked, this time it was clear she was hiding something from him.
“Sookie, something has just happened…”
“Listen, can I call you later?”
“I’m sorry, lover, have to go now, I’m very busy. I just phoned because I thought you might be in danger. I hope everything is fine.”
“Yes, all is perfectly fine,” she lied. “I’m just tired and a bit worried, that’s all.”
“Are you free tomorrow?”
“Yes, after eight, yes…”
“I’ll call you then.”
“Ok, bye.”
He slowly closed the phone. Things were going wild. The 1900’s had been a very interesting century, with all that technology and those wars. The music, the changes in human customs and behavior, things had changed fast. After their revelation he was amazed when he found out how humans reacted differently to vampires. Fangtasia was a very good idea, and kept him busy most of the time. There were more and more humans available, they now offered themselves to him, and some of them were really delicious. But despite all that, he got bored easily.
Until Sookie.
First, she was just part of a game. Sure, she smelled wonderfully, but he knew that if she were available, or if she could be glamoured, all his interest would last a few minutes only; or some hours, to be more accurate. She was a female he wanted to fuck, and couldn’t.
But Sookie became, gradually, more than that. First, she was a valuable human that belonged to a vampire under his jurisdiction. Her ability proved to be of great value, but what amazed him was her courage. Eric never thought he would meet such a courageous girl in Louisiana. She never ceased to amaze him and that meant a lot. He was never bored beside her.
And then all of a sudden, he remembered all the things they did when they were together, at her house… everything.
Eric always thought that once he made love to Sookie Stackhouse, his obsession would be gone, forever. He would play with her for awhile, laugh, and pretend to be infatuated. One day though, he would discard her, but not like the way he would have done to an ordinary woman, the brainless and stupid girls that had crossed his life before.
He would explain things first.
Somehow, he knew he wouldn’t want to let her go, and he was frightened. It would be hard to expose the fact that she would never really understand him, that underneath that shelter he had built, there was a different Eric. Too bad she couldn’t read his thoughts. Sookie was naïve, clever, sexy and beautiful, a perfect lover. He was an ancient vampire, a supernatural being who had lived too much, who knew too much, and who deeply despised humanity.
Anyone who lived so many years as he had lived, and had a brain (even an undead brain) would find humans disgusting. The greed, the vanity, the pride… Vampires were all that and more, much more, but that was their nature, they were disconnected from moral values; in fact, it was hard for them to take any human value seriously. Most of the time, they couldn’t help being monsters. But humans could. They had the strength and power to avoid malignity. Right now, though, Eric was completely disgusted with the cruelty of the human kind.
He had loved and had been loved once, by a human, some centuries ago. It didn’t end well. Eric didn’t know what to do now.He didn’t want to give Sookie, or himself, false hopes.
***
That noise was annoying. She didn’t want to wake up and embraced her pillow eagerly. The dream that was already floating away from her conscience was so sweet. What was it? Something really good had happened, something that made her want to scream and be glad to be alive. The noise, though, was persistent… voices. Sookie rubbed her eyes, stretched her body and, yawning, went to the shower.
She had only one hour to get ready and eat something before going to Merlotte’s! After combing her hair, putting on the black slacks and the long white tee that she wore on chilly days like these, she went to the kitchen to prepare something to eat. She wasn’t very hungry, maybe because she ate too much the night before, when she arrived home, tired and anxious.
Octavia and Amelia were sitting in the kitchen, discussing something really loudly. They seemed to be very angry, and frightened too.
They both stopped talking and looked at her with eyes round as plates when they saw her. She remembered Eric on the phone, last night.
“So, what happened? What are you talking about? You woke me up.” Which was very fortunate, since otherwise she would have overslept, she added mentally.
“Hi, Sookie, I was going to wake you up,” said Amelia, sounding worried.
“Uh, we’re discussing this, uh, show, they plan to make for TV” said Octavia, and Sookie knew right away she was lying.
She decided not to pay much attention to them. So, while she was filling her cup with coffee and putting some bread on the toaster, she asked:
“What show?” but her mind was somewhere else. She was thinking of Eric being in Shreveport, and above all, of the things she heard the night before. She couldn’t forget Bill’s “brother” and that his “sister-in-blood” (for lack of a word) was now living with him, at this moment, in his house.
Amelia tried to sound happy, but she was unsuccessful. “They’re planning this “Big Brother” show, you know, with wereanimals instead of ordinary citizens. They would be confined in this house, for months, or three full moons at least, fighting for food, pet supplies, and so on…”
Sookie frowned.
“Do you think this would work?” she asked, verifying if her ponytail was neat.
“Nope,” replied Amelia, nervously. “Especially now,” she added, with a strange look on her face.
Sookie was thinking slowly. She drank her coffee and put some jelly over her bread, still standing. “Where is the newspaper?” she asked.
Octavia exchanged looks with Amelia.
“Dear, we need to tell you something. Please sit down.”
Oh yes, she knew there was something in the air. This was going to be a very different week. She sat.
“There was this… accident, you know.”
“What accident?” she asked, her heart beating fast.
Amelia took a big breath and looked into her eyes, taking her hands in hers.
“Quinn was murdered last night.”
