Chapter Text
This is how I show my love
I made it in my mind because
I blame it on my A.D.D. baby
This is how an angel dies
I blame it on my own supply
Blame it on my A.D.D. baby
Sookie slowly got out of her car, giving one last adjustment to the knee length, form fitting dark blue skirt and light blue peasant blouse she was wearing. Her silky hair cascaded down her back in delicate, wavy ringlets. The whole ensemble looked as it was meant to; innocent but edgy.
Satisfied with her adjustments, she walked towards the door of the only vampire establishment she could find near Bon Temps. Seeing the strawberry blonde haired woman at the door, she followed one of the few instructions her maker dared to give her before he released her. She ignored the line completely and stepped up, taking a deep breath before she spoke only loud enough for the woman to hear.
“Are you Pam by any chance?”
The woman looked her up and down, giving her a bored look and a wan smirk.
“Yes. And what can I do for you, sugar lumps?”
Sookie took one more fortifying breath and met the woman eye to eye.
“I was told to check in with the Sherriff. My ….Maker told me come here and see a woman named Pam. He said that you would be able to help me with checking in.”
Pam suddenly stood up straighter and blinked, taking a deeper sniff of the woman before her. This girl wasn’t just a vampire, she was a new vampire. Maybe a week old at most. And without her maker. This wasn’t looking good at all.
“And where is your maker, sweet cheeks? He should be here to check you in himself.”
Sookie swallowed harshly and tried not to let emotions control her.
“I don’t know where he is. He turned me by accident, told me to come here, and then released me. I haven’t seen him since. In fact, I barely knew him. Thank god for true blood or I would have starved to death by now.”
Pam’s eyes opened wide as she ushered Sookie just inside the door and signaled one of the younger vampires to take over the door for the time being. This was serious business and she couldn’t trust just anyone to do it. As it was, Eric was going to be pissed anyone in his area did this.
Walking the girl slowly up to the dais where Eric sat on his throne, Pam let her go and walked up the stairs to whisper in his ear.
Meanwhile, Sookie just stared at what appeared to be a Nordic god sitting in front of her. Men like that weren’t born on earth anymore. And the power she could feel radiating off of him was nearly crippling. Everything in her screamed to act in deference to him. But Sookie Stackhouse was too strong a Southern woman to bend to the will of others, no matter what the creature inside of her said. Her Gran didn’t raise her to be a damsel, no sir. So she stood tall and waited for whatever came next. Virgin Vampire or not, she was no shrinking violet and she was determined not to act like one.
Finally the man’s eyes turned solidly on her and he sighed, saying something in another language she couldn’t understand. Then he stood up and walked down the steps to stand in front of her.
“I am Sherriff Eric Northman. I reside over Area Five of Louisiana. Being so young I doubt you have any idea what that means. But you were smart to seek me out. Come with me to my office. It seems we have much to discuss.”
Sookie nodded silently and walked behind him, trying desperately not to stare at the backside packed into those tight jeans Mr. Northman seemed to have painted on himself. Good girl or not, that backside screamed sex, especially attached to the tall, blue eyed, blonde man walking in front of her. She almost missed it when Pam bent over her shoulder and spoke quietly.
“Seems we have a bit of an ass fetish, cupcake.”
Sookie looked down just as they walked into the office, glad she could no longer blush.
“I wasn’t…and what is with the name calling anyway? You could just ask me my name.”
Pam pulled her head up gently by the chin and smirked at her.
“And what would be the fun of that? My, aren’t you just as sweet as American Pie. Don’t worry cupcake. Women have been staring at that ass for a very long time, but few have been able look at it up close. Consider yourself lucky.”
Sookie was ready to snap at Pam in return, but Eric spoke first.
“Pamela, stop your games. This is serious business. You can have your fun later. Go entertain the vermin, would you?”
Pam snorted.
“Really Eric, I…”
“PAMELA!”
Pam huffed, crossing her arms.
“Fine. But you owe me.”
Eric looked at her with a lazy smile.
“Don’t I always? Now go. I have a job to do. And while you’re out there look for something decent to eat please? Our guest will need it soon, by the look of it.”
Sookie looked up and shook her head.
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about me. Any old bottle of True Blood will be fine.”
