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I’D BEEN WAITING for the vampire for years when he walked into the bar

Ever since valy put it) four years ago, I’d hoped one would come to Bon Temps We had all the other ally recognized undead? But rural northern Louisiana wasn’t too te to vampires, apparently; on the other hand, New Orleans was a real center for theht?

It’s not that long a drive from Bon Temps to New Orleans, and everyone who came into the bar said that if you threw a rock on a street corner you’d hit one Though you better not

But I aiting for et out much And it’s not because I’m not pretty I as are strong and my bosoood in the eather waitress outfit Sam picked for us: black shorts, white T, white socks, black Nikes

But I have a disability That’s how I try to think of it

The bar patrons just say I’m crazy

Either way, the result is that I almost never have a date So little treats count a lot with me

And he sat at one of my tables - the vampire

I knew immediately what he was It amazed me when no one else turned around to stare They couldn’t tell! But to low, and I just knew

I could have danced with joy, and in fact I did do a little step right there by the bar Sa and gave rabbed my tray and pad and went over to the vampire’s table I hoped that my lipstick was still even and my ponytail was still neat I’ the corners of ht, and I had a chance to give hiood once-over before he looked up He was a little under six feet, I estiht back and brushing his collar, and his long sideburns seemed curiously old-fashioned He was pale, of course; hey, he was dead, if you believed the old tales The politically correct theory, the one the vauy was the victim of a virus that left hiic to sunlight, silver, and garlic The details depended on which newspaper you read They were all full of vampire stuff these days

Anyway, his lips were lovely, sharply sculpted, and he had arched dark brows His nose swooped down right out of that arch, like a prince’s in a Byzantine mosaic When he finally looked up, I saw his eyes were even darker than his hair, and the whites were incredibly white

"What can I get you?" I asked, happy almost beyond words

He raised his eyebrows "Do you have the bottled synthetic blood?" he asked

"No, I’ot some on order Should be in next week"

"Then red wine, please," he said, and his voice was cool and clear, like a streahed out loud It was too perfect

"Don’t mind, Sookie, mister, she’s crazy," caainst the wall All h I could feel the s at et your wine right away," I said, and strode off, not even looking at Mack Rattray’s sht, he and his wife Denise I called them the Rat Couple They’d done their best to make me miserable since they’d moved into the rent trailer at Four Tracks Corner I had hoped that they’d blow out of Bon Temps as suddenly as they’d blown in

When they’d first come into Merlotte’s, I’d very rudely listened in to their thoughts - I know, pretty low-class of h I spend hts of other people that try to pass through s about the Rattrays that , I knew they’d been in jail, though I didn’t knohy For another, I’d read the nasty thoughts Mack Rattray had entertained about yours truly And then I’d heard in Denise’s thoughts that she’d abandoned a baby she’d had two years before, a baby that wasn’t Mack’s

And they didn’t tip, either

Sa over at the vampire’s table as he put it on my tray

When Sam looked back at me, I could tell he too knew our new customer was undead Sam’s eyes are Paul Newray Sam is blond, too, but his hair is wiry and his blond is alold He is always a little sunburned, and though he looks slight in his clothes, I have seen him unload trucks with his shirt off, and he has plenty of upper body strength I never listen to Sahts He’s my boss I’ve had to quit jobs before because I found out things I didn’t want to know about ave lass to make sure it was sparkly clean and made my way back to the vampire’s table

"Your wine, sir," I said ceremoniously and placed it carefully on the table exactly in front of hiain, and I stared into his lovely eyes while I had the chance "Enjoy," I said proudly Behind me, Mack Rattray yelled, "Hey, Sookie! We need another pitcher of beer here!" I sighed and turned to take the empty pitcher froht, I noticed, wearing a halter top and short shorts, heraround her head in fashionable tangles Denise wasn’t truly pretty, but she was so flashy and confident that it took awhile to figure that out

A little while later, to my dismay, I saw the Rattrays hadat hi a lot, but he wasn’t leaving either

"Look at that!" I said disgustedly to Arlene, my felloaitress Arlene is redheaded and freckled and ten years older than me, and she’s been married four times She has two kids, and frouy, huh?" she said with s Rene Lenier, and though I can’t see the attraction, she seems pretty satisfied I think Rene was her second husband