*** That day had been awful, truly awful. She hadn’t slept very well, surrounded by all those objects, and the atmosphere of that old house possessed by so many memories. Closing her eyes, she blocked that melancholic feeling inside her, the loneliness, the resentment, the fear. George had brought some food when he brought her things, and said he would explain it all later. Marcelle wasn’t exactly angry. She knew him enough to know that he liked to be in control of everything. Things would be much easier for her, though, if she knew before they arrived that she would be staying with Bill Compton.
There was only one free electrical plug in this room, and she had used it to charge her laptop battery; it was fully charged now, as was her iPod.
Marcelle began to shelve the rest of the books and arrange the last clothes in the small closet. She had been all alone, thinking and studying, in this haunted house, all day, sometimes thinking about the dark haired vampire that looked so suspicious of her. Some of his memories were hard to forget. She had a glimpse of many episodes of his past, and almost all of them were a bit sad.
The mirror hanging over the dresser was so beautiful. She looked at her own image in it. Was she prepared to stay at this house, with a strange vampire, to pretend to be a normal person? She hadn’t thought things over yet, but she had to be ready for anything.
Outside, it was raining. The air was even cooler than in the morning, when she woke up. In half an hour, it would be dark. She sat on the bed with her laptop and switched on her iPod, putting her phones inside her ears while resting her back on the thick pillows that smelled so good. She began to read and then, to type, and was completely focused on the writing when suddenly she saw Bill at the door, looking serious.
She took off her phones quickly and waited for him to say something. But he didn’t. She looked at the window, it was so dark. How long had he been there?
“Did you sleep well?” she asked. It’s always good to be polite to your host.
“What do you do for a living?” Bill’s eyes were dark as ebony. She could see he had already drank some bottles of blood.
“You promise you won’t laugh?” she replied, trying to amuse him.
He stared at her, and was slowly coming closer.
“I’m an astrologist.”
“An astronomer?” he asked, curiously.
“No, an astrologist, I make maps, natal charts, and from the position of the planets, the sun and the moon, I can tell about someone’s personality, and give people some advice,” she explained. “About love, career, this kind of stuff…”
“And do they believe in you?”
Oh my God, his voice was really something… cold but melodious. He was so close now, spying her laptop, that she could touch him. She could smell his fragrance: amber, vanilla, orange and some woody notes, very unusual.
“Yes, I have this site, you know, people pay me with their credit card, with PayPal, and I analyze their charts and send them many pages of my analysis. They do like me. Of course, I use a false name, and the credit card of my account is from someone else.”
“You have to pretend that you are my human now. You know that, don’t you?”
Marcelle looked at him, a bit alarmed by the change of subjects, but not totally surprised. She had thought about it too.
“Yes… Otherwise I won’t be able to get out of this house. And I will turn mad, I think, if I don’t. We can make pretend…”
Bill smiled. A bitter smile, but cute.
“You are wise,” he said.
“Thank you,” she replied, not quite understanding what he wanted to say with that compliment.
“What are you listening to on your iPod? I’ve never heard these songs before.”
She had totally forgotten about the iPod, it was still playing Emilie Autumn’s songs.
“Uh, it’s one of my favorite singers, her name is Emilie Autumn. Do you want to listen to it?”
“I was listening to it the entire time.”
Oh, yeah, the supernatural powers these undead had. She looked at the screen.
“This is one of her creations, “Find a Man,” very good, don’t you think?”
He nodded.
“Do you want me to upload her songs to you computer? I left all my CDs at home, but I have them in mp3”
He kneeled beside her, and looked into her eyes. She felt he was deeply into her soul. Marcelle was glad she took extra protection against her psychic abilities. She didn’t want any more of Bill inside her head.
“I want to ask you another thing, Miss Delauney, if you don’t mind.”
“Go ahead,” she muttered.
“When did you become a witch?”
Chapter 5 After a brief moment, the girl smiled broadly. That must have been the first time Bill saw her smiling like this, otherwise he wouldn’t be so surprised. Now he could really understand what had attracted George to her, other than the strange supernatural abilities. Her beautiful eyes sparkled and her pale face shined when she smiled, and there were dimples on both her cheeks.
“I tried to reduce the smell, sorry, I know it’s disturbing. But I told you last night that I was going to get some protection for me. And the small marks on the front door, they are invisible to humans, even to the two-natured.” She frowned. “Well, to most of them, I think…”
“I thought you were an ordinary witch, not this powerful. You’re too young for that. And how do you conceal so much power?”
She was a bit embarrassed, and the smile was gone.
“I’ve been a witch for some time…I found out I could block my mind using witchcraft. It was more than useful; I really needed it. Maybe I did pay attention to the classes.”
She was lying.
“You could earn a lot of money, if you wanted. Can you see our past or future? From us vampires, I mean?”
Marcelle met his eyes briefly, and made a little nervous sound when he came even closer. But she didn’t turn her head. He could now sense a faint smell on her blood, an exotic one, not bad or good, but somehow a little intoxicating, like her gold-colored eyes. Her heart was beating fast, but she got paler.
“Nope, sorry, but I can’t. It’s all blank when it comes from vamps, unfortunately.” She closed her laptop suddenly. “Why are you asking me so many questions?”