Pam looked at Eric and raised a questioning eye brow. Eric just stared at her silently. Nodding once more, Pam left the office. She would find a proper meal for the baby vamp if there was one to be found. New Vampires couldn’t be nourished on just bottled blood. It wasn’t nearly enough and letting anyone survive on that alone was just a shit storm waiting to happen.
___________________
Meanwhile in the office, Eric and Sookie sat opposite each other, staring each other down. Then Eric broke the silence.
“So, first let’s get the introductions out of the way. Who are you?”
Sookie shook her head, mentally berating herself. She was raised better than that.
“Oh, forgive me Sherriff Northman. My name is Sookie Stackhouse. I come from Bon Tempts.”
Eric’s brow furrowed. He hadn’t heard of any vampire residing in the little, backwoods town. Seems there was more here to find out then he thought.
“Well, it is nice to meet you Miss Stackhouse. May I call you Sookie? It’s a unique name. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard it before. And considering how long I’ve lived, that is saying something. Besides, Sookie just rolls off the tongue so easily.”
Sookie gave him a smile as she nodded.
“Sure you can. As long as you pronounce it right. My maker insisted on calling me Sookeh. It annoyed the heck out of me. And Miss Stackhouse makes me sound like my Gran. Would you mind if I called you Eric? Since we all are bein’ so informal.”
Eric gave her a smile of his own, letting her know that he was okay with that.
“So, let’s get business out of the way, shall we? You say that you were turned by accident and your maker released you? Does this stupid vampire have a name? “
“Well he did say his name was Bill, but I later found out he was called William Thomas Compton.”
“William Compton did you say? Hmm, that’s rather interesting. That is a name I haven’t heard in quite some time.”
“Wait, you know him? Wow, talk about small world.”
“Yes I know him. But that is a story for another time. Tell me how you know of him.”
“The Compton family goes way back in Bon Tempts. Seems Bill had a descendant named Jesse Compton who used to live right next door to me. Jesse died recently and Bill said that he had hoped to live there and straighten the place up. Which was a load of bull, far as I can tell. When he left, he seemed to be in a great, big hurry. He left some things behind in the house. After what I found out, I was angrier then a stepped on alley cat, let me tell you.”
Eric stared at her with curiosity. Suddenly this story got very interesting.
“Well, Sookie, if you wouldn’t mind starting from the beginning, that would be a great help in trying to get the full picture.
Sookie took a deep breath and brushed her hair back, crossing her legs as she relaxed back in the chair.
“I was a waitress working for Merlotte’s Bar and Grill. Sam Merlotte, the owner, he was a good friend of mine and he was a great boss. At least until I became a vampire. He doesn’t seem to like us too much. And for some reason he wouldn’t tell me, he smells like a wet dog.”
Eric Shrugged.
“That’s likely because Samuel Merlotte is a shifter. They are people who can shift into any number of animals. He likely favors a dog.”
Sookie gasped.
“Why that…after he knew about my secret and everything. He’s gonna get from me next time I see him.”
Eric almost smiled. This little southern belle was a spitfire. But they were getting away from the main topic.
“Sookie, we shall talk about the dog later. You were telling me how you met Bill.”
“Oh, right. Well, anyway, about a week ago Bill walked in and sat down in my area. He looked kind of out of place and ragged, so I knew something was different about him. He asked for a bottle of blood, but I told him we just threw away a case of it that went bad. So he ordered red wine instead and spent most of the night just staring at me. I was a little creeped out to be honest, but I was raised with manners, so I just let him stare and went about my business. It wasn’t until later that we spoke again.
“See, Bill was either the dumbest person I ever met or he was really askin’ for trouble. I am inclined to believe the second option. Because he wound up taking a seat with two of the worst people he could. He was just lucky I was there to save his butt when they turned out to be v-addicted drainers lookin’ to make him their next fix. I drove them off and released him from the silver they chained him with. He didn’t like that much and was sort of put off being saved by a human girl, I guess. He was determined to take care of himself. Finally, after talking for a bit, we decided to meet the next night so that he could repay me or something, I suppose.
She paused for a moment, swallowing as she remembered the night that came after. Shaking off the echoes of pain, she continued.
