chapter three

Sookie was surprised the night Bill came into Merlotte’s and asked her to step into Sam’s office with him. It had been nearly two months since Eric had gone to Oklahoma to live at the court of Queen Freyda. It was two nights since the death of Freyda and Bill nor Pam had been able to get in touch with him. Bill sat down and told her he had an urgent message from Eric. He needed all his faithful vampires and Sookie if she would come to help him get out of Oklahoma. Sookie looked at Bill. “You have got to be joking Bill,” she said. “Here he has been gone for months and not a word from him and he suddenly thinks I should just drop everything to come and get him out of Oklahoma?” Of all the gall, as her grandmother was fond of saying, you make your bed, you lie in it.  If you dig your grave….

“He is in desperate trouble Sookie, he needs everyone to come to his aid. We have discovered there was a larger agenda than just getting Eric married to DeCastro’s political rival. This is something far deeper, Sookie, it could effect everyone in the supernatural community, not just vampires,” said Bill.

“Oh great Bill, just guilt me into going, it is what you always do. Well, I am not doing this anymore. You have made my heart hard to you, you and your kind. How can you expect me to care?”

“Because you do, Sookie,” he said.

“You are wrong, I don’t care,” she said. “I have to get back to work.”

“You saved Sam with the cluviel dor, but you are not going to make sure he retains his right to be an American Citizen? Because if we don’t get Eric back here, and get a handle on Filipe DeCastro and take him down, Sam will be rounded up, along with Luna, Calvin…your brother.” At this, Bill knew he had landed a low blow and she launched herself at Bill. She wailed so loudly Sam came flying in and found Bill holding her around the waist and her hands balled into fists hitting him where ever she could land a strike.

“Hey, hey, Sookie, what the fuck? Bill? What’s going on here?” he asked. Sam fought every instinct he had not to jump on Bill and immediately think the worst of the scene, but he had to admit Sookie was doing her worst but Bill was just standing there, holding her, taking whatever she was doing. Finally she tired herself out and Bill let her go.

“Just go Sam,” she said.

“Are you sure chere?” he asked.

“Yeah, Bill is just about to go,” she said. Sam hesitated for a moment and then walked out. Bill stood there, looking none the worse for Sookie’s assault on him. Sookie looked up at him. “Say it Bill, you aren’t playing fair you are holding the very last of my family against me, holding them hostage to get me to do what you want me to do.”

“Yes,” he said.

“How in the hell am I supposed to help Eric get out of Oklahoma? I can’t read your all’s minds you know, I can’t help him and I can’t help you,” she said.

“There is a way you can help,” said Bill.  “De Castro has Eric and his Queen surrounded. At least we think he is surrounded. We are not sure what it is all about, but we suspect it has to do with your old friend, Agent Latesta.”

“Niall paid to keep him off me,” said Sookie. “I have no intention of getting in his sights to remind him of me.”

“Sookie, from our intelligence we know Latesta is in the Bureau of Vampires and Supernatural Affairs,” he said. “And he is cooperating with DeCastro.”

“That’s not likely, he hates vampires,” said Sookie.

“He doesn’t know he is working with vampires, but we don’t know who his contact is and what he thinks he is doing,” said Bill.  “Whoever that is, we think is the link.” Sookie slumped and sat down.

“So what do I have to do?” she asked.

“We need to meet with Pam. Can we come to your house after your shift?” asked Bill.

“Whatever, I get off in a couple of hours. Bring your own blood,” she said. “Have you spoken to Eric directly?”

“I spoke with him last about four weeks ago, but since then, we have not been able to contact him, we fear the worst,” he said.

“Great, just great,” she said.

“Pam and I will meet you later,” he said. He leaned down as if to kiss her and Sookie stiffened. He let it go. He knew it was over in that moment. She would want nothing to do with him from then on out.

Pam and Bill arrived together. They got out and Sookie was waiting for them. As they stepped up on the porch and Sookie opened her door to them and they came in. They followed her into her kitchen. “You all don’t mind me having something to eat do you? I just got home from work,” she said, trying her best to sound casual.

“Go on ahead, Sookie,” said Bill. They sat down at her table and waited patiently as she heated something in the microwave. She grabbed a cold coke and pulled out a fork and a napkin. When the microwave went off, she slid her dinner, a chicken and noodle dish, onto a paper plate and carried it to the table. She sat down and began to eat.

“Well, tell me what you all want to do,” she said, unenthusiastically.

“Sookie, we would not bother you if we didn’t need you,” said Pam. “But Eric is in deep trouble here and he needs your help.”

“So Bill told me. He has a lot of nerve, wanting me to help him after the way he treated me,” said Sookie. Pam looked at Bill.

“We have to tell her,” she said.