Bill could tell her that he didn’t believe in everything she and her lover had told him the night before, and that they had yet a lot to explain. He could tell her that he didn’t trust her or her strange powers. But there was one thing he wanted to know, more than anything.
“Could you see Sookie’s future last night?”
The minute he asked the question, he regretted it. Marcelle looked slightly irritated.
“Listen, I have the doors on my mind locked for most of the time, and when I let it free like yesterday, when I get some glimpses of the past or future of people, it’s too confusing, unless the person is focusing on what she wants.”
She paused. Her eyes were opaque now, looking dead, and the exotic smell was stronger.
“I don’t know what’s future and what’s past, and I get a lot of information; but when I block my mind again, it’s like a dream I had, and I can see only fragments of all that…”
Again, she was lying. Bill promised himself he would find out why…. and soon.
“We had serious problems before with some witches, you know...” he whispered in her ear. She had goose bumps all over her body, he sensed. Nice, he thought.
“Really? There are lots of different witches in the world, and some of them can be quite awful”, she replied, raising her eyebrows and taking a deep breath. She sure was confident; a sexy, but imprudent, pretty human girl.
“I have a problem, even though I’m a witch. Somehow my computer isn’t connecting to the web. My cell phone works fine though. Maybe it’s the protection spell, perhaps it’s too strong for the internet?”
“It’s not. First thing I did when I woke up was read the news on the web…”
He paused, and got up quickly, startling her a bit. She probably didn’t know it.
“Marcelle, something horrible happened last night.”
*** One second before Amelia touched her hands, Sookie had known it, and known all the details. Amelia repeated something twice, something about Quinn, and then she and Octavia had explained the attack; but the first image she got from her friend’s mind, that terrible picture from the newspaper, was too much for her. The shock made her think in such a slow motion that the news simply could not be absorbed for a while. She would never forget it. She had seen and heard of many horrible things in her life, but somehow this calamity was connected to many people she loved, and implied a lot of things in the supernatural world.
John Quinn was dead, as was his mother and at least seventy more people, some children among them, whose only fault was having been born different from other humans, or working for them. Four thousand pounds of explosives inside a stolen truck found in the parking lot had partially destroyed Whispering Palms, a treatment center for mentally disturbed shape-shifters located in Nevada, in the middle of nowhere, in the desert. Quinn had been there visiting his mother at the right moment the bombs exploded. Around twenty people were badly injured.
Sookie was feeling nauseated again, and she was glad her stomach was now empty. She hadn’t eaten anything since that morning, even though Sam insisted that she should at least drink some orange juice. She looked at her boss; he had aged at least ten years after that nightmare began. Merlotte’s was closed; almost all establishments run by supernatural beings closed that day, in clear protest against what happened. Sam was still recovering from other disturbing news. Sam’s mother has been shot by his step-father, who was now in jail, and she was resting in a hospital bed in Texas. Sam has been there for several days and came home after the news about the attack.
“Sook, you must eat something,” said Sam. He was right. They had spent all day there in Merlotte’s: cleaning, tiding up, watching TV, calling friends, feeling miserable while trying to understand the tragedy. Earlier, Amelia and Octavia were putting spells all over the bar, and on Sam’s trailer; and right now they were at Tray Dawson’s, doing the same. All two-natured in the world were reinforcing security, buying camera systems as well as hiring witches to cast protection spells and making amulets.
“The Fellowship of the Sun is denying the attack,” said Jason, sounding uncharacteristically unsure. He was very frightened. Jason was thinking that if someone discovered he was a freak too, he would be in terrible danger.
Sookie closed her eyes and sighed. What would she give to get rid of this telepathic “gift,” at least temporarily like that girl Marcelle?
“Would you drink a milkshake?” asked Sam, sweetly. “I can make the Milk-Shakespeare, remember it? You used to like it a lot.”
Even though she was feeling cold and a bit nauseated, she agreed.
Jason was sitting at one of the tables. He looked awful, not as badly as Sam, who was clearly disgusted and sad, but in a selfish and puzzled way. Jason had never thought of his current status as a supernatural being as something dangerous. He was now having second thoughts about that while drinking a lot of beer. Holly and Hoyt were by his side, as well as Mel, who has left them two hours before, but came back later.
“The investigations are going nowhere, but the FBI agents are confident they would find the minds behind all this,” explained Sam, as if Sookie was asking about it. She understood that talking about positive things, like finding and punishing the murderers, made Sam feel better.
“Here,” he said, handing her the milkshake cup. “Are you really sure you don’t want to go home?” he asked.
“Uh-huh,” Sookie replied. “Sam… I was thinking; you said your people were hiring witches for protection, but how can you trust these people? I mean, Amelia and Octavia are friends, we know all about them, but what about the others?”
“Well Sookie, right now all people who deal with the supernatural are getting closer, getting united, and…”
Sam was thinking if he should tell her or not. She wasn’t reading his mind but she could tell from his body language.
“And?” she asked, after taking a small sip of the milkshake.
“Well, we can always threaten to tell the world about them. And I bet the FoTS followers will love to burn some witches right now. And they will have the perfect excuse, you know…”
Sookie blinked and swallowed hard. The world was going upside-down, and the future seemed gloomy and distressful.
“What do you mean? The perfect excuse?” she muttered.
Sam raised his eyebrows. “Hmmm, we can talk about it later. Not now.”