“I was waitin’ on him to show and he was late. The drainers weren’t. They came back and beat the crap out of me. I don’t remember much, but I was badly broken up and I’d lost a lot of blood. At one point Bill offered me his wrist and I was so out of it I barely understood most of what he was sayin’. He told me that if I wanted to heal I would have to drink. I told him I didn’t want to be a vampire and he assured me that it wouldn’t turn me. After that I passed out. I woke up later, in the ground behind my house. He buried me naked and was waitin’ on me I guess. He spent a few hours babblin’ on about how sorry he was and such. He let me bathe, gave me a bottle of true blood, told me to come here, and said something about releasing me as my maker. He left me sittin’ in his house and ran off. I haven’t seen him since.”
She sniffed and blew out a breath before shaking her head and looking back at Eric.
“I had to go home and explain to my Gran what happened. Then yesterday I went back to his house just to check if he was there. I searched around a bit and found a folder. It was disgusting, is what it was. A gross invasion of my privacy. He had a whole folder about me. Apparently he was sent here by someone named Sophie-Anne to check on me. Something about my family tree or something.”
Eric sat up straight when he heard the Queen’s name.
“Do you, by any chance, have the file that you found? Did you bring it with you?”
She nodded, swallowing hard.
“Yes, it’s in my car. I mean, I took out all the photos, cause some of them were just indecent, but I left most of the written stuff in it.”
Eric looked at her carefully, knowing just by the way she was twitching that she was very nervous about something.
“Sookie, there is something you aren’t telling me. If I’m to help you, I have to know the whole truth. You see, Sophie-Anne is the Vampire Queen of Louisiana. If she sent Bill to you, there had to have been a very good reason for it. She wanted you enough to send out her best procurer.”
Sookie bit her lip and collected herself.
“No one can know this imformation, Eric. Your queen only suspects I am special. Just reading that file tells me that if anyone else knew how I’m special, I could be a slave to anyone with enough money. Just telling you could be a mistake. Please, I…”
Eric tilted his head and got up, flashing over to kneel in front of her chair and look at her eye to eye.
“Sookie Stackhouse, I am much older than the Queen. In fact, I am the third oldest vampire in America. I can protect you. But to do this, I must know what I am protecting. I am not usually in the business of defying my queen, but I do not like that she went behind my back and told me nothing of this venture. That you were turned against your will only makes this worst. If we work together, not only could Bill be in serious trouble, but so could the Queen. So you must trust me with this.”
Sookie looked at him hard, searching his eyes to see if he was being honest with her. She had to be sure.
“Before I was turned, I thought I was human was a small quirk. I could read minds. Just human minds. I just thought I was born with it. To be honest, it was a bit more like a curse. It set me apart and made me strange to everyone. I was crazy Sookie. But according to the file, the Queen suspected more. I don’t know how she came by the information, but she really studied my entire family. She came across a name in there. I don’t know what it means yet, but it must have been big, cause she kept sending Bill e-mails with it. According to her letters, she wasn’t certain of the truth. I had to ask my Gran to get the full story, and that’s why I know I am in danger, even now that I am a vampire.”
She stood up, swallowing harshly as he stood up with her.
“The Stackhouse line goes back nearly four hundred years, Mr. Northman. But my granddaddy Earl, he couldn’t have had children. He got really sick when he was a child and it left him…impotent. But my Gran really wanted children. So desperately that she had an affair with a handsome stranger she met one day. They only slept together twice, and Granddaddy knew she wasn’t havin’ his children. But he loved her, and he treated my daddy and Aunt Linda like they were his own kin. She didn’t say much about the stranger, but I did get a name out of her mind. I don’t know what he was, but it must have been big cause the Queen really wants to know about it. She wants one of his bloodline. The only thing I could get before my Gran blocked me out was a last name. The file had three possible first names. My Gran finally pointed out the right one. Could you come a little closer? I don’t want anyone to hear.”
Eric looked around his office before leaning close to give her his ear. He had promised her secrecy and he intended to fully keep that promise. The minute she muttered the name whisper quiet in his ear, he swallowed hard and pulled back to stare her down. She had no reason to lie, and the truth was too big to make up. No human would’ve been able to know that name.
Standing in front of him was the Granddaughter of Fintan Brigant! Shit had officially hit the proverbial fan.