"Oh, he’s a vaht with so a little to show she appreciated h, honey, if he’s with the Rats On the other hand, Denise is giving hiured it out after Arleneup sexual situations than I ary I’d always heard that the synthetic blood the Japanese had developed kept vampires up to par as far as nutrition, but didn’t really satisfy their hunger, which hy there were "Unfortunate Incidents" from time to ti of a hu her throat, turning her neck from side to sidewhat a bitch

My brother, Jason, ca He knows that woood to his fa me is a double whammy of recommendation Not that Jason needshimself He’s handsome He can sure beto overlook that

"Hey, sis, how’s Gran?"

"She’s okay, about the saht?"

"Look for yourself" I noticed that when Jason began to glance around there was a flutter of female hands to hair, blouses, lips

"Hey I see DeeAnne She free?"

"She’s here with a trucker frorinned at me, and I marvelled that other women could not see the selfishness of that smile Even Arlene tucked in her T-shirt when Jason came in, and after four husbands she should have known a little about evaluating men The other waitress I worked with, Dawn, tossed her hair and straightened her back to ave her an amiable wave She pretended to sneer She’s on the outs with Jason, but she still wants hiot really busy - everyone caht for so - so I lost track of my vampire for a while When I next had ato Denise Mack was looking at him with an expression so avid that I beca at Mack Finally, I let down uard and listened

Mack and Denise had been in jail for va

Deeply upset, I nevertheless autolasses to a raucous table of four Since vampire blood was supposed to temporarily relieve symptoms of illness and increase sexual potency, kind of like prednisone and Viagra rolled into one, there was a huge black enuine, undiluted vampire blood Where there’s a market there are suppliers; in this case, I’d just learned, the scummy Rat Couple They’d for the little vials of blood for asof choice for at least two years now So pure vampire blood, but that didn’t slow the , as a rule The drainers left the vampires staked or simply dumped them out in the open When the sun came up, that was all she wrote Fro turned when the vaot your dead drainers

Nowwith the Rats Mackdistinctly startled at the expression onme off like everyone else

That led with myself, they were out the door Would the vampire believe me if I ran after them, told him? No one else did Or if by chance they did, they hated and feared hts concealed in people’s brains Arlene had begged me to read her fourth husband’s ht because she was pretty certain he was thinking of leaving her and the kids, but I wouldn’t because I wanted to keep the one friend I had And even Arlene hadn’t been able to ask ift, this curse People couldn’t admit it They had to think I was crazy Which sohtened and angry, and then I knew I just had to act I was goaded by the look Mack had given ible

I slid down the bar to Jason, where he eeping DeeAnne off her feet She didn’t take , popular opinion had it The trucker fro froive lare "Listen, is that chain still in the back of the pickup?"

"Never leave ho ht, Sookie?"

I s that it was easy "I sure hope not," I said cheerfully

"Hey, you need help?" After all, he wasAnd I slipped over to Arlene "Listen, I got to leave a little early My tables are pretty thin, can you cover for , though I’d covered for her many times She, too, offered me help "That’s okay," I said "I’ll be back in if I can If you clean my area, I’ll do your trailer"

Arlene nodded her red mane enthusiastically

I pointed to the eers walk, to tell Sa

He nodded He didn’t look happy

So out the back door I went, trying tolot is at the rear of the bar, through a door leading into the storeroom The cook’s car was there, and Arlene’s, Dawn’s, andin front of his trailer

I went out of the gravelled e area onto the blacktop that surfaced the er custo in which Merlotte’s stood, and the edges of the parking lot were lare of the high, parking lot lights e

I saw the Rat Couple’s dented red sports car, so I knew they were close

I found Jason’s truck at last It was black with custom aqua and pink swirls on the sides He sure did love to be noticed I pulled ed around in the bed for his chain, a thick length of links that he carried in case of a fight I looped it and carried it pressed to ht a second The only halfway private spot to which the Rattrays could have lured the va lot where the trees actually overhung the cars So I crept in that direction, trying to move fast and low