“Go ahead, she is done with me,” said Bill, folding his arms across his chest.

“Sookie, Eric did not want to do what he did. He cut you off the way he did to save your life. The Queen of Oklahoma promised she would leave you alone and not interfere with your life if he cut off all ties with you.  That meant all ties, I was not even allowed to reach out to you, though I wanted to. Even Bill was sworn to secrecy. Every hurtful thing Eric did to you was meant to keep the Queen of Oklahoma from being too interested in you,” said Pam. Sookie looked at Pam. She stared back at Sookie, not blinking.

“I’ve heard that before,” she said, looking back at her plate. Sookie was not hungry anymore, but she would be damned if she would show it. She got another forkful of food and ate it, trying to act as though this bit of news meant very little to her.

“The last time we spoke to Eric, he had a very violent argument with the queen. She accused him of being in contact with you even though he had not. Eric has been trying to get back to Shreveport for some weeks now, we think she found out about that. He told me there was something going on, but he was being kept out of the loop, we think that whatever was about to happen was going to have something to do with you. The last thing he told me was, ‘Keep Sookie safe’. I swear Sookie,” said Pam.

“Appealing to my pain and now assuring me of his love,” said Sookie. “Try harder.”

“Goddamn it Sookie, you used that fairy thing to save Sam, Eric was sure you would use it to save him, and you didn’t. He had no choice but to do everything he did,” said Pam.

“And now you are guilting me,” said Sookie.

“Fine, what will it take to get you to help us,” said Pam.

“You, you people without a pulse, leaving me the hell alone. Ever since you people came out of the coffin, my life has been one long nightmare,” she said.

“Fine,” said Pam.

“This is what we think has happened and this is what we want you to do,” began Bill.

When Bill stopped speaking, Sookie looked at him with an astonished look on her face. “You want me to sell myself to Latesta to get on his good side and then sniff around and see who he is involved with?” Bill nodded. Sookie blew out a great breath of air. “This can’t possibly work Bill.”

“It will, if you go and tell a story to this man,” said Bill He reached in his pants pocket and pulled out a crumpled card. Harp Powell.

“That’s the guy who wanted to to interview me about what happened at Eric’s house, when that girl was killed and the police suspected Eric,” said Sookie.

“That’s right. I happen to know that if you contact this man, this reporter and tell him a story about Eric, Latesta will be at your door before you know it, offering you a little pay back,” said Bill.

“And it will alert DeCastro that you are moving against him, that will give him a reason to come after you,” said Pam.

“Yeah, and kill me,” said Sookie.

“We won’t let that happen to you, but at least you can get to Eric, if he is still alive, and you can contact us,” said Bill.

“Like he would let me have a cell phone so I can call home,” she said.

“Sookie, think about it, you are a cell phone,” said Pam. “A very special one, and you can contact someone who is already helping us.”

“Barry?” she asked. Bill nodded. “I don’t know, I will be all alone there.”

“No, you won’t, Eric has planted spies in the court of DeCastro. Haven’t you noticed a certain vampire has been absent lately?” asked Bill. Sookie looked at him and whispered a name. Bill nodded. “And they will be there to help you and protect you and get you out of there, even if Eric has met the true death.”

Sookie looked at the dinner table for a long while. She thought things through and then nodded. “I will call this Powell and see if he will take the bait.”

Of course he did. All she had to do was call him and say “Sookie Stackhouse” and he was there like a dog on a bone. Of course Bill was just upstairs as her safety. She concocted a story about Eric so outlandish no one who knew him would ever believe it. Bill had encouraged her to suggest Eric was involved in the illegal V trade and he was a gangster. She intimated he led a life of excess and was confident in his sexual abilities so much so he had his choice of women, even if they were not quite legal. It was a salacious story, implicating Eric in crimes just short of murder. After the journalist left, she got a whiff of his mind. He was going to write a hot best seller, get his own show on msnbc and he would drag her pretty ass all over the country and the talk show curcuit. When he drove away, Bill appeared at her elbow. “Well done Sookie.”

“Now what?” she asked.

“We wait,” said Bill.

The Bon Temps Herald carried an announcement that Harp Powell was preparing an expose about the famous and nefarious Eric Northman, proprietor of Fangtasia. Bill had assured Sookie all the Vampires knew about the story and the reasoning behind it but she was still nervous. She was not a friend to all the fanged community. In the end there was no reason to be worried, Latesta came to her three days later and made her an offer she could not refuse. Go in as a special operative and gather intelligence about DeCastro and then she would be placed in the witness protection program.

Sookie hated talking to him. Though he saw her as a commodity, she knew he loathed her. She got a blast of thought from him as he thought about the Take Back the Night Movement.  But then he remembered who she was and he began to think about the batting statistics about the Mets. He let her have the night to think about it. When he left, she called Bill on her cell phone and told him what had happened. Soon, DeCastro’s vampires would be here for her. Tomorrow or the next day, that is when they would come.