She nodded, understanding his reasons, and feeling tired after so many hours refraining from crying.
Hoyt was leaving, and Holly was going with him. They waved goodbye in a sad way. Her brother Jason was drinking too much; he was already very drunk at the moment and didn’t show any sign he would stop. His eyes were gazing, fixed on the TV screen, while Mel’s expression, by his side, was a mystery. Hotshot people might be apprehensive, and Mel was probably thinking that it would be better if Calvin Norris weren’t so stubborn, so protective and self-sufficient. Sookie thought about that, and got more worried. She couldn’t picture Calvin Norris asking for help to protect them. And if those killers were able to find out about that place in the desert; they would know, sooner or later, about the werepanthers.
On TV, people were discussing ardently. The population was scared, and the casino owners were furious. It seems that the stolen truck belonged to a Casino dealer and this was all bad publicity for their business.
Surprisingly, even the fanatics who condemned vampires were saying that they were really disgusted with the attack. But Sookie knew better. They wouldn’t attack the two-natured as they openly attacked vampires, having learned from the past. So the FoTS followers might be saying they really respected and pitied the shape-shifters, but underneath they wanted to get rid of everything they think were against human nature, or “what God wanted when He created humanity”.
Right now, on TV, there were a lot of people wanting to give their opinion in front of the cameras. “They were people; they were alive, like you and me, and they were animals too, in a way, this is all so awful,” said a redheaded teenager holding a PETA poster.
“Sam… This hospital your mom is being treated at, how can you be sure they won’t do awful things with her?” she asked.
“Well, Sookie, that hospital has supes on its staff, like a lot of places do. I just have to hope nothing happens there.”
Yes, she remembered the hospital in Dallas, Luna, and Dr. Josephus… That seemed ages ago when she was still naïve and a lot less clever than she was now. Not that she thought she had acquired a lot of wisdom. She knew that most of her acts and judgments were based more on her instinct than on her experience.
She tried hard not to think about Quinn, because every time she did it, she felt a tingle in her chest. Sookie still wasn’t sure if she had made the right decision when dumping him. She thought of Frannie. What would happen to her? She sure must be desperate, losing a brother and mother at the same time. If Frannie hadn’t been so angry when Sookie broke up with Quinn, maybe they could have been friends, and maybe she could do something to help the girl.
The phone rang and a minute later Sam told her, “It’s Eric, he is outside waiting for you.”
Great, just great, she thought, feeling a bit sour. Sookie had forgotten completely about Eric being in Shreveport again, and that he said he would call her. Her red cell phone, the one he had given her, was at home. Maybe seeing Eric would make her feel better? Hmmm… maybe. In fact she was feeling more upset now than before.
It was raining heavily outside and Eric was holding a large black umbrella with the Fangtasia logo.
He was fuming. She rarely saw him so angry. She couldn’t see his face very well, but his mouth was closed tightly.
“Sookie,” he whispered. “You should have told me about the little boy!”
Chapter 6
When the question came out of her mouth, she couldn’t hear it. All she could hear was this noise, as if many flies were buzzing inside her head; too much stress, she thought, feeling miserable while staring at the undead Viking.
“What?” she asked, in a whisper, or at least she thought she asked, her whole body shivering. Fear? Or maybe it was the milkshake Sam made her drink?
Before Eric could reply, Sookie felt the crazy urge to hug him, knowing that she would feel better, even though he was so cold, so vampirey. “What?” she repeated again, this time with her face against Eric’s chest, hot tears running down her face, her arms wrapped around him. The horrible noise inside her head was gone, and she tried to calm down.
“I’m sorry to come here tonight, after all that happened… but I had to see you,” he said, and despite those kind words, Sookie knew he was still angry, she could feel it. He was hugging her too and the magic was working, from the bond. She was a lot more relaxed.
“How did you find out about Hunter?” Her voice was now steady, despite her state of mind.
“Felipe de Castro told me…” he murmured.
“But how?” she asked.
“That vampire, Sandy, knows a lot about you now, Sookie. You should thank your friend’s father,” said Eric, with a fiery tone in his voice.
“Copley Carmichael,” she replied. Amelia’s father had been in contact with Sandy Sechrest at Merlotte’s, wanting to establish a business relationship with the new King.
But that meant that probably they didn’t know about the boy’s disability.
“Sookie, you should have told me about Hadley’s son.”
“Why?” she asked, her heart beating so fast she thought it would explode. Was she feeling Eric’s anxiety? He sure sounded so anxious, but why?
“We need to talk about a lot of things, lover. Let’s get out of here,” he commanded.
Oh, no. Not that.
“Oh, please, not now… I need to rest, my day was horrible, Eric. Can’t you feel how afflicted I am? Sometimes I think there is something wrong with this bond, you know.”
Sookie freed herself from the hug, a bit disturbed, but their bodies were still touching, connected.
Eric closed the Fangtasia umbrella. The rain had stopped suddenly. Sookie could see his eyes better now. They were cold and stern.
“Don’t you ever trust de Castro. Believe me, he may say he is in debt to you, that he’s grateful, that you are formally protected, but he may use it for his own purposes. He didn’t become king protecting humans, Sookie, believe me.” Eric was very serious.