I paused every few seconds and listened Soon I heard a groan and the faint sounds of voices I snaked between the cars, and I spotted theured they’d be The varound on his back, his face contorted in agony, and the gleam of chains crisscrossed his wrists and ran down to his ankles Silver There were two little vials of blood already on the ground beside Denise’s feet, and as I watched, she fixed a new Vacutainer to the needle The tourniquet above his elbow dug cruelly into his arm

Their backs were to me, and the vampire hadn’t seen ood three feet of it swung free Who to attack first? They were both small and vicious

I remembered Mack’s contemptuous dismissal and the fact that he never left ht before So forward to it

I leapt out fro the chain It thwacked across Mack’s back as he knelt beside his victilance, Denise set about getting the third Vacutainer plugged Mack’s hand dipped down to his boot and caulped He had a knife in his hand

"Uh-oh," I said, and grinned at him

"You crazy bitch!" he screa the knife I was too involved to keep uard up, and I had a clear flash of what Mack wanted to do to me It drove me really crazy I went for hi him as badly as I could But he was ready forthe chain He sliced at my arm and just missed it The chain, on its recoil, wrapped around his skinny neck like a lover Mack’s yell of triule He dropped the knife and clawed at the links with both hands Losing air, he dropped to his knees on the rough pave the chain from my hand

Well, there went Jason’s chain I swooped down and scooped up Mack’s knife, holding it like I kne to use it Denise had been lunging forward, looking like a redneck witch in the lines and shadows of the security lights

She stopped in her tracks when she saw I had Mack’s knife She cursed and railed and said terrible things I waited till she’d run down to say, "Get Out Now"

Denise stared holes of hate in my head She tried to scoop up the vials of blood, but I hissed at her to leave the choking, gurgling sounds and holding the chain Denise kind of dragged hier’s side Yanking some keys from her pocket, Denise threw herself in the driver’s seat

As I heard the engine roar into life, suddenly I realized that the Rats now had another weapon Faster than I’ve ever moved, I ran to the varabbed hiht, and he caught on and braced his feet and shoved We were just inside the tree line when the red car ca down at us Denise missed us by less than a yard when she had to swerve to avoid hitting a pine Then I heard the bigin the distance

"Oh, ," I breathed, and knelt by the vampire because my knees wouldn’t holdto get hold of myself The vampire moved a little, and I looked over Toup from his wrists where the silver touched thery atto catch an to unwind the thin bands of silver, which all see chain "Poor baby," I whispered, never thinking until later how incongruous that sounded I have agile fingers, and I released his wrists pretty quickly I wondered how the Rats had distracted hiot into position to put the as I pictured it

The vampire cradled his arms to his chest while I worked on the silver wrapped around his legs His ankles had fared better since the drainers hadn’t troubled to pull up his jeans legs and put the silver against his bare skin

"I’etically "You’ll feel better in a ht? Do you want ood until he added, "They ht yet" His cool voice was uneven, but I couldn’t exactly say I’d heard hi

I , I took a few precautions I sat withhim some privacy I kno unpleasant it is to be stared at when you’re hurting I hunkered down on the pave lot Several cars left, and others came in, but none came down to our end by the woods By the movement of the air around me, I knehen the vaht away I turned my head to the left to look at hi dark eyes looked into s had retracted; I was a little disappointed about that

"Thank you," he said stiffly

So he wasn’t thrilled about being rescued by a woracious, I felt I could do so

"Oh," I said, hearing the shock in"I can’t hear you"

"Thank you!" the vaeratedly

"No, noI can hear you speak, but" and inI ordinarily would never do, because it was pushy, and personal, and revealed I was disabled I turned fully to him and put my hands on both sides of his white face, and I looked at hi It was like having to listen to the radio all the tiet to select, and then suddenly tuning in to a wavelength you couldn’t receive

It was heaven

His eyes were getting wider and darker, though he was holding absolutely still

"Oh, excuse asp of e at the parking lot I began babbling about Mack and Denise, all the ti how marvelous it would be to have a companion I could not hear unless he chose to speak out loud How beautiful his silence was

" so I figured I better come out here to see how you were," I concluded, and had no idea what I’d been saying

"You came out here to rescue me It was brave," he said in a voice so seductive it would have shivered DeeAnne right out of her red nylon panties