She had never been so afraid in her life. She was breathlessly frightened as she waited for the day to pass. When the sun began to go down she watched it, disappearing behind the horizon and the night fell. Bill called her.

“Get ready Sookie, they are coming for you,” he said.

When they came, Bill could feel her fear, her anxiety. He knew one of the vampires there was an ally, a Texas vampire who liked Sookie. They came to her door and knocked and Sookie pasted on her most vacant smile and opened the door. “Hey, somethin’ I can do for you all?” she asked. There was one male and two females, one of whom she recognized but thought she was a vampire with Stan Davis. She did not give a sign of recongnition and the vampire did likewise.

“Yes, we are looking for Bill Compton, he does not seem to be at home, is he here perhaps?” asked the male vampire.

“No, he’s not here, we don’t really see each other anymore,” she said.

“I see,” he said. “Do you know where he might be?”

“He might be at Merlotte’s it’s a local place, one of the only local places that sells TrueBlood,” said Sookie. “I can show you where it’s at.”

“We would be greatful,” said the vampire. Sookie glanced at the Texas vampire and she gave her a tiny nod. Sookie stepped out on her porch and made a motion as if to point them back toward Merlotte’s and the strange female grabbed her.

“Come with us Sookie, King Filipe wants a short discussion with you,” said the vampire.

“I can see why, she smells heavenly,” said the male, with obvious lust in his eyes, and not just sexual lust either.  The Texas vampire punched him.

“Leave her be, you know DeCastro wants her in one piece and her full compliment of blood,” she said. The male backed off.

“Let’s go,” said the strange female.

It was only a few hours from Louisiana to Oklahoma and the car they were in was big and comfortable. She was sitting in the back with the Texas vampire. She made sure she did not stare at her and the vampire simply ignored her. They made it back a couple of hours before dawn and she was brought immediately to King Filipe. He looks amused as she walked in, being gently shoved toward him.

“Please, no unnecessary roughness, Miss Stackhouse is our friend and guest,” said the King.

“Friend? Guest? Friends are invited guests, they are not forced out of their homes in the dead of night...” she began. De Castro put his hand up to silence her lesson.

“Yes, yes, I know, but you have not been harmed and sometimes a little persuasion is good to help people decide what is best for them. I have to rest soon, but I assure you my palace is your retreat and when I rise tomorrow night, we will have a little chat.” The vampire got up from the chair he had been sitting in and stepped up to her with vampire speed. He took Sookie’s hand and kissed it. “Sleep well Miss Stackhouse.” He walked away then stopped and turned. “Oh, and Miss Stackhouse, it would be in your best interest to stay in the house. The guards outside do not have elegant manners and you will find them…most offensive.” He smiled a smile which did not reach his eyes and she could see his fangs had run out.

The Texas vampire took charge of her and gently pushed her ahead of her. As she did Sookie turned to look at her and the Vampire shook her head minutely and Sookie faced forward. She opened her head and began to search for humans. There were human servants there, and there was something else there, something big, several somethings big. Weres maybe? She didn’t know what kind they were but they were huge. Then she found a brain that sort of tingled. “Barry?”

“Sookie?” he said in her head.

“I am here Barry,” she said. “Where are you?”

“I am in my room. Wait until you are secure and then think to me and I will come find you. Most everything sleeps here during the day,” he said.

“Be careful,” she said.

She was placed in a room with no windows, designed with vampires in mind. The Texas vampire showed her the dresser with night gowns and under clothes and a closet with clothes, mostly skirts and blouses but there were some jeans. She showed her the bathroom which was ensuite and then turned to look at her. She pressed her hand against hers and let go. There was a sharp edge in her hand and Sookie looked down. It was a piece of paper.

Do you remember me? I am Isabel Beaumont and I am Stan Davis’s second.

Sookie nodded. The vampire took the note and shredded it so fast Sookie could only see tiny bits of confetti coming from her finger tips. She hastily put the microscopic shreds in the toilet where they  disolved to invisibility. She nodded and left the room, leaving Sookie all alone. Was she the vampire Bill spoke of who was here at Eric’s behest? She did not know, and she did not have time to think of it. Soon she heard Barry calling for her with his mind.

“You okay Sookie?” he asked.

“Yeah, so far,” she thought.

“Keep talking to me, so I can find you,” he said.

“So what do they have around the house?” she asked.

“I don’t know, De Castro doesn’t let anyone see his guards but they are either weres or shifters and they feel…really bad news,” he said.

“How did you get here?” asked Sookie.