“Please,” he continued. “Don’t hide important things about your life from me from now on.”
“I still don’t understand…” she said, now a bit angry. Couldn’t he wait a little to come to her all bossy, demanding that she tell every aspect of her life to him?
“Lover, he knows I… Well, he knows we are bonded and that I would feel when you are in danger. Trying to protect you might cause a lot of trouble…”
Her heart was going as numb as her cold fingers. Oh yes, she thought she could understand it very well. Eric, though a valuable asset, was still a threat to the new king, who was still suspicious of the old regime. And Hunter was somewhat of a weakness that Sookie might have. And maybe they didn’t know yet how much she was concerned about the boy, but sooner or later they might discover his telepathy.
She remembered Kristen, who might be curious about her visit, who might be suspecting something was really wrong about Hunter. But she couldn’t think about it now, not at this moment of grief. She was too tired and hurt by Eric’s words.
“Tomorrow night we can talk. I promise,” she said. “I think I will have a free day, have to talk to Sam, and maybe I can ask Octavia and Amelia to leave us alone for some… for some time…”
Eric looked a bit relieved. His eyes were warmer.
“Yes, that would be better than we meeting at Fangtasia,” he whispered. His left arm reached her shoulder, and he began to caress her softly while kissing her hair. Sookie froze, standing still as a statue and just couldn’t move from him. Her mind was swirling and she couldn’t decide whether she wanted to be here with Eric or if she wanted to run away. His eyes were fiery now; he looked beautiful as he bent over to kiss her, but she still didn’t know what to do and didn’t react. She just waited. Suddenly, when his cold lips touched hers, he stopped, looking over his shoulder.
“Damn!” he hissed.
Sookie was a bit surprised by this reaction, but she still couldn’t move, she was so tired…
Eric’s mood changed and he began to laugh. “Perfect timing!” he exclaimed and rolled his eyes.
Sookie heard a car parking and after a brief time she could see what Eric sensed: Marcelle and Bill. They were walking towards them, slowly, and Marcelle looked a bit anxious, but when she saw Eric her expression changed abruptly. It lasted maybe only two seconds but she could swear she saw anger and regret on the girl’s face. But then it was gone and she looked like an angel with those gold-colored eyes and beautiful curly auburn hair.
Sookie blinked and looked at Eric, but the vampire glanced at the psychic girl with curiosity, and she could now see why. At first she didn’t understand why Marcelle was holding Bill’s hand. Were they together, so soon? Bill’s face was impenetrable, like a blank piece of paper, with those big empty eyes she knew so well. “Bill!” said Eric. “You are the last person I would like to meet at this moment. How lucky I am.”
Why did Eric care about Bill seeing them kissing? Sookie thought this attitude was so “un-Eric”.
Bill slightly bowed his head to Eric but said nothing, and then, in an unexpected gesture, he gently wrapped his arm around Marcelle’s waist, who was staring at the floor.
“I want to see Sam,” he said.
“Can I wait here?” asked Marcelle. “If you don’t mind…”
“Alright, I won’t be long,” he replied, and left the girl there, staring at Sookie.
“Uh, Eric, this is Marcelle, she is a friend of Bill’s…” she said, the usual crazy smile on her face. Years and years controlling her face, trying to hide what she was feeling, were great practice for situations like this.
Eric looked slightly puzzled now.
“Don’t I know you?” he asked, half frowning, half smiling.
Marcelle smiled. She looked pretty when she smiled. “No, we’ve never met. But I’ve heard of you, of course.”
“Oh,” replied Eric, disappointed. He then turned to Sookie, and kissed her on the cheek. “Don’t forget to carry your cell phone with you. I will call you.”
And suddenly he wasn’t there anymore. Marcelle wasn’t surprised at all with his lack of manners, her smile still lingering on her pale face.
“Aren’t you cold, Sookie?” she asked sweetly.
“Yes,” she replied, rubbing her arms. “Won’t you come inside?”
“Hmmm, I’m not sure… You know, I don’t feel comfortable pretending to be Bill’s girlfriend in front of strangers,” she muttered.
Sookie took a long breath, a relieved breath.
“Can I… Can I call you tomorrow?” asked Marcelle. “I mean, I don’t know where to buy stuff for the house, and vampires sometimes forget to stock things like dish detergent and toilet paper, you know?” she asked.
“Well, tomorrow is my day off, and, yes, I can go with you, I’ll give you a ride. Unless Sam needs me, since we didn’t work today, and a new waitress is starting tomorrow. You can ask Bill for my number.”
“Thank you,” said Marcelle, and then opened her mouth as if she was going to ask another thing, but just then Bill appeared by their side. His dark eyes met Sookie’s again, and there was so much pain inside them...
“Sam will get over it, I hope.” Bill’s voice was so dry and sad… Sookie suddenly felt so cold her chin began to quiver. The awful noise was coming back, she needed to rest.
“I’m sorry, but I have to go inside. Bye Bill. Bye Marcelle,” she said, and turned her back to them, longing for the warmness of the bar.
***
The day was so cool and clear, the air was filled with magic and Marcelle had the feeling that something good would happen soon. She had already forgotten the meeting with vampire Eric. That was past, and she was living in the present. Her heart was filled with confidence and optimism, something rare since she began dating a vampire. Well, “dating” was not exactly what she had been doing with George, their involvement was a different kind of thing, but today she felt just like a normal girl, letting the sun dry her hair while walking slowly through the cemetery.