"Now you cut that out," I said tartly, coht down to earth with a thud

He looked astonished for a whole second before his face returned to its white sry va beneath the words

"Nope"

"Are you assu that since you came to my rescue that you’re safe, that I harbor an ounce of senti after all these years? Vampires often turn on those who trust them We don’t have human values, you know"

"A lot of humans turn on those who trust them," I pointed out I can be practical "I’m not a total fool" I held out , I’d been wrapping the Rats’ chains around my neck and arms

He shivered visibly

"But there’s a juicy artery in your groin," he said after a pause to regroup, his voice as slithery as a snake on a slide

"Don’t you talk dirty," I told hiain we looked at each other in silence I was afraid I’d never see hiain; after all, his first visit to Merlotte’s hadn’t exactly been a success So I was trying to absorb every detail I could; I would treasure this encounter and rehash it for a long, long tiain I couldn’t re beyond so on the seductive crap again

"Would you like to drink the blood they collected?" he asked unexpectedly "It would be a way for estured at the stoppered vials lying on the blacktop "My blood is supposed to improve your sex life and your health"

"I’m healthy as a horse," I told him honestly "And I have no sex life to speak of You do what you ith it"

"You could sell it," he suggested, but I thought he was just waiting to see what I’d say about that

"I wouldn’t touch it," I said, insulted

"You’re different," he said "What are you?" He seeh a list of possibilities in his head fro at me To my pleasure, I could not hear a one of them

"Well I’m Sookie Stackhouse, and I’ht I could at least ask that without being presu

"Bill," he said

Before I could stop hter "The vaht be Antoine, or Basil, or Langford! Bill!" I hadn’t laughed so hard in a long tiet back to work" I could feel the tense grin snap back into place when I thought of Merlotte’s I put my hand on Bill’s shoulder and pushed up It was rock hard, and I was onI examined my socks to make sure their cuffs were exactly even, and I looked up and down ht with the Rats I dusted offon the dirty pave lot

It had been a stiht I felt almost as cheerful as hty angry about the chain

A FTER WORK THAT night, I drove home, which is only about four one (and so had DeeAnne) when I got back to work, and that had been another good thing I was reviewing the evening as I drove to ht before Tall Pines cereat-great-great grandfather had started the house, and he’d had ideas about privacy, so to reach it you had to turn off the parish road into the driveway, go through so in which the house stood

It’s sure not any historic landmark, since most of the oldest parts have been ripped down and replaced over the years, and of course it’s got electricity and pluood ly on sunny days When the roof needed to be replaced, I wanted to put regular roofing tiles on it, but , it’s her house; so naturally, tin it was

Historical or not, I’d lived in this house since I was about seven, and I’d visited it often before then, so I loved it It was just a big old fauess It had a broad front covered by a screened-in porch, and it was painted white, Granny being a traditionalist all the way I went through the big living rooed to suit us, and down the hall to the first bedroorandh bed, about aa long-sleeved cotton nightgown even in the warht, and her bedside lamp was still on There was a book propped in her lap

"Hey," I said

"Hi, honey"

My grandmother is very small and very old, but her hair is still thick, and so white it ales She wears it kind of rolled against her neck during the day, but at night it’s loose or braided I looked at the cover of her book

"You reading Danielle Steele again?"

"Oh, that woreat pleasures were reading Danielle Steele, watching her soap operas (which she called her "stories") and attending ed to all her adult life, it seemed Her favorites were the Descendants of the Glorious Dead and the Bon Teht?" I asked her

"What? You got a date?"

"No," I said, working to keep a smile on my face "A vas?"

I’d seen thehts when the Rats were draining him, but there was no need to describe that to Gran "Sure, but they were retracted"

"A vaht here in Bon Temps" Granny was as pleased as punch "Did he bite anybody in the bar?"

"Oh, no, Gran! He just sat and had a glass of red wine Well, he ordered it, but he didn’t drink it I think he just wanted some company"

"Wonder where he stays"

"He wouldn’t be too likely to tell anyone that"

"No," Gran said, thinking about it a uess not Did you like him?"