“De Castro is renting me from Stan Davis. Texas is pretty much broke and Stan makes some money from renting me out to vampires but before I left, I was given a mission. I was to keep my eye on that big blond vampire who got so mad when we were dancing at that vampire conference in Chicago,” he said.

“Eric?” she supplied.

“Yeah, that’s him. Okay Sookie, I think I found you. Sit on the bed, I will let myself in,” he said.

“You have a key?” she asked. This bit of intelligence made her wary.

“Yeah, it’s not what you think either. I stole this key off a fangbanger that was staying here a while. She was a guest I guess of DeCastro. Okay Sookie, I am opening your door, don’t jump on me,” he said. Sookie went and sat on the bed and watched as her door opened and he slipped in. Boy had Barry changed. He was bigger now and more filled out and he was dressed in even more expensive clothes than she’d seen him wearing at the conference in Rhodes. He put his finger to his lips and tapped his temple with his finger, indicating they should still speak with their heads.

“Wow, you look great,” she said.

“Well, it pays to work for royalty, though I would rather be in Texas than here,” he said.

“So is Eric still alive?” she asked.

“He is, but I haven’t been able to find out where they have him. Why don’t you just feel for him, you have a blood bond with him.”

“I don’t anymore,” she said. “So you at least know if he is still alive?”

“Eric is a vampire, Sookie, he isn’t alive,” he said.

“I know that,” she said, swatting him.

“Okay, okay, stop batting at me,” he said, smiling a young, boyish smile. “As soon as the sun is up, I can call Stan and Bill.”

“Stan is helping us?” she asked.

“Oh yes, apparently there are a lot of vampires who don’t like De Castro. He is backward thinking,” said Barry shrugging. “But to answer your question, I don’t think Eric is dead yet, but he is in real trouble. Sookie, you gotta know something, that queen of this state is dead and Eric killed her, a few days ago and De Castro and a bunch of other important vampires were there and witnessed it.”

“Really!” she said aloud and Barry shushed her. “Why don’t they want anyone to know?”

“I think DeCastro wants to stake his claim and he doesn’t want anyone to jump him. Apparently this is a real no no and he has to figure out how to take this kingdom over without getting the attention of that old vampire lady, remember her, at the conference?” he asked.

“The Ancient Pythoness?” she whispered. Barry nodded.

“De Castro’s day girl, Monica Rodrigues, sort of let slip it was kind of a coup and DeCastro arranged for Eric so he could claim Oklahoma in exchange for Eric’s freedom to go back to Louisiana but De Casto double crossed him,” said Barry. “I think Eric is in the house, I haven’t been able to listen to many heads but it seems like down or under, so they have him in coffin soemwhere wrapped up and buried. But I do know he sort of picked a couple of vampires out.”

Sookie blew out her breath slowly. “So who does he have picked out?”

“Do you remember that vampire who ran the Pyramid of Geezers?” he asked.

“Christian Baruch?” she asked.

“Yeah, he may be the one to get it,  he is the one DeCastro is favoring, but he has to do something first to get it,” said Barry.

“What is that?” asked Sookie.

“I don’t know,” said Barry.

“Damn,” she swore. “Is it daytime yet?”

“Not yet,” said Barry. 

“How are the humans in this place?” she asked.

“They are mostly afraid and they are devoted,” he said. “But I don’t think they know about me, you know, the telepathy. Sometimes I get a notion they know more, but I don’t know how to get them to open up to me so I can listen to them.”

“We need to find Eric, that is what I am here for,” she said. “Bill said he would come and help me get him out if I found him.”

“Sookie, why do you care about what happens to that vampire?” he asked. “I mean, after what he did to you, after what you wrote.”

“Bill says we have to get Eric back,” said Sookie cautiously. “How do you know what I wrote, well what the reporter I gave an interview to,  wrote?”

“De Castro is a book publisher, among other things. Apparently, he is publishing it. You should have been here a day or so ago, he was so happy about it he threw a party and it lasted all night. You would have thought it was Christmas,” said Barry. He slid his hand in his pocket and checked the time, the exact time for dawn. “Another 15 minutes and I can call.”

“Can you hand me the phone, I want to call Bill and Pam too and leave them a message,” said Sookie.

“Yes, I am texting them. My phone reads the number of the guy who helped us in Rhodes…that demon guy?”

“Mr. Cataliades?” she asked. He nodded. She watched him as he punched in a number Sookie recognized as Bill. Of course Sookie knew the demon guy was Barry’s great uncle or something like that. He then opened up a text box and began to type up a message. Then he handed Sookie the phone. She read the text. It was basically that Sookie had arrived and was safe he had briefed her on the situation and as far as he knew, Eric still lived. Sookie typed up a follow up message. She told Bill to hurry up, that she wouldn’t have long to do this and she could not do this alone.