She loved cemeteries. They reminded her that sooner or later her life would be over and that she should try to enjoy it fully, that every moment was precious. Marcelle loved life, and she was grateful she was right here, facing these graveyards under the warm winter sun. Cemeteries were great for some kinds of magic too, she thought, shaking her hair to let the curls dry beautifully. She inhaled the wonderful scent of pines, thinking she could be here forever, feeling as if she belonged here.
Maybe I will be buried here, she thought, and all happiness was gone in a second.
She fastened her pace; Sookie was waiting for her and there was no time for stupid thoughts. She didn’t tell Bill that she was going to shop with Sookie, though she had wanted to tell him. But Bill was so silent and self-absorbed when they went back to his house after his brief meeting with Sam Merlotte, and so surly when they arrived, she was almost afraid to say his ex-girlfriend’s name aloud. He said he was going to do some research and left her alone for the rest of the night.
The white house was still protected by the ward, but nothing more. Marcelle made a mental note to remind Sookie that she would need more protection, but then again, was it her business? She was tired of trying to help people and being rewarded with disgusted faces and prejudice. Sookie might be different and might be more accepting but she should be careful.
She rang the doorbell. After one minute, a girl - the youngest witch probably - opened the door. She stared at Marcelle as if she was the devil in person. Marcelle sighed while the young witch apprentice was deciding whether or not she should call Sookie.
“My name is Marcelle Delauney. Sookie is waiting for me, I suppose? I called her one hour ago,” she tried to start a conversation, pretending she couldn’t understand why the girl was so astonished.
“You…”
“You must be Amelia Broadway, right?” she interrupted.
“Uh, yes, I’m… I’m going to call Sookie” she replied. She looked exhausted.
A moment later, Sookie appeared by the door. “Oh, I’m so sorry, please come in. We are helping Octavia pack her things. She is leaving today”.
“Leaving? Why?” Marcelle asked, beginning to feel a bit uneasy by the way Amelia was staring at her. She wondered what the older witch would do when she saw her. Scream with excitement?
“She was invited to help some friends. They are touring the state, you know, putting these protective things over places. They are making a lot of money and asked Octavia if she could help them. Isn’t it wonderful?” Sookie looked genuinely happy. Or, at least, as happy as she could be after all the atrocious news. “I will get ready in a minute.”
“Oh, no, I’m in no hurry; please take your time. I can wait here. Go help your friend.”
Amelia was frowning and it was clear she didn’t want to leave Sookie alone. Octavia came out of her bedroom, looking quite tired too, and her eyes met Marcelle’s.
“Oh…” she exclaimed.
Marcelle bit her tongue, trying not to laugh.
Sookie could now sense that something was wrong. She glanced from Marcelle to Octavia, to Amelia, and then back to Octavia.
“Uh, nice to meet you too,” said Marcelle. “You must be Octavia Fant. I’m Marcelle Delauney” she announced, offering to shake hands.
Octavia tried to smile. “Glad to meet you.” They shook hands.
“See? You didn’t turn into a frog,” Marcelle said. Octavia and Amelia were still astounded.
Sookie was a bit irritated. “Can anyone explain to me what’s happening?” she asked, her tone of voice revealing her temper.
Marcelle looked into her eyes. “Well, I guess your friends can see that I’m, uh, I’m a different kind of witch…”
She paused. Silence. Sookie’s eyes were inquisitive.
“Being witches, they can sense I’m a blood witch,” she added.
“You’re a witch too? And what does a blood witch mean?” Sookie asked, a bit nervously.
Octavia searched for approval in Marcelle’s face. She nodded slightly to the older woman. Octavia’s voice sounded firm when she explained.
“This means this girl here was born a witch, and is more powerful than any ordinary witch can be…”
Chapter 7
The restaurant was almost empty and they got a very good table by the window. Sookie wanted to eat at home, but Marcelle insisted that they should eat at this new small Italian restaurant in Clarice that Maxine Fortenberry had mentioned when they met her at Wal-Mart. Sookie wasn’t accustomed to eating out, but apparently Marcelle was, and invited her to lunch with such sweetness, she couldn’t say no.
This had been a very, very strange week indeed, she thought, while they were searching the menu. Marcelle seemed happy, her face wasn’t so pale today, and Sookie also noticed that her hair was very shiny. She wondered how she could look so undisturbed after all that happened.
Sookie was thinking how crazy it was, she had just met this blood-witch psychic super weird girl, involved in an ultra-secret and dangerous investigation, and about whom she knew so little. What was even stranger was that somehow she felt connected to her, and felt at ease by her side. Not to mention the relief her mental silence gave her. She didn’t have to be always alert not to listen to Marcelle’s thoughts.
She liked this girl, but unfortunately she couldn’t trust her. The look she had in her eyes when she met Eric was extremely suspicious, to say the least. And yet, though so different in appearance, they were quite similar. She didn’t know if it was because Marcelle had her own “disability”, or because they were having a relationship with a vampire; or both.