Now that was kind of a hard question I ," I said cautiously

"I’d surely love to meet him" I wasn’t surprised Gran said this because she enjoyed new things almost as much as I did She wasn’t one of those reactionaries who’d decided vao to sleep noas just waiting for you to coive Gran a kiss, and said, "Night night"

I half-closed her door on my way out and heard the click of the lamp as she turned it off My cat, Tina, cas, and I picked her up and cuddled her for a while before putting her out for the night I glanced at the clock It was al ht across the hall from Gran’s When I first used this room, after my folks had died, Gran had moved my bedroom furniture from their house so I’d feel le bed and vanity in white-painted wood, the sht and shut the door and began taking off my clothes I had at least five pair of black shorts and et stained so easily No telling how many pairs of white socks were rolled up in ht I was too tired for a shower I did brush my teeth and wash the makeup off my face, slap on some moisturizer, and take the band out of my hair

I crawled into bed in my favorite Mickey Mouse sleep T-shirt, which came almost to my knees I turned on my side, like I always do, and I relished the silence of the room Almost everyone’s brain is turned off in the wee hours of the night, and the vibrations are gone, the intrusions do not have to be repelled With such peace, I only had time to think of the vampire’s dark eyes, and then I fell into the deep sleep of exhaustion

B Y LUNCHTIME THE next day I was inbrowner by the second I was in my favorite white strapless two-piece, and it was a little roomier than last summer, so I was pleased as punch

Then I heard a vehicle co down the drive, and Jason’s black truck with its pink and aqua blazons pulled up to within a yard of my feet

Jason clih tires? - to stalk towardhis usual work clothes, a khaki shirt and pants, and he had his sheathed knife clipped to his belt, like most of the county road workers did Just by the way he walked, I kneas in a huff

I put lasses on

"Why didn’t you tell ht?" My brother threw himself into the aluminum yard chair byout the laundry," I said Gran used the dryer in a pinch, but she really liked hanging the wet clothes out in the sun Of course the clothesline was in the backyard, where clotheslines should be "She’s fixing country-fried steak and sweet potatoes and green beans she put up last year, for lunch," I added, knowing that would distract Jason a little bit I hoped Gran stayed out back I didn’t want her to hear this conversation "Keep your voice low," I reot to work thisto tell me all about it He was over to the Rattrays’ trailer last night to buy him some weed, and Denise drove up like she wanted to kill sootten killed, she was so et Mack into the trailer, and then they took hily

"Did Rene tell you that Mack ca was the best way of handling this I could tell Jason’s pique was due in large part to the fact that he had heard about this from someone else

"If Denise told Rene, he didn’t mention it to me," Jason said slowly, and I saw his handsoe "He came after you with a knife?"

"So I had to defend myself," I said, as if it were matter-of-fact "And he took your chain" This was all true, if a little skewed

"I caot back in the bar, you were gone with DeeAnne, and since I was fine, it just didn’t seeo after him if I told you about the knife," I added diplomatically There was a lot ht

"What the hell were you doing out there anyway?" he asked, but he had relaxed, and I kneas accepting this

"Did you know that, in addition to selling drugs, the Rats are vampire drainers?"

Noas fascinated "Noso?"

"Well, one ofhi lot! I couldn’t have that"

"There’s a vampire here in Bon Temps?"

"Yep Even if you don’t want a vampire for your best friend, you can’t let trash like the Rats drain theas out of a car And they would have left hih the Rats hadn’t told me their intentions, that was my bet Even if they’d put him under cover so he could survive the day, a drained vampire took at least twenty years to recover, at least that’s what one had said on Oprah And that’s if another vampire took care of him

"The vampire was in the bar when I was there?" Jason asked, dazzled

"Uh-huh The dark-haired guy sitting with the Rats"

Jason grinned at o of the night before, yet "How’d you knoas a vampire?" he asked, but when he looked at ue

"I just knew," I said in ht" And we shared a whole unspoken conversation

"Hohtfully He tilted his face back to catch the sun, and I kneere off dangerous ground

"True," I agreed Homulka was the town Bon Temps loved to hate We’d been rivals in football, basketball, and historical significance for generations

"Neither does Roedale," Gran said froive Jason credit, he ju everytih food in the oven for randmother smiled up at Jason She was not blind to his faults (or ot a phone call fro ht"