Wait a minute… What was she thinking? Was she, Sookie, having a relationship with a vampire? She shook her head involuntarily, trying to think about a subject other than supernatural powers to discuss with the girl. But, of course, the first thing she did after she ordered a ravioli with tomato sauce (and refused the offer of free garlic bread), was mention her psychic ability.
“It must have been hard for you, to be so different from other people; am I wrong?” Sookie asked, tentatively.
The psychic-witch looked at her, a sparkle of amusement in her eyes.
“Sookie, you are so funny. There is something about you… You’re different. I feel that, but I can’t find out what it is. And I think I like that.”
She didn’t know what to say. Didn’t Bill tell his brother’s girlfriend about her telepathy? Didn’t she see anything about it in her past, the other night? Or was she somewhat guessing she had supernatural blood in her veins, fairy blood to be more specific? Every time Sookie thought about the word “blood”, that strange headache seemed to restart, the strange noise, the buzzing. She closed her eyes for two seconds and tried to forget about her problems.
“That night, at Bill’s house,” Marcelle continued, “you cried. Would you mind telling me why?”
Should she tell this girl about her ability to hear people’s thoughts? Many people in Bon Temps knew about it, or suspected something, though they would never admit it. So there was no real mystery concerning that. “Crazy Sookie,” they used to call her. She wondered if Marcelle have had a hard time in childhood as she had.
Sookie decided to tell the truth.
“I was moved when I saw something, a glimpse of Bill’s past,” she told Marcelle. “Maybe I could see it because it was inside your head. And I could see it because I’m a telepath.”
Marcelle’s eyes widened. There was curiosity and concern in her expression.
“You are a telepath…”
“Yes,” replied Sookie, a little uneasy by the way the girl was staring at her.
“And you saw one of Bill’s memories?”
Sookie nodded and Marcelle bit her lip.
“Sookie, I’ll ask you a favor,” she murmured, quite alarmed. “Don’t mention this to anyone. Please, this is very important. I could put a silence charm on you, and you wouldn’t be able to tell anyone about it, but I prefer to trust you.”
“Don’t worry,” she replied.
She knew why Marcelle was so concerned. A silence charm, huh? She should be more careful about this girl; she looked so innocent it was hard to believe she was this powerful witch Octavia and Amelia explained about.
“So George doesn’t know about it?”
“No, he doesn’t,” Marcelle confessed. “And I told Bill I couldn’t see their past. But that’s the only thing I can see from vampires: their past. Even with humans, it’s hard for me to see the future, since it keeps changing with our choices in life. And it isn’t pleasurable to see anyone’s past or future mixed. I block my mind all the time.”
“But how do you control it?” asked Sookie. She was really interested.
“Magic,” she explained, and then, as if she remembered something, she said:
“My grandfather was a telepath. He was a blood-witch, of course. As far as I know, these gifts are always connected to us. I mean, maybe you have witch blood?”
The urge to laugh was intense and Sookie had to fight it. This was too much. The buzz in her head intensified. Wasn’t it enough to have fairy relatives?
“You must be kidding!”
“Don’t laugh, this is not impossible, on the contrary,” said Marcelle, her face serious and worried.
“I’m only a telepath, and I’m not even able to control my telepathy as you do; although I have improved a lot lately.”
“Listen,” she ordered. “My mother and my father were blood-witches, as were their parents, and all my great grandparents. We are so rare nowadays… But many of us have denied witchcraft…”
Sookie could tell that this was very important to Marcelle.
“You see, some of us decided to marry outsiders, to mix our blood and get out of this circle of fate, when the rumors about the curse began to be stronger…”
“The curse?” asked Sookie.
“Yes. There is no doubt about it now. Almost all blood-witches die young, we get ill and die suddenly, or we get murdered. Sometimes even those who only have a fraction of our blood are cursed too, and they may live longer; they don’t have our powers, but there is often murder or suicide coming their way. It can’t be only coincidence. Few have escaped this destiny.” Marcelle looked sad.
Sookie was shocked. “This is so horrible, I’m so sorry…”
“My mother used to say that we attract the unexpected. I think she was right…” Marcelle said. “But don’t worry about it Sookie, most of the time we have a lot of luck when dealing with trouble. It’s like in the end we pay for all that luck, losing it completely.”
Sookie watched Marcelle drink her red wine, her eyes contemplating the paintings on the walls. “You can’t read my mind, can you?” she asked, calmly. Sookie knew she wanted to change subjects.
“No,” she answered briefly.
Marcelle closed her eyes, as if concentrating in something. She asked, a little excited: “Try it now.”
“I can find out if you have a blood-witch in your family, if you want me to.”
Sookie was amazed. She tried to listen to other thoughts inside Marcelle’s mind, but it was already blocked again. She only received a single and clear thought.
“How do you do this?” asked Sookie.
“I don’t know. It’s like instinct. We don’t need much practice to make things happen, and that’s why we have to be extra careful. When I was a young kid a boy said I was bandy-legged, and I almost killed him by only thinking about it. My parents were furious with me. We kept moving from place to place, it was a nightmare.”
The waiter was so near them now, Sookie had the feeling that he was listening to them, but Marcelle remained serene, admiring a painting of a beautiful young man in a gondola.
“How is Italy? You spent many months there, didn’t you?”
Marcelle’s face shined. “It was wonderful. Venice is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to. I love Florence, and Rome too, of course. I even met a blood-witch there. Of course George thought he was an ordinary witch like me. Vamps don’t know much about us.”
Well, she, Sookie, has had a terrible experience with witches before, but she didn’t want to say anything about it. She wanted to ask Marcelle about curses, spells and jinxes because maybe she could explain what really happened to Eric.
“So, why do you think your kind has this, uh, this curse? Do you think it can be broken? Maybe some superior magic can release you from this fate?”
Sookie didn’t want to make Marcelle upset, but she was truly thinking that maybe she could help. Fairies were magical creatures, after all. And witches were humans.
“Well, if anyone can help us, I doubt they would do it. We are hated.”
“Why?”
“Because they blame us witches for opening the gates, for bringing the supernatural to Earth. They think my ancestors were responsible for the existence of shape-shifters and vampires, for example.”
Sookie didn’t know what to think of it. Maybe this was what Sam was talking about yesterday. She wanted to ask so many questions, but she knew this wasn’t the time. Marcelle smiled. The waiter was coming with their plates.
“So, have you ever tried Tiramisu? It’s a delicious Italian dessert!”
***
Bill found her lying on the living-room floor, barefoot, moving her legs in a frenzied way while staring at the ceiling. She had lit the fire and the only light in the room came from the fireplace. It was a beautiful vision, her long hair looking redder and her skin as pale as the moon. There were tears running down her cheeks. Bill forgot for a few seconds what he wanted to tell her and sat quietly on the floor, by the couch, keeping a safe distance but still near enough to be tempted.
He liked temptation.
Even though he had drunk a bottle of TrueBlood, he was still so hungry. He was also very upset; that sour feeling consuming him every time he thought of Sookie in Eric’s arms. He didn’t know if there was love involved there, but it was clear to him that they were still very attracted to each other.
“Any news about George?” he asked.
No answer. He wondered if she had heard him.
“Marcelle…” he said, this time a bit louder.
“No,” she said, running her hands over her face, not really wiping the tears, but caressing her own skin.
“You were crying,” he muttered.
“Yes.”
Everybody has secrets.
“I found something while you were sleeping last night. About the investigation…”
She turned her head and glanced at him. He found out he was hungrier than ever after her eyes met his.
“Here,” he handed her one paper sheet. “Can you read under this light?”
She answered it by beginning to read the printed document.
“This is one of those files that were in the pen drive,” she croaked.
“No, this file was found in that shape-shifter institution, in the wing that wasn’t completely damaged” he explained.
She sat down quickly, alarmed. He could smell her hair, with that exotic scent of hers mixed with herbal shampoo. She smelled like wine too. Alcoholic blood.
“How did you find this? It’s encrypted exactly like the ones that were in the pen drive. Do you think that explosion… ”
“Look at the other side,” Bill said, refraining a smile.
“Wait… did you solve it? What language is this, Gaelic?” Marcelle was enthusiastic. She moved closer, her dress slipped over her shoulder…
“Don’t come too close to me,” he advised, but his voice was only a whisper, even to him.
“Do you think the fae are involved?” she asked, her eyes now happy, searching the answer in his face, like a little girl asking for candy.
“No, I don’t. It would be too obvious.”
“Oh, I thought that maybe…” she replied, and there was disappointment in her voice. Why? He gave her the other document, the translated one. “This is from the pen drive. I don’t know what to think of it…”
Bill stood up and sat on the couch, but she followed him, and sat by his side, concentrating on the information she was getting.
Couldn’t she sense danger? He couldn’t move away from her and her beating heart. She was so near now, so vulnerable and yet so intense.
“You solved it…” she remarked, a tone of admiration in her voice as well as in her expression; and then she was reading on, her eyes widened. He made a slight movement thinking that maybe he could get up and get away from her. Impossible, he thought.
“These experiments are all so fascinating and somehow incoherent. Oh, Bill… this part that you highlighted…”
He had forgotten he had marked the text. She looked at him and touched his face with the tips of her fingers, her golden eyes liquid and luminous, reflecting the fire, like two suns trying to fulfill that cold emptiness inside him.
He needed her, but not her pity.
“I told you to keep a distance,” he said, while letting himself bury his face in the curve of her throat, her skin, so soft and inviting, her beautiful curls caressing his face. Her scent was so disturbing, she smelled of forest and earth, of dew and seeds; of life.
“Bill… we can’t, we can’t…” she whispered in his ear.
She wanted him.
“Right, we can’t… George wouldn’t approve it…” he said, his tongue and fangs exploring her neck. She was trembling, lust radiating from her whole body.
After his mouth found hers in mutual surrender, Bill could not think anymore, he could only feel her. He felt that underneath that dress she wasn’t wearing anything and that she was ready for him, wet and warm. He sensed that she wanted it rough, fast, hard, and right there on the couch; no excuses, no explanations, just pure desire. He pushed her dress up as quickly as he unbuttoned his pants. One deep thrust and he was buried inside her, her whole body so hot, she was burning like the wood on the fireplace, burning like a bonfire. And he was lost inside her, lost, and when Marcelle was almost there, pulling him to her desperately, he bit her and drank from her: blood, human blood, mixed with fire, magic and pain.
[TBC